Balkenhol, dr. M. (Markus)
Researcher Ethnology
E-mail:
markus.balkenhol@meertens.knaw.nl
Telephone:
020 4628 526
Research group
Ethnology and Oral CultureBiography
Markus Balkenhol (b. 1979) is an Ethnology Researcher at the Meertens Institute. He studied anthropology and German literature at the Freie Universität Berlin and anthropology at the University of Auckland. In 2014 he received his PhD from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for a dissertation on the commemoration of slavery in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the anthropology of colonial heritage, memory politics and religion. In the past he participated in the Dutch Research Council (NWO) project ‘Heritage Dynamics’ (2008-2012) and the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) project ‘Currents of Faith’ (2013-2016), both of which were concerned with religion and heritage in the Atlantic world. Balkenhol was previously part of the editorial team of the anthropological journal Etnofoor. He is currently a member of the External Editorial Board of the Amsterdam Museum Journal and a board member of the Dutch Association of Anthropologists (ABv).
Key publications
- 2021. Tracing Slavery. The politics of Atlantic memory in the Netherlands. Berghahn.
- 2020. The Secular Sacred. Emotions of Belonging and the Perils of Nation and Religion, with Ernst van den Hemel and Irene Stengs. Palgrave.
Publications
- contribution to journal (article)
- contribution to journal (review)
- contribution to edited volume
- working paper
- book (author)
- book (editor)
- thesis
- conference participation
- public engagement
2023
Balkenhol, M. (2023). Canonizing De Kom: Sacrality, Blackness, and the Nation in Postcolonial Netherlands. small axe - a caribbean journal of criticism, 27(1), 59-66. https://doi.org/10.1215/07990537-10461828
2020
Balkenhol, M. & Coenders, Y. (2020). Metahistory as diaspora practice: Mobilizing the Dutch black radical tradition. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 4256-4268. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1812281
2019
Balkenhol, M. & Schramm, K. (2019). Doing race in Europe. Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale, 27(4), 585-595. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.12721
Balkenhol, M. & van den Hemel, E. (2019). Odd Bedfellows, New Alliances: The Politics of Religion, Cultural Heritage and Identity in the Netherlands. Trajecta: Religie, Cultuur en Samenleving in de Nederlanden, 28(1), 117-141. https://doi.org/10.5117/TRA2019.1.006.BALK
Balkenhol, M. (2019). Over standbeelden, totempalen, en de herinnering aan de slavernij. B en M: tijdschrift voor beleid, politiek en maatschappij, 46(2), 294-299. https://doi.org/10.5553/BenM/138900692019046002009
Balkenhol, M. & van den Hemel, E. (2019). Zwarte Pieten, moskeebezoek en zoenende mannen: Katholiek activisme van Cultuur Onder Vuur en de culturalisering van religie. Religie & Samenleving, 14(1), 5.
2017
Balkenhol, M. (2017). Bodies, monuments, history. Commemorating slavery in the Netherlands. Jahrbuch für Europäische Ethnologie, 12.
2016
Balkenhol, M. (2016). Silence and the politics of compassion. Commemorating slavery in the Netherlands. Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale, 24(3).
2015
Balkenhol, M. (2015). The art of tracing. Material Religion, 11, 109-110.
Balkenhol, M. (2015). Working with the ancestors: The kabra mask and the 'African renaissance' in the Netherlands. Material Religion, 11(2), 251-254.
Balkenhol, M. (2015). Zwarte Piet, Racisme, Emoties. Waardenwerk, 62/63, 36-46.
2013
Balkenhol, M. & Jaffe, R. K. (2013). The Netherlands Now. Introduction. Etnofoor, 25(2), 7-11.
2012
Balkenhol, M. (2012). De kotomisi en haar kinderen. Slavernij en erfgoed nieuwe stijl in Nederland. OSO: tijdschrift voor Surinamistiek en het Caraïbisch gebied, 31(2), 55-71.
Balkenhol, M. (2012). Introduction. Etnofoor, 24(1), 7-13.
2011
Balkenhol, M. (2011). Emplacing slavery: Roots, monuments and politics of belonging in the Netherlands. African Diaspora, 5(2).
2010
Balkenhol, M. (2010). The Changing Aesthetics of Savagery. Slavery, Belonging, and Post-Colonial Melancholia in the Netherlands. Etnofoor, 71-89.
