The project ‘An Ancestor’s Tale: 200 years of wealth inequality and redistributive policy’ is looking for 5 PhD students.

Social scientists have been interested in the study of inequality and social mobility for a long time. One of the most persistent ideas in historiography had been that since modernization, society had moved towards more openness, democratization, and fluidity. But is this truly accurate? New studies are arguing that inequality is rising in most places while social mobility appears to be lower than previously expected and possibly declining. The project studies if and how wealth inequalities have become more – or less – rigid over the course of last two centuries. Guided by an interdisciplinary consortium the project aims to reconstruct patterns of wealth ownership and its transmission across generations over a period of 200 years in Belgium. It will test the validity of potential mechanisms to explain the reproduction of wealth inequality. Moreover, it will examine how public opinion, redistributive policies, and wealth inequality are interlinked both in historical perspective and today.

An Ancestor’s Tale is an iBOF project funded by the research councils of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universiteit Antwerpen and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. All PhD scholarships on the project are salaried, full-time positions.

There are currently five vacancies to join our research team. Under the guidance of an interdisciplinary team of historians, economists, and social scientists you will work on your own PhD dissertation within the context of the Ancestor’s Tale project. Positions are available at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, UAntwerpen, and KULeuven.
• PhD Vacancy 1 – Wealth inequality & mobility in Belgium
• PhD Vacancy 2 – Attitudes towards wealth redistribution
• PhD Vacancy 3 – Family formation and wealth mobility
• PhD Vacancy 4 – Real estate and intergenerational wealth transmission
• PhD Vacancy 5 – Strategies for intergenerational wealth transmission

More information can be found at the website (http://ancestorstale.be/en/vacancies). Applications can be submitted until July 7th, 2023. For more information, please contact Wouter Ryckbosch (wouter.ryckbosch@vub.be).