Academic biography

Latest book: ​​
The Everyday Nationalism of Workers: A Social History of Modern Belgium (Stanford University Press, 2019).

Reviewed in: American Historical Review, English Historical ReviewHistorische ZeitschriftJournal of Social History, Journal of Modern History, Histoire sociale/Social history, National IdentitiesH-nationalismEuropean Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoireTrashumante. Revista Americana de Historia SocialStudies in Ethnicity and NationalismLabor. Studies in working-class historyMoving the Social: Journal of Social History and the History of Social Movements, Political Science QuarterlySurvival: Global Politics and Strategy, Cahiers JaurèsTijdschrift voor sociale en economische geschiedenis, Journal of Belgian HistoryContemporanea, Wetenschappelijke Tijdingen.

Praise for the book: 

- a "superb book" (John Breuilly, LSE)
- a "brilliant study" (Stefan Berger in Moving the Social: Journal of Social History and the History of Social Movements)
- "well-written, innovative, and engaging" (Matthew G. Stanard in Journal of Social History)​
- "crackle[s] with insight and revealing detail" (Jakub Benes on H-nationalism)
- "a major contribution to the study of nationalism" (Carl Strikwerda in American Historical Review)
- "his important new study" (Martyn Conway in English Historical Review)
- "brilliant social history" (Erik Jones in Survival: Global Politics and Strategy)
- het "nieuwe meesterlijke boek van Maarten Van Ginderachter" (Lode Wils in Wetenschappelijke Tijdingen)
- "une synthèse claire et très argumentée reposant sur une impressionnante recherche", "un regard neuf et fort original sur une question trop peu abordée par les historiens" (Serge Jaumain in: Histoire sociale/Social history)


I hold a double Ma. in Germanic languages and history and a PhD in history from Ghent University. At the moment I am professor ('hoogleraar') at the Department of History at Antwerp University, where I teach world history and contemporary history. The former chair of Power in History - the Centre for political history, I have served for ten years as Program (vice-)Director of graduate and undergraduate studies of the History Department between 2013 and 2022.

My research is mainly focused on the history of nations and nationalism in Belgium and Europe. I have written and co-edited several books and themed journal issues on the subject. I have also contributed to leading international journals such as Nations and nationalismSocial history, the International review of social history, the History workshop journal and National Identities.

I have held visiting positions at Harvard University (as a Fulbright scholar), at the University of California at Berkeley (Peter Paul Rubens Chair for the History and Culture of the Low Countries) and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I was the lead investigator in the FWO funded project Nations and nationalism from the margins.

Practical information

prof. dr. Maarten Van Ginderachter
Centre for political history
Department of History
Antwerp University
Sint-Jacobsmarkt 13 (room S.SJ.208) 
2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
T: + 32 (0) 3 265 43 08

  • professor ('hoogleraar') at the Department of History at Antwerp University
  • programme director of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies at the Department of History / voorzitter van de Onderwijscommissie Geschiedenis

 

  • master in Germanic languages and history (Ghent University)
  • PhD in history with the doctoral dissertation Vaderland in de Belgische Werkliedenpartij (1885-1914). Sociaal-democratie en nationale identiteit from below. Een casusstudie van Gent, Brussel en de Borinage [Fatherland in the Belgian Workers' Party. Social-democracy and national identity from below. A case study of Ghent, Brussels and the Borinage] (Ghent University), 2005)
     
  • member of the editorial board of Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis/Revue belge d'Histoire Contemporaine
  • member of the editorial board of Brood en Rozen
  • Fulbright scholar
  • Visiting fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, Spring 2008
  • Peter Paul Rubens Chair for the History and Culture of the Low Countries at UC Berkeley, Spring 2012
  • Visiting scholar at the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fall 2017

 

Select publications

Books / edited volumes / special issues  

Articles (full text available through link)