2024
Balkenhol, M. (2024). [Review of] Het koloniale en slavernijverleden van Hofstad Den Haag. BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, 139. https://bmgn-lchr.nl/article/view/19839
2018
Balkenhol, M. (2018). [Review of: Melissa F. Weiner (2018) Smash the Pillars : Decoloniality and the Imaginary of Color in the Netherlands]. Etnofoor, 30(2), 101-105.
2014
Balkenhol, M. (2014). [Review of: Partridge (2012) Hypersexuality and Headscarves]. Reviews & Critical Commentary. http://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/critcom/hypersexuality-and-headscarves/
2024
Balkenhol, M. (2024). The presence of the ancestors as colonial inheritance. In W. Modest (Ed.), Our Colonial Inheritance (pp. 308-322). Lannoo.
2023
Balkenhol, M. (2023). Herdenkingen en doorwerkingen van de slavernij in Nederland. In R. M. Allen, E. Captain, M. van Rossum, & U. Vyent (Eds.), Staat en slavernij: Het Nederlandse koloniale slavernijverleden en zijn doorwerkingen (pp. 73-81). Athenaeum.
Balkenhol, M. Mepschen, P. & Duyvendak, W. J. G. (2023). L’équation nativiste: sexualité, race et religion aux Pays-Bas. In G. Alévêque, & A. Chandivert (Eds.), La Moralisation de la culture: Éthiques et politiques des appartenances et différences Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme.
2021
Balkenhol, M. (2021). Commemorating the African Ancestors: Entanglements of Citizenship, Colonialism, and Religion in the Netherlands. In L. Medovoi, & E. Bentley (Eds.), Religion, Secularism, and Political Belonging (pp. 265-282). Duke University Press.
Balkenhol, M. (2021). Corona, Black Lives Matter, en het universele recht om te ademen. In M. van Oostendorp, & S. Wolff (Eds.), Viraal Nederland: Taal en cultuur van de eerste golf (pp. 94-104). Uitgeverij Sterck & De Vreese.
Balkenhol, M. & van den Hemel, E. (2021). Keyword: Nationalism. In L. Medovoi, & E. Bentley (Eds.), Religion, Secularism, and Political Belonging (pp. 139-146). Duke University Press.
2020
Balkenhol, M. (2020). Colonial Heritage and the Sacred: Contesting the Statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in the Netherlands. In M. Balkenhol, E. van den Hemel, & I. Stengs (Eds.), The Secular Sacred : Emotions of Belonging and the Perils of Nation and Religion (pp. 195-216). (Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series). Palgrave Macmillan.
Stengs, I. L. Balkenhol, M. & van den Hemel, E. (2020). Emotional Entanglements of Sacrality and Secularity: Engaging the Paradox. In I. Stengs, M. Balkenhol, & E. van den Hemel (Eds.), The Secular Sacred: Emotions of Belonging and the Perils of Nation and Religion (pp. 1-18). (Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series). Palgrave Macmillan.
Balkenhol, M. (2020). Humanisme en paternalisme in de Amsterdamse slavernijdiscussie. In P. Brandon, G. Jones, N. Jouwe, & M. van Rossum (Eds.), De slavernij in Oost en West: het Amsterdam onderzoek Spectrum.
2019
Balkenhol, M. & Modest, W. (2019). Caring for Some and not Others: Museums and the Politics of Care in Post-Colonial Europe. In C. De Cesari, & A. Kaya (Eds.), European Memory in Populism: Representations of Self and Other Routledge.
Balkenhol, M. Llera Blanes, R. & Sarro, R. (2019). Ethnographic Perspectives on the Atlantic: Places, Spirits and Heritage. In Atlantic Perspectives: Places, Spirits and Heritage (pp. 1-16). Berghahn Books Inc..
Balkenhol, M. (2019). Imaging the African Diaspora: Cultural heritage, religion, and belonging in the Netherlands. In Atlantic Perspectives: Places, Spirits and Heritage Berghahn Books Inc..
2018
Balkenhol, M. (2018). Iconic Objects: Making diasporic heritage, blackness, and whiteness in the Netherlands. In B. Meyer, & M. Van de Port (Eds.), Sense and Essence: Heritage and the cultural production of the real Berghahn Books Inc..
2016
Balkenhol, M. (2016). The nativist triangle: Sexuality, race, and religion in discourses on Dutchness. In The culturalization of citizenship: Autochthony and belonging in a globalizing world (pp. 97-112). Palgrave Macmillan.
