Prof. J. Kok (Jan)
Professor - Economical, Social and Demographic History
Professor - Radboud Institute for Culture and History
Chair:
Economic, Social and Demographic History
Erasmusplein 1
6525 HT NIJMEGEN
Postbus 9103
6500 HD NIJMEGEN
My professorship is devoted to the study of the family and historical life courses, by promoting empirical research projects, elaborating concepts, and stimulating the development of new datasets and research methods. Currently, I am running a project on anthropometric history, in which the heights of late adolescent men from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands are linked to their early life histories and subsequent life courses. I am also co-editor- in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal History of the Family. An International Quarterly.
Research topics include:
• Anthropometric history: why have the Dutch become the tallest people in the world?
• Exploring 18th century population and land registers of colonial Ceylon
• The history of 'nonconformist' family formation: bridal pregnancy, illegitimacy, cohabitation, kin marriages and polyandry
• Church affiliation and life course transitions
• The history of adoption
• The history of internal migration: life-cycle service, dispersion of families, family migration et cetera
Tags: biography
Publications
Key publications
- Kok, J. (2024). Biodemographic Exploration of Genealogies. A Window on Historical Living Standards? (article). Digital+Humanities Vol.30 Ajou University Museum of Tools. (available: 15 Aug 2024).
- Mourits, R.J., Walhout, E.C., Kok, J., Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, M.T. & Lieshout, F. van (2024). Oversterfte? Een beknopte demografische analyse van de Goede Herder in Zoeterwoude, 1869-1939. (external report). Amsterdam: Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis doi:
- Sesma Carlos, M.D., Kok, J. & Oris, M. (2024). Effects of life-place trajectories based on municipality of residence on old-age mortality. Evidence from sequence analysis in 20th century Netherlands. Espaces Populations Sociétés, 2023/2024 (3/1). doi:
- Galen, C.W. van, Mourits, R.J., Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, M.T., A.B., M., Janssen, J., Quanjer, B., Oort, T. van & Kok, J. (2023). Slavery in Suriname. A Reconstruction of Life Courses, 1830–1863. Historical Life Course Studies, 13, 191-211. doi:
- Kok, J., Quanjer, B. & Thompson, K. (2023). Casting shadows. Later-life outcomes of stature. The History of the Family, 28 (2), 181-197. doi:
- Kok, J. (2023). Genetic and Shared-Environment Effects on Stature and Lifespan. A Study of Dutch Birth Cohorts (1785–1920) Based on Genealogies. Historical Life Course Studies, 13, 265-281. doi:
- Kok, J., Portrait, F., Quanjer, B., Tassenaar, P.G. & Thompson, K. (Eds.). (2023-2023). Height and later-life outcomes [Special issue]. The History of the Family, 28(2).
- Kok, J. (2023). Transgenerational effects of early-life experiences on descendants’ height and life span. An explorative study using Texel Island (Netherlands) genealogies, 18th-21st centuries. The History of the Family, 28 (2), 417-433. doi:
- Richardson, L. & Kok, J. (2023). Bridal pregnancy in the Mother City, 1900-60. In J. Fourie (Ed.), Quantitative History and Uncharted People. Case Studies from the South African Past (pp. 33-62). London: Bloomsbury Publishing
- Sesma Carlos, M.D., Oris, M. & Kok, J. (2022). Coping with ageing: An historical longitudinal study of internal return migrations later in life in the Netherlands. Demographic Research, 767-808. doi:
- Sesma Carlos, M.D., Kok, J. & Oris, M. (2022). Internal migrant trajectories within The Netherlands, 1850–1972: Applying cluster analysis and dissimilarity tree methods. Historical Methods, 55, 1-19. doi:
- Bras, H.A.J., Kok, J. & Zijdeman, R. (Eds.). (2021-2021). Not Like Everybody Else. Essays in Honor of Kees Mandemakers [Special issue]. Historical Life Course Studies, 10. doi:
- Dijk, I.K. van & Kok, J. (2021). Kept in the family. Remarriage, siblings and consanguinity in the Netherlands. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 53 (3), 313-349. doi:
- Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2021). Dat trouwt maar voor het vaderland weg. Gedwongen huwelijken en huwelijksleeftijd, Nederland 1811–1915. In J. van Bavel, D. de Coninck, P. Puschmann & B. van der Putte (Eds.), Neurotic doubt and sacred curiosity. Essays in honour of Koen Matthijs (pp. 193-205). Leuven: Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven
- Kok, J., Bras, H.A.J. & Zijdeman, R. (2021). Not Like Everybody Else. Essays in Honor of Kees Mandemakers. Historical Life Course Studies, 10, 1-4. doi:
- Kok, J., Bulten, L.J. & Leede, B. de (2021). Persecuted or permitted? Fraternal Polyandry in a Calvinist colony, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Continuity and Change, 36 (3), 331-355. doi:
- Kok, J. (2021). The Life Span of Large Historical Databases. Historical Life Course Studies, 10, 19-23. doi:
- Oort, T. van, Mourits, R.J., Quanjer, B., Galen, C.W. van & Kok, J. (2021). Sterfte in Suriname. Hoe databases een nieuw licht werpen op het leven van slaafgemaakten. Ex Tempore, 40 (3), 116-123.
