Publications

The Interfaculty Centre for Agrarian History publishes a series of ICAG-Studies. At present the following issues have appeared (all in Dutch):

Segers, Yves. Economic growth and standard of living. Individual expenditure and food consumption in Belgium, 1800-1913. Universitaire Pers. Leuven, 2003, 631 p. (in Dutch)

Belgium develops into an industrial and economic superpower throughout the 19th century. Fundamental transitions on a social and economic level persist, inspired by the start of a modern economic growth. But which impact does this economic success have on the standard of life of the population?

In this book the evolution of the standard of living is being investigated through two indicators: individual expenditure and food consumption. The expenditure pattern and behavior of the (average) Belgian is being mapped and analyzed. The research shows that the expenditure grows substantially throughout the 19th century, at the same pace as the tendencies of the economic market. Relatively the expenditures for food and other life-supporting products decrease, creating opportunities for more luxurious goods and services. The extent and quality of the individual food supply also increases. Especially at the end of the 19th century the monotonous nature breaks down. Animal products gradually replace ones of vegetal origin. Laborers and farmers also benefit from the economic growth, although not always equally. These conclusions justify a moderately positive attitude in the Standard of Living Debate.

This study also offers an explanatory model for the growth of expenditure throughout the 19th century. The influences of prices, wages, fiscal government policies and the modernization of the distribution and marketing sector are extensively clarified. The dataset in attachment throws a detailed light on the (food) consumption in Belgium and forms a unique basic source for further exploration.

Woestenborghs, Bert. Hermans, Roeland en Segers, Yves. Chasing Demeter. The Faculty of Bioscience engineering of the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven), 1978-2003. Universitaire Pers Leuven. Leuven, 2005, 204 p. (in Dutch)

First of all Chasing Demeter reconstructs the history of the Louvain Faculty of Agriculture as an educational and research organization, put in the social, communal and economic context of the past two centuries. Several issues arise: the financial and organizational build-up, the goals and vision of the institution, the troubles concerning infrastructure, the evolution of the number of students, the educational strategy etc. The common thread throughout the story is the broadening and intensification of the research area. Till the very end of the 20th century this was strongly linked to traditional agriculture. But today the focus of the faculty research staff is very diverse. The agro-engineer has become a bio-engineer. The tension between fundamental or practical research and between a general or a specialist education also keeps reappearing in the 125-year history.

This book is a new contribution to agro-historic research in Belgium. The specific interest in agricultural education and science co-incides with recent international research projects and fills a gap in Belgian historical research on agriculture.

Matthys, Christa en Lefebvre, Wim. A guide to agricultural archives in Belgium 1795-2000. Universitaire Pers Leuven. Leuven, 2006, 384 p. (in Dutch)

Belgian agriculture experienced intens transformation during the past two centuries. Traces of this can be found in several archives. And yet agrarian history has only dealt with a few subjects. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the lack of knowledge about the existence of agricultural archives and their content.

This guide offers roadsigns into the landscape of Belgian archives concerning the agricultural history of Belgium and Belgian-Congo. It systematically lists a broad spectrum of public and private institutions and organizations who keep archives, and provides contact data. It offers a critical survey of agro-related files per depository. It quotes accesses and potential literature.

An elaborate index opens the way for systematical searching. Despite the focus on agrarian archives this guide might prove to be useful for those who investigate local or colonial history, the history of scientific research, the world wars…

Van Dijck, Maarten. The science of the legislator. Classic political economy and the Belgian agricultural policies 1830-1884. Universitaire Pers Leuven. Leuven, 2008, 487 p. (in Dutch)

Ideas of economists and political philosophers are more powerful than is commonly understood. With this quote John Maynard Keynes countered in 1936 the deep-rooted notion that economic interests are the ultimate outlines to creating government policies. In "The science of the legislator" Maarten Van Dijck confronts this quote with the Belgian agricultural policies between 1830 and 1884. Was the economic science able to maintain itself as the precept for all official policies against the pressure of economic interests? The agricultural policy forms an intriguing case as economists saw the revocation of the protectionist grain laws as a first indicator of their success. Moreover the agricultural policy was getting a lot of media attention because of the successive major food shortages in the middle of the 19th century.

The ideas of economists and their efforts to spread those are being confronted in this book with the political decision-making on the agricultural policy. The Parliament often debated for weeks on the sense and nonsense of state interventions and free trade. Heated discussions between advocates and opponents of free trade blazed. Eventually the government and Parliament were even less inclined to react to the demands of the people in order to counter unfair food prices. Replacing a moral-economic frame of reference with a liberal-economic one was therefore the most visible expression of the influence of economic science on the political decision-making in the middle of the 19th century.

The publications can be ordered through www.cagnet.be