2011
Balkenhol, M. (2011). Ritueel en ritualisering. In De Rituelenkar
2023
2011
2010
2009
2020
Stengs, I. L. Balkenhol, M. & van den Hemel, E. (Eds.) (2020). The Secular Sacred: Emotions of Belonging and the Perils of Nation and Religion. (Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series). Palgrave Macmillan.
2019
Balkenhol, M. Llera Blanes, R. & Sarro, R. (Eds.) (2019). Atlantic Perspectives: Places, Spirits and Heritage. Berghahn Books Inc.
2014
Balkenhol, M. (2014). Tracing slavery: An ethnography of diaspora, affect, and cultural heritage in Amsterdam. [PhD thesis, VU University Amsterdam].
2024
M. Balkenhol (2024). Entanglements of colonial heritage and the sacred. The kabra (ancestor) mask in the Netherlands. 28-10-2024.
2022
M. Balkenhol (2022). Postkoloniale geschiedenis en maatschappelijke controverse. 21-11-2022. (weerbare wetenschap)
M. Balkenhol (2022). Whose body? Zwarte Piet as a secular sacred. 02-11-2022. (Sensing the postcolonial migrant body)
M. Balkenhol (2022). Zwarte Piet, an introduction. 02-10-2022. (nias lunch seminar)
2021
M. Balkenhol (2021). Colonial heritage and the sacred. 03-11-2021. (NGG conference Religion and Heritage: Futures for Religious Pasts)
2017
M. Balkenhol (2017). Portraying the African Diaspora: Heritagization and Sacralization in the Netherlands.. 29-11-2017. (Heritage, Religion, Authenticity and Difference )
M. Balkenhol (2017). Race, religion, and sexuality. A material perspective on postcolonial memory politics in the Netherlands.. 24-11-2017. (EASA gender and sexuality network meeting)
M. Balkenhol (2017). Ancestor spectacle. Commemorating slavery in the Netherlands. 19-10-2017. (NGG Lustrum Conference 2017)
M. Balkenhol (2017). Beelden, blackness en gender in Nederland. 24-08-2017. (Historicidagen 2017)
M. Balkenhol (2017). Black Icons. Commemorating Slavery in the Netherlands. 13-07-2017. (council for european studies conference glasgow)
M. Balkenhol (2017). Black Icons. Race and the politics of culture in the Netherlands. 12-07-2017. (council for european studies conference glasgow)
M. Balkenhol (2017). Blackness, Belonging, and Religion. 28-03-2017. (SIEF2017)
2016
M. Balkenhol (2016). Public Interview Gloria Wekker. 19-10-2016. (Public Interview Gloria Wekker)
2015
M. Balkenhol (2015). Council for European Studies Conference. 08-07-2015. (Council for European Studies Conference)
M. Balkenhol (2015). SIEF conference. 21-06-2015. (SIEF conference )
2014
M. Balkenhol (2014). Titel lezing: 'Moving traditions - on motion and emotion' UvA Graduate School of Social Sciences.. 05-11-2014. (Moving Traditions: The Story of Zwarte Piet)
M. Balkenhol, W.J.G. Duyvendak, Paul Mepschen (2014). The Nativist Triangle: Religion, race, and sex in the Netherlands. 15-03-2014. (Council for European Studies Conference, 14-16 March, Washington DC)
M. Balkenhol (2014). 'Polderen' – Making land, making the nation. 06-02-2014. (The Future of the Commons: Interfaces of Nature and Culture)
M. Balkenhol (2014). National Geography.. 09-01-2014. (Expertmeeting De "Nederlandsheid" van Nederland)
M. Balkenhol (2024). 13th EASA Biennial Conference ‘Collaboration, Intimacy & Revolution - innovation and continuity in an interconnected world’, Tallinn, Estonia. 22-12-2024. (13th EASA Biennial Conference ‘Collaboration, Intimacy & Revolution - innovation and continuity in an interconnected world’, Tallinn, Estonia)
2013
M. Balkenhol (2013). De codetaal van de angisa. 10-11-2013. (Jeugdacademie, Afrika Museum)
M. Balkenhol (2013). Heritage Dynamics and research as a human right. 06-11-2013. (Symposium with Arjun Appadurai)
2012
M. Balkenhol (2012). Position paper at Symposium, The Everyday. 16-12-2012. (Symposium, The Everyday)