- Quanjer, B. & Kok, J. (2021). Biographies and Bodies of Pupils of the Amsterdam Maritime Institute, 1792–1943. Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 6 (1), 1-13. doi:
- Walhout, E., Dane, J., Hilevych, Y. & Kok, J. (2021). Hostages of time. Policy, practice and experiences of relinquishing a child for adoption in the Netherlands between 1956 and 1984. Annales de Démographie Historique, 142 (2), 1-19. doi:
- Kok, J. (2020). "De grootste bevolking van ons land". Waren de Texelaars de langste Nederlanders? Uitgave van de Historische Vereniging Texel, 134, 10-19.
- Kok, J. (2020). The thombo treasure. Colonial population administration as source for the historical demography of early modern Sri Lanka. Australian Economic History Review, 60 (1), 105-121. doi:
- Mandemakers, K. & Kok, J. (2020). Dutch Lives. The Historical Sample of the Netherlands (1987−): Development and Research. Historical Life Course Studies, 9, 69-113. doi:
- Quanjer, B. & Kok, J. (2020). Drafting the Dutch. Selection Biases in Dutch Conscript Records in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century. Social Science History, 44 (3), 501-524. doi:
- Beekink, E. & Kok, J. (2019). Lengte als graadmeter voor een 'gezonde' jeugd. Een korte studie gebaseerd op gegevens uit de eerste helft van de negentiende eeuw in Woerden. Heemtydingen, 55 (3), 57-67.
- Kok, J. (2019). Courtship and rites: a survey of the world's family systems. In P. Puschmann (Ed.), A Cultural history of marriage in the age of empires (The Cultural Histories Series, 5) (pp. 17-37). London: Bloomsbury Academic
- Kok, J. (2019). Deconstructing illegitimacy. In M Hohenwarter, W.M. Iner & T. Krautzer (Eds.), Mensch im Mittelpunkt. Bevölkerung - Ökonomie - Erinnerung. Festschrift für Peter Teibenbacher zum 65. Geburtstag (pp. 71-79). Münster: LIT Verlag
- Quanjer, B. & Kok, J. (2019). Homemakers and heights. Intra-household resource allocation and male stature in the Netherlands, 1860–1930. Economics and Human Biology, 34, 194-207. doi:
- Bulten, L.J., Kok, J., Lyna, D.B.G.W. & Rupesinghe, N. (2018). Contested conjugality? Sinhalese marriage practices in eighteenth-century Dutch colonial Sri Lanka. Annales de Demographie Historique, 135 (1), 51-80. doi:
- Kok, J., Beekink, E. & Bijsterbosch, D. (2018). Environmental Influences on Young Adult Male Height. A Comparison of Town and Countryside in the Netherlands, 1815-1900. Historical Life Course Studies, 6, 95-110. doi:
- Kok, J. (2018). Pigeon pairs and rich folks’ dreams. The (lack of) sex preferences for offspring in the Netherlands, 1850-1950. In P. Puschmann & T. Riswick (Eds.), Building Bridges: Scholars, History and Historical Demography. A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Theo Engelen (pp. 487-500). Nijmegen: Valkhof Pers
- Kok, J., Matthys, C., Hin, S. & Paping, R. (Eds.). (2018-2018). Urban-Rural Dichotomies in Historical Demography [Special issue]. Historical Life Course Studies, 6.
