Lecture
Tracing Expertise in Politics: A Digital History of Technocracy in the Dutch House of Representatives, 1917-1994
- Date
- Tuesday 25 November 2025
- Time
- Address
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Digital Lab, Huizinga 0.09 (Online: email lucdh@hum.leidenuniv.nl for link)
Tracing Expertise in Politics: A Digital History of Technocracy in the Dutch House of Representatives, 1917-1994
In this talk, Ruben Ros presents his dissertation on the rise of technocratic language in Dutch parliamentary debates between 1917 and 1994. The project shows how politicians invoked expertise to frame decisions as necessary and beyond democratic contestation—revealing technocratic reasoning as a permanent, cyclical, and increasingly central feature of political debate. Alongside these findings, the talk reflects on the methodological dimension of the research: how text analysis methods such as critical search and modelling can be combined with close reading to study long-term rhetorical and conceptual change.
Joining online? Email: lucdh@hum.leidenuniv.nl before 24 Nov. Link emailed on day of talk, 25 Nov.