IISH Annual Report 2023

2023 was a busy year. Much energy and time was devoted to preparing an evaluation of the institute in March 2024. The bulk of the self-evaluation report summarizes and discusses our accomplishments over the past six years and offers a brief strategic look at the next period stretching until 2030. This annual report is limited to the last year of that evaluation period and shows the strengths of both our research and data & collections departments. Furthermore, it underlines our efforts to bring the IISH’s activities to the attention of a broad audience, both in the Netherlands and beyond.

Grants
The research department acquired grants of over 3 million euros, notably through an ERC consolidator grant awarded to Matthias van Rossum for research on slavery in Asia, and the data & collections department successfully secured 400K for digitizing several archives of Turkishand Moroccan migrant organizations.

Data
We continued our efforts to contribute to the wider academic community by offering crucial structured data to scholars worldwide working in the field of the history of labour relations, especially pertaining to forced and slave labour. A key initiative was the launch in December 2023 of the Exploring Slave Trade in Asia (ESTA) database, which already encompasses information of over 4,000 slave transports in the Indian Ocean area between 1621–1856.

Events
Furthermore, 2023 was the first year since the Covid interlude that we were able to organize a live version of the European Social Science History Conference, this time in Gothenburg. In 2023, the institute organized a record number of public lectures, book launches, symposia, and other events, in some cases in collaboration with other individuals, academic institutions, archives, and government bodies. These outreach activities show how our research and collection activities serve not only the wider academic world, but also enhance public debates on issues within our domain of labour, labour relations, slavery, migration, and social movements.

Colleagues
In 2023, two senior researchers marked their position in our field of research. Pepijn Brandon gave his inaugural address at the Free University of Amsterdam in June, while, in September, (Emeritus) Professor Kees Mandemakers received a career award from the
European Society of Historical Demography (ESHD) for his pioneering accomplishments in the field of historical demography, especially with regard to the Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN).

You can read the entire annual report here online or download the pdf document below.