- Beekink, E. & Kok, J. (2017). Temporary and lasting effects of childhood deprivation on male stature. Late adolescent stature and catch-up growth in Woerden (The Netherlands) in the first half of the nineteenth century. The History of the Family, 22 (2/3), 196-213. doi:
- Boomen, N.J.M. van den, Dane, J., Hilevych, Y., Hoedemaeckers, J.A.P., Walhout, E.C. & Kok, J. (2017). Beklemd in de scharnieren van de tijd. Beleid, praktijk en ervaringen van afstand ter adoptie door niet-gehuwde moeders in Nederland tussen 1956 en 1984. s.l.: WODC Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie
- Kok, J. (2017). Church Affiliation and Life Course Transitions in The Netherlands,1850-1970. Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, 42 (2), 59-91. doi:
- Kok, J. (2017). De band opnieuw afspelen. Simulatietechnieken in de historische demografie. In Theo Engelen & Tim Riswick (Eds.), Van historische informatiekunde naar historische sensatie. Libretto amicorum voor Onno Boonstra (pp. 24-36). Nijmegen: Valkhof Pers
- Kok, J. (2017). Women's agency in historical family systems. In Jan.Luiten van Zanden, Auke Rijpma & Jan Kok (Eds.), Agency, gender and economic development in the world economy, 1850-2000. Testing the Sen hypothesis (Gender and well-being) (pp. 10-50). London/New York: Routledge
- Zanden, J.L. van, Rijpma, A. & Kok, J. (2017). Agency, gender and economic development in the world economy, 1850-2000. Testing the Sen hypothesis (Gender and well-being). London/New York: Routledge
- Bras, H.A.J. & Kok, J. (2016). Diverging pathways? Sibling differences in marriage timing in a commercialized rural region of the Netherlands, 1860-1940. In Fabrice Boudjaaba, Christine Dousset & Sylvie Mouysset (Eds.), Frères et sœurs du Moyen Âge à nos jours (Population, famille et société, 22) (pp. 189-206). Bern: Peter Lang
- Drixler, F.F. & Kok, J. (2016). A lost family-planning regime in eighteenth-century Ceylon. Population Studies, 70 (1), 93-114. doi:
- Kok, J., Bras, H.A.J. & Rotering, P.P.P. (2016). Courtship and bridal pregnancy in The Netherlands, 1870-1950. Annales de Demographie Historique, 132 (2), 165-191. doi:
- Kok, J. (2016). Genealogies in historical demography - debates and prospects [text in Korean]. Daedong Munhwa Yeon'Gu, 94, 7-40. doi:
- Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2016). Life and Death of Singles in Dutch Cities, 1850-1940. Journal of Urban History, 21 (1), 101-120. doi:
- Mandemakers, K., Mönkediek, B. & Kok, J. (2016). De rol van gezin en bedrijf bij de migratie van Nederlandse boerenkinderen tussen 1850 en 1940. In Paul Puschmann, Richard Paping & Koen Matthijs (Eds.), Familie en levenskansen in het verleden (Jaarboek Historische Demografie, 2015) (pp. 25-56). Leuven/Den Haag: Acco
- Matthijs, K., Hin, S., Kok, J. & Matsuo, H. (Ed.). (2016). The future of historical demography. Upside down and inside out. Leuven/Den Haag: Acco
- Mönkediek, B., Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2016). The Impact of Family Setting and Local Opportunities on Leaving Home and Migration Destinations of Rural Youths, The Netherlands 1860-1940. Historical Life Course Studies, 3, 43-65. doi:
- Kok, J. & Leinarte, D. (2015). Cohabitation in Europe: a revenge of history? The History of the Family, 20 (4), 489-514. doi:
- Kok, J. (2015). Liefde met hindernissen. Over ongewenste relaties in het verleden. Justitiële Verkenningen, 41 (4), 9-21.
