News
Posthumus fellow Dr Kristof Loockx receives FWO Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) has awarded a FWO Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship to Dr Kristof Loockx, fellow of the N.W. Posthumus Institute and postdoctoral researcher a the University of Antwerp. This fellowship is awarded to selected researchers who have completed their PhD a few years ago to further specialise in their research discipline. With the help of this fellowship, a postdoctoral researcher can develop their own research line while simultaneously acquiring additional academic skills through training and mobility, among other means. In this way, the FWO aims to provide young researchers with optimal opportunities to build an independent international research career, either within an academic context or beyond.
Kristof’s research project examines how merchant seafaring households during the steam era adapted to the pressures and transformations driven by industrialization. While most research has focused on land-based families, this study turns to the often-overlooked maritime world. Through a comparison of officer and non-officer households, the project investigates how household dynamics and coping mechanisms were shaped by differences in household characteristics, occupational identities and access to social support networks. It uses Antwerp and Boston, MA, two major Atlantic port cities with distinct historical trajectories in terms of industry, trade and urban development, as case studies to examine how local labour markets, community ties and economic conditions influenced household strategies.
The N.W. Posthumus Institute congratulates Kristof with this grant.
