Denunciation in Belgium during the two World Wars: practices and perceptions in a comparative perspective

This PhD project will study the practices of denunciation in Belgium during the First and the Second World War. More specifically, it will investigate the actual denunciatory practices in times of occupation on the one hand, and the perceptions of various social actors on the other. In this way, this research will fill a lacuna in the existing historiography on the socio-political history of both World Wars in Belgium, and at the same time it will contribute to the international historiography on denunciatory practices. By combining several historiographical traditions, by looking into both the practices of and the perceptions on denunciations and by explicitly using a comparative perspective on denunciatory practices which integrates a top-down and a bottom-up approach, this research project has significant scientific relevance. During this first year, a large amount of energy has been invested in the reading of the existing literature on the subject. This is essential in order to get a grip on the subject and to position this research in the most relevant historiographical debates and traditions. Furthermore, in several phases, the research design was built up and the sources and methodologies were mapped out in order to meet the research’s objectives. During the next few months, G. Leenders will perform explorative research on these sources and start intensive archival research after the autumn of 2013. In addition to this, he will work on a first article and a conference paper which he intends to present at the next European Social Science History Conference in April 2014.