Book tips
It doesn’t come as a surprise that humanities academics like to put their ideas, findings and stories on paper. The following books written by alums and/or teachers have recently been published.
Hans Boutellier De neo-tribale revolte
Endowed Professor of Polarisation & Resilience Hans Boutellier has been an analyst of social developments since the 1960s. He has written about secularisation, crime and safety, the network society, identity politics and polarisation. This book is the sixth in the series. After decades of individualisation, he sees a process of tribalisation emerging: “never thought possible, but looking at everything together, it does not come as a surprise”.
Available at publisher vanGennip
Jimi Jones and Marek Jancovic The future of memory
A new generation of video standards promises to preserve digital heritage without data loss. Library and information scientist Jones and media scholar Jancovic follow the rise of JPEG 2000, FFV1, MXF and Matroska and show how technical choices emerge from social practices, conflicts and cooperation. Through conversations with archivists and developers they outline a dynamic field in which new, archivist-driven standards are taking shape.
Available at bol.com
Stephen R. Grimm, Rik Peels, René van Woudenberg A Philosophy of the Humanities
The three professors of Philosophy investigate fundamental questions about the nature and meaning of the humanities, such as: “Can the humanities, like the natural sciences, make progress?” and “What connects disciplines such as history, philosophy and literary studies?” The book addresses innovative themes such as replication research and mutual recognition within the field, offering a fresh philosophical perspective on the value, methods and unique contribution of the humanities to human understanding.
Available at bol.com
Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach Freedom to Know
In this book, Professor of Philosophy Kirloskar-Steinbach looks at five important thinkers: Ambedkar, Du Bois, Iqbal, Ramabai and Tagore. She examines how these figures reflected in the ways in which knowledge is often controlled by power and inequality, particularly through colonial systems. She shows how they sought to understand why some groups are less heard and how they aimed to change that. Together they searched for ways to create a free, fair space where everyone can participate equally and where new ideas can emerge to help counter inequality and oppression.
Available at bol.com
Lucas Poy, Hannes Rolf (eds.) Rent Strikes
Since the nineteenth century, working-class families have largely depended on rented housing, with rents often taking up a major part of the family budget. There is a long and eventful history of tenants engaging in collective action. Yet international comparisons have remained scarce. Rent Strikes is a collaborative project by sixteen authors from various countries, aiming to identify common patterns and global developments in the rich history of tenant strikes from the early twentieth century to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A free open access PDF can be downloaded via UCL Press
Paul Brood and Petra van Dam Historische Waterschapsatlas
Professor of Water and Environmental History Petra van Dam and archivist and legal historian Paul Brood edited this book, which shows that water management is a timeless issue that affects everyone in the Netherlands. Working together to keep our feet dry: polder mentality literally originates from the water boards. Few things are more fundamental to the Netherlands than the waterschap.
Available at publisher WBOOKS
magazine for social sciences and humanities alumni december 2025