Global and regional histories 

The research group Global and Regional Histories brings together historians and social scientists who study the interaction of historical processes at varying geographical, social, political, environmental and economic scales. Most of us work on the modern period, but we value the participation of ancient, medieval and early modern historians.   Our research emphasizes both comparative and connective approaches, spanning case and regional studies in rural and urban contexts, analyses of broad societal transformations with trans-regional implications, and theoretical models for understanding long-term economic and social change on a global scale. We pay attention to a wide range of units of analysis (households, regions, economies, societies, states, landscapes, networks etc.), to bottom-up place-specific research (including anthropological methods and fieldwork), and to methods for investigating processes on wider and global scales (comparative analysis, network-analysis). We construe the notion of ‘economy’ in a broad sense, to include economies of status or affection, social power relations, and political economy. We  focus on the co-construction of the local, the regional and the global, with special attention to place-specific agency in regional, cross-regional and global processes. 

We are embedded in the History Department of Ghent University, while seeking interdisciplinary cooperation with colleagues across the humanities and social sciences, including with historians with different emphases. The group encompasses research with a broad spectrum of thematic, temporal and regional foci ranging from Europe via Asia and Africa to Latin America. We promote cross-border, interregional and inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation, transcending the traditional classifications of period and geography. 

During monthly meetings, we provide a supportive and inquisitive forum for work in progress, including funding applications in development, and share professional news.  Members of the group participate in the activities of a variety of national and international professional associations, including the African Studies Associations of the US and UK, the European Network in Universal and Global History (ENIUGH), the European Rural History Organisation and the Commodities of Empire Network.