Dr. Joris Gijsenbergh
Visiting Fellow
Career
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Since 12/2019 |
Visiting Fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) ‘Dynamics of security' at the University of Marburg, Germany |
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2018 – 2019 |
Visiting Fellow at the Zentrum für Niederlande-Studien’ at the University of Münster, Germany |
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2017 – 2019 |
Assistant Professor at Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands |
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2016 – 2017 |
Lecturer at Utrecht University, Netherlands |
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2014 – 2016 |
Postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at Leiden University, Netherlands |
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2008 – 2014 |
PhD student and lecturer at Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands |
Research in brief
- Keywords: democracy, dissent, extremism, transparency, whistle-blowing, Western-Europe, United States, 20th century
My research focuses on the political history of Western Europe and the United States during the 20th century. I study the contested and dynamic nature of democracy, in order to examine how the meaning of this concept was discussed and how it evolved. In order to do so, I study the interaction between political elites and the people. I use two case studies, which both show how democracies have dealt with dissent.
Currently, I study American, British and German attitudes towards whistle-blowers, who left the closed ranks of the intelligence communities and disclosed state secrets between 1945 and the present. The public reactions to their breach of confidentiality provide insight in the views on the democratic value of transparency. Furthermore, the unexplored history of whistle-blowing is an excellent case study to uncover competing and changing interpretations of the legitimacy of the national security state. My postdoctoral research compares the American and German security cultures, the extension of the concept of security, and the processes of securitization and (de)politicization.
Previously, I have studied clashing notions of democracy in the 1920s and 1930s, by analysing the defence of democratic regimes against Communism and Fascism. The fight against anti-democrats forced democrats to reconsider what democracy meant to them. I have published widely on this topic, including my PhD thesis, several articles and book chapters.
Key publications
- 'The struggle for the “right to know”. British reactions to whistle-blowers and the Official Secrets Acts, 1966-1998', in: M. van Faassen, J. Gijsenbergh, W. de Jong, I. Nijenhuis and R. Sluijter (eds.), Information and Power in History (Routledge; Londen, forthcoming in 2019).
- 'Democracy’s various defenders. The struggle against political extremism in the Netherlands, 1917-1940', in: J. Augusteijn, C. Hijzen and M. de Vries (eds.), Democracies and their adversaries. New perspectives on internal opposition (Palgrave MacMillan, forthcoming in 2019).
- 'Democratie en gezag. Extremismebestrijding in Nederland', 1917-1940 (unpublished PhD thesis, Nijmegen 2016).
- 'Contrasting Complaints about Parliamentarism in Western-Europe (1918-1939)', in: K. Palonen and J. M. Rosales (eds.), Parliamentarism and Democratic Theory. Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Barbara Budrich; Leverkusen 2015) 117-139.
- 'Divided Fronts: The Anti-Communist and Anti-Fascist Defence of "Democracy" and "Europe"', in: C. Reijnen and M. Rensen (eds.), European Encounters: Intellectual Exchange and the Rethinking of Europe (1918-1945). (Brill; Amsterdam 2014).
- 'The Semantics of "Democracy" in Social-Democratic parties. Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, 1917-1939', Archiv für Sozialgeschichte 53 (2013) 147-173.
- with S. Hollander, T. Houwen and W. de Jong (eds.): Creative Crises of Democracy (Peter Lang; Brussel 2011).
