PhD on the Rise of Oligarchic Tendencies in Western-European History

In this PhD project you will explore the role of associations throughout Western European history, focusing on the rise of oligarchic tendencies within these organisations and the consequences for their functioning. The aim is to address the existing gap in systematic, large-scale research on this issue.

Your job
Associations have played a major part in various periods in Western European history. In the late Middle Ages, these included guilds, hospitals, fraternities, schools, village and town communities, as well as organisations for water management and the commons.

The twentieth century saw the rise of cooperatives, mutuals, housing corporations, unions, and social organisations. While these associations fulfilled vital roles in economic, social, and cultural life, they have also been identified with increasing capture by a small subset of their members. Sometimes this is even considered to be inherent to associational organisation and labelled as an “Iron Law of Oligarchy”.

Several scholars have examined whether this oligarchical trend negatively affected the functioning of the organisation and its ability to perform well its functions and achieve its goals. Examples include studies of late medieval town governments in Germany and Italy, water management organisations in late medieval Flanders and for organisations for the commons in the eighteenth/nineteenth-century Netherlands. However, systematic, large-scale research is limited.

This project aims to address this gap by systematically investigating trends towards oligarchy in associations and their impact on the functioning of these organisations. The project can focus on the late Middle Ages or the modern period.

You will first construct a comprehensive dataset of relevant cases. This dataset can be investigated comparatively or quantitatively to determine the extent to which such capture occurred and what forms it took. Next, the project will examine whether associations took institutional countermeasures and assess their effectiveness.

The second part of the project analyses the consequences of oligarchy. You will try to reconstruct to what extent the functioning of the associations was affected. Did the provision of public goods, such as education, governance, health care, or poor relief decline? And did the members of the association, or society at large, notice this decline, and attempt to counteract it? Why did this in some cases happen and not in others? A comparative design is again a promising option to this part of the research project.

• A fulltime position for 18 months, with an extension to a total of four years upon successful assessment in the first year
• a gross monthly salary between €2,901 in the first year and and €3,707 in the fourth year in scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU);
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

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This PhD position is part of the project 'The Good Society', which is funded by a Spinoza premium.

For more information about this position, please contact Bas van Bavel at b.j.p.vanbavel@uu.nl.

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.