- Kok, J., Mandemakers, K. & Mönkediek, B. (2014). Flight from the land? Migration flows of the rural population of the Netherlands, 1850-1940. Espace, Populations, Sociétés, 2014 (1), 1-18. doi:
- Kok, J. (2014). Historical demography. Understanding temporal change, individual variation and regional persistence. Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis, 11 (2), 237-259.
- Kok, J. (2014). “At age 27, she gets furious”. Scripts on Marriage and Life Course Variation in The Netherlands, 1850-1970. Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, 39 (1), 113-132. doi:
- Vleuten, L. van der & Kok, J. (2014). Demographic trends since 1820. In Jan.Luiten van Zanden & et al. (Eds.), How was life? Global well-being since 1820 (pp. 37-55). Paris: OECD Publishing doi:
- Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2013). Falend kerngezin? Opvang van zwakkeren in Nederlandse huishoudens, 1850-1940. In Koen Matthijs, Paul Puschmann, Hilde Bras & Angélique Janssens (Eds.), Gender in/en historische demografie (Jaarboek historische demografie, 2013) (pp. 233-258). Leuven/Den Haag: Acco
- Kok, J. & Belt, A. van den (2013). Malaria, mijnworm of mannen? Op zoek naar de oorzaken van de oversterfte van vrouwen op Ceylon in de achttiende en twintigste eeuw. In Koen Matthijs, Paul Puschmann, Hilde Bras & Angélique Janssens (Eds.), Gender in/en historische demografie (Jaarboek historische demografie, 2013) (pp. 47-70). Leuven/Den Haag: Acco
- Kok, J. & Wouters, P. (2013). Virtual knowledge in family history: visionary technologies, research dreams, and research agendas. In Paul Wouters, Anne Beaulieu, Andrea Scharnhorst & Sally Wyatt (Eds.), Virtual Knowledge. Experimenting in the Humanities and Social Sciences (pp. 219-250). Cambridge Mass/London: MIT Press
- Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2012). Nuclear Hardship in the Nuclear Heartland? Families and Welfare in the Netherlands, 1850-1940. (external report, Working papers WOG Historische demografie, no 2012-1). Leuven: WOG Historische demografie
- Matthijs, K., Kok, J. & Bras, H.A.J. (Ed.). (2012). Leren van historische levenslopen (Historisch-demografisch onderzoek in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Jaarboek, 2012). Leuven/Den Haag: Acco
- Belt, A. van den, Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2011). Digital thombos: A new source for 18th century Sri Lankan family history. Research note. The History of the Family, 16 (4), 481-489. doi:
- Kok, J., Vandezande, M. & Mandemakers, K. (2011). Household structure, resource allocation and child well-being. A comparison across family systems. Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis, 8 (4), 76-101.
- Kok, J. (2011). Levens lezen. Levensloop, demografie en cultuur in historisch perspectief (2011, June 29). s.l: s.n.
- Kok, J., Shepherd, J.R., Schoonheim, M.M. & Chang, T.-y. (2011). Maternal mortality in Taiwan and the Netherlands, 1850-1945. In Theo Engelen, John.R. Shepherd & Wen-shan Yang (Eds.), Death at the opposite ends of the Eurasian continent. Mortality trends in Taiwan and the Netherlands, 1850-1945 (Life at the extremes, IV) (pp. 229-273). Amsterdam: Aksant
- Kok, J. (2011). Moeten en mogen trouwen. Gedwongen huwelijken en generatieconflict, 1870-1940. In Theo Engelen, Onno Boonstra & Angélique Janssens (Eds.), Levenslopen in transformatie. Liber amicorum bij het afscheid van prof.dr. Paul M.M. Klep (pp. 94-104). Nijmegen: Valkhof Pers
- Vandezande, M., Matthijs, K. & Kok, J. (2011). Sibling struggle for schooling: between resource dilution and collaborative learning, the Netherlands, 1850-1920’. Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, 36 (3), 333-349.
- Vandezande, M., Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2011). The Impact of Kin Co-residence on Survival Chances of Infants and Children in the Netherlands, 1863-1909. A New Methodological Approach. Romanian Journal of Population Studies, 5 (2), 139-160.
