Eline Pollaert MA

PhD candidate

Area(s) of interest: Dutch History, Educational Studies & Public History, Memory Studies

Cohort/Start PhD: 2022-2023

Het Dorp from a multi-level perspective: a micro-history of a national living community in the Netherlands’

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Supervisor(s): Prof. dr. Monika Baár and dr. Paul van Trigt

Starting year: 2022

Ever since the Dutch national telethon ‘Open The Village’ in 1962, the Arnhem-based living community underwent many transformations. This research project is part of a larger study of Het Dorp; a self-governing, accessible living community for disabled and chronically ill people. By applying the methods of global microhistory and participant heritage development, this research project aims to reconstruct a micro-history of Het Dorp. The research project addresses themes such as social in- and exclusion, accessible living, civil rights, and the responsibilities and changing role of the welfare state towards vulnerable communities in the Netherlands and beyond. The research project applies a public history perspective and actively involves the historical and contemporary Het Dorp community. This research project embeds the broad social, cultural, and architectural heritage of Het Dorp within heritage and memory studies. The acquired knowledge adds to new theoretical and empirical possibilities in capturing disability history, thereby countering currently dominating Anglo-Saxon perspectives. In a broader sense, the research project addresses both the question of how the history of disability can be recorded and how the lens of disability can add to capturing more inclusive histories.