M. Balkenhol (2012). Political frequencies. The past as moral resource in Afro-Surinamese music.. 13-12-2012. (Culturalization of Citizenship Conference, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2012). Fission and Fusion. Nativism, race, and the commemoration of slavery in the Netherlands. 29-08-2012. (IMISCOE Conference, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2012). Politics of Compassion. Race, emotion, and the commemoration of slavery in the Netherlands. 12-06-2012. (Thinking Feelings Symposium, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2012). Fission and Fusion. Nativism, race, and the commemoration of slavery in the Netherlands. 30-05-2012. (Ir/Relevance of Race Seminar, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2012). The cultural memory of slavery. 29-05-2012. (Masterclass, Eric Olin Wright, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2012). Nativism, race, and the commemoration of slavery in the Netherlands. 22-03-2012. (Annual Conference of the Council for European Studies, Boston)
2011
M. Balkenhol (2011). Kulturu, het cultureel geheugen van de slavernij en de 'afwezigheid' van de jongeren. 12-11-2011. (IBS lecture)
M. Balkenhol (2011). The naked slave and the leriman. 18-10-2011. (Heritage and History Conference, Bahia, Brazil)
M. Balkenhol (2011). 'Zwartheid' en 'Witheid' bij de herdenking van de slavernij in Amsterdam Zuidoost. 30-09-2011. (NiNsee Lecture, NiNsee, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2011). Discussion of Nash, 2011. Who are the people?. 03-06-2011. (Conference Technologies of Belonging, Universiteit van Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2011). Memory work and slavery in the Netherlands. 08-04-2011. (Research seminar, Berlijn)
M. Balkenhol (2011). PhD thesis outline. 18-03-2011. (PhD seminar, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2011). The changing aesthetics of savagery. 24-02-2011. (De andere blik, Universiteit van Amsterdam)
2010
M. Balkenhol (2010). Tracing Traces. The Fabric of Slavery in the Netherlands.. 26-04-2010. (Heritage Dynamics Conference Accra, Accra)
M. Balkenhol (2010). Tracing Traces. The fabric of slavery in the Netherlands. 01-04-2010. (Politics of Belonging. Engaging Citizenship, Community, and the Body. Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam)
M. Balkenhol (2010). Veldwerkrapportage Suriname. 04-01-2010. (vergadering, Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam)
2009
M. Balkenhol (2009). The slave past in the present metropole. The dynamics of commemorating slavery in the Netherlands. 20-11-2009. (ASA: Africa at a Crossroads, New Orleans)
M. Balkenhol (2009). Slavery and the negotiation of citizenship. How Afro Dutch deal with debates about autochthony. 05-06-2009. (Third European Conference on African Studies, Leipzig)
M. Balkenhol (2009). Trauma, truth and recognition. Narratives of authenticity and slavery in Dutch memory culture. 16-04-2009. (Sacrosanct Culture. The Authentication of Cultural Form, Amsterdam)
2023
M. Balkenhol (2023). 30 Juni Herdenking Surinameplein. 30-06-2023. (30 Juni Herdenking Surinameplein)
2022
M. Balkenhol (2022). de herdenking van de slavernij. 19-10-2022. (faqta les)
M. Balkenhol (2022). Winti. 08-02-2022. (Studium Generale, Leiden)
2019
M. Balkenhol (2019). Van plantage naar kinderboerderij. De Gliphoeve in Amsterdam Zuidoost. 11-11-2019. (Publiekssymposium De Boerderij)
2017
M. Balkenhol (2017). Beelden. 27-05-2017. (Becoming More)
2016
M. Balkenhol (2016). Book launch 'White Innocence', author Gloria Wekker. 27-05-2016. (White Innocence Book Launch)
2015
M. Balkenhol (2015). Zwart in Nederland. 05-12-2015.
M. Balkenhol (2015). Clashing and sharing: emotions in intangible heritage practice. 10-11-2015.
M. Balkenhol (2015). het kabra masker. 15-09-2015. (slavernij in vergelijkend perspectief)
M. Balkenhol (2015). Zwart Beraad: erfenis en actualiteit van een politieke beweging. 18-06-2015. (Zwart Beraad: erfenis en actualiteit van een politieke beweging)
2014
M. Balkenhol (2014). De geheime codetaal van de angisa. 01-10-2014.
2012
M. Balkenhol (2012). Shared History. 30-11-2012.