- Arrizabalaga, M.-P., Bolovan, I., Eppel, M., Kok, J. & Nagata, M.L. (Ed.). (2010). Many Paths to Happiness? Studies in Population and Family History A Festschrift for Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux. Amsterdam: Aksant
- Bavel, J. van & Kok, J. (2010). "De levenskracht der bevolking”. Sociale en demografische kwesties in de Lage Landen tijdens het interbellum. In Jan Kok & Jan van Bavel (Eds.), De levenskracht der bevolking. Sociale en demografische kwesties in de Lage Landen tijdens het interbellum (pp. 9-22). Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven
- Bavel, J. van & Kok, J. (2010). A Mixed effects model of birth spacing for pre-transition populations. Evidence of deliberate fertility control from nineteenth century Netherlands. The History of the Family, 15 (2), 125-138. doi:
- Bavel, J. van & Kok, J. (2010). Pioneers of the Modern Lifestyle? Childless Couples in the Early Twentieth-Century Netherlands. Social Science History, 34 (1), 47-75. doi:
- Bavel, J. van & Kok, J. (2010). Uitstel en afstel van ouderschap tijdens het interbellum in Nederland. In Jan Kok & Jan van Bavel (Eds.), De levenskracht der bevolking. Sociale en demografische kwesties in de Lage Landen tijdens het interbellum (pp. 197-227). Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven
- Bras, H.A.J., Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2010). Sibship Size and Status Attainment Across Contexts: Evidence from the Netherlands, 1840-1925. Demographic Research, 23 (4), 73-104. doi:
- Dormans, S. & Kok, J. (2010). An Alternative Approach to Large Historical Databases; Exploring Best Practices with Collaboratories. Historical Methods, 43 (3), 97-107. doi:
- Kok, J. & Mandemakers, K. (2010). A life-course approach to co-residence in the Netherlands, 1850–1940. Continuity and Change, 25 (2), 285-312. doi:
- Kok, J., Mandemakers, K. & Damsma, D. (2010). Atrophied Hearts? Partner Choice and Social Reproduction of Farmers in the North-Western Part of the Netherlands in the 19th and Early 20th Century. In Marie-Pierre Arrizabalaga & et al. (Eds.), Many Paths to Happiness? Studies in Population and Family History A Festschrift for Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux (pp. 362-387). Amsterdam: Aksant
- Kok, J. & Bavel, J. van (Ed.). (2010). De levenskracht der bevolking. Sociale en demografische kwesties in de Lage Landen tijdens het interbellum. Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven
- Kok, J. (2010). The Family Factor in Migration Decisions. In Jan Lucassen, Leo Lucassen & Patrick Manning (Eds.), Migration History in World History. Multidisciplinary Approaches (Studies in global social history, 3) (pp. 215-250). Leiden: Brill
- Matthijs, K., Van de Putte, B., Kok, J. & Bras, H.A.J. (Ed.). (2010). Leven in de Lage Landen. Historisch-demografisch onderzoek in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Leuven/Den Haag: Acco
- Nagata, M.L., Kok, J., Bolovan, I. & Eppel, M. (2010). Studies in Family and Demographic History Compiled to honor the Contributions of Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux. Introduction. In Marie-Pierre Arrizabalaga & et al. (Eds.), Many Paths to Happiness? Studies in Population and Family History A Festschrift for Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux (pp. 9-25). Amsterdam: Aksant
Teaching
Courses (2024-2025)
Ancillary activities
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co-editor-in-chief History of the Family. An International Quarterly
(01 January 2008)
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chair steering committee Historical Sample of the Netherlands
(01 January 2000)
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member steering committee NWO-CATCH project LINKS
(01 January 2009)
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Member scientific advisory Board ‘The Great War from Below. Multiple Mobility and Cultural Dynamics in Belgium (1900-1930)
(01 January 2014)
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Member advisory board VIDI project Nature or Nurture, prof. dr T. de Moor
(01 January 2014)
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Member steering committee Computational Humanities (KNAW) project CedaR
(01 January 2012)
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Member steering committee Digital Humanities Benelux (2013-)
(01 January 2014)
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Member Scientific Advisory Board Historical Life Course Studies (e-journal)
(01 January 2013)
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Member Scientific Board Huygens ING-KNAW
(01 April 2020)
Huygens ING-KNAW -
Member Supervisory Board CLARIAH
(30 September 2021)