Polders zonder poldermodