Epidemic Disease and Society in the Premodern Low Countries

Inequality and Community
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-90-485-6285-5
Verlag: Pallas Publications

Buch, Englisch, 340 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Disaster Studies

In this book, evidence from a long-run history of epidemic-society interaction in the Low Countries shows that most recurring outbreaks were accommodated by communities, and most reactions, responses, and changes seen, were the product of frequent and incremental adaptations, sometimes in periods outside of epidemics.

Epidemics blur the distinction between the normal and the sub-normal. Accordingly, although histories tend to emphasise epidemics’ capacity to create sharp changes, deviations, or transitions within societies and economies, this book develops an alternative argument that the most relevant questions are not “how and why change”, but given the substantial pressures of raised mortality, why was change often so modest? It brings together around five centuries worth of existing and new evidence on epidemics and societal resistance, wealth redistribution, and women’s experiences to support this interpretation.

Challenging conventional narratives about epidemics as agents of dramatic change, this book will be of interest to researchers examining historiographical debates about crisis and continuity in European history.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Curtis, Daniel R.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Folgen von Katastrophen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Epidemics as Windows into Society  2. Dangers Inside and Outside the Community: Community Interpretations of Epidemic Disease over the Long Term  3. The Many Faces of Epidemic Disease: Severity, Spread, Seasonality, and Selectivity  4. The Bonds of Community During Epidemics: Reception and Resistance  5. The Redistributive Powers of Epidemics: Wealth, Resources, and Inequality  6. Women’s Experiences of Epidemics: Opportunities, Burdens, and Narratives  7. Conclusion: Accommodating Epidemics

Über Autor(innen)

Daniel R. Curtis works at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and has published three previous books, namely, Coping with Crisis: The Resilience and Vulnerability of Pre-Industrial Settlements (2014), Disasters and History: The Vulnerability and Resilience of Past Societies (2020), and Infectious Inequalities: Epidemics, Trust, and Social Vulnerabilities in Cinema (2022).