Ralf Futselaar
Research projects
My research
In January 2001, allegedly due to an administrative error, I joined the research department of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation. For an aspiring economic historian with an interest in the early-modern period, this seemed an unlikely place to work. In practice, recent history proved to be fascinating, and I have continued to work on the history of the Twentieth Century ever since. You can click the buttons on the right for lists of my publications and presentations.
My PhD thesis, now a book, compared the standard of living in occupied Denmark and the Netherlands. Although both countries were occupied by Nazi Germany, internal economic policies were almost entirely an indigenous affair; bureaucrats assumed control over the economy, and forced their populations into a pattern of consumption designed to be both economically feasible and physically sufficient. Planned consumption proved to be far more difficult to adminsiter and live with than anticipated, but the war years changed the role that governments played, and are still expected to play, in maintaining public health, and especially in the field of nutrition and agriculture.
Since finishing my PhD, I have published and presented several papers on wartime economic controls, especially on the resulting black markets and the problems faced by low-income families. I continue to work on the history of welfare and welfare policies, as well as on the methodological problems of measuring and comparing welfare.
Another field of enduring interest is the history of health and healthcare. I have recently published a chapter on the treatment of (and financial compensation for) war traumas in postwar Scandinavia. In Japan, where I currently live and work, I have worked on the swift, and as yet unexplained decline of tuberculosis during the American occupation. I am currently preparing a global history of the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis, which has been controversial throughout its existence, but is nevertheless the most administered vaccine in the world today.
I have recently become involved in two collaborative projects investigating the history of racism in the 20th and 21st century.
If you have any questions about my research, would like to collaborate with me, or point out a mistake (there are plenty, believe me), please send me an email. By clicking on the titles of the projects below, you will be taken to my dedicated research site.
New research
Seeking a Moving Target. An investigation into global phenotypical convergence in the 20th and 21st century and the problems associated with the use of anthropometric data as a indicators of welfare.
BCG. The remarkable history of BCG, or Bacille Calmette-Guérin, the most widely administered vaccine in the world.
Blood. Mass Violence and Racial Identity. A collaborative book project on the different concepts of race, and the history thereof in Asia and Europe.
Black Shame. The debate about the deployment of African troops in Europe, 1914-1922. A book almost entirely written by my late friend Dick van Galen Last, which I am currently preparing for publication.
Past research
A Healthy Defeat? A study into the mysterious decline of tuberculosis during the American occupation of Japan.
Lard,Lice and Longevity. My PhD project, now published as a book, on the biological standard of living in German-occupied Denmark and the Netherlands. Also read the Review.
Understanding Black Markets. An investigation into black markets in (mostly) Denmark and the Netherlands during the 1940s, with particular emphasis on the, generally unacknowledged, importance of illegal transactions for low-income households.
From Camp to Claim. An investigation into the treatment of PTSD victims in postwar Norway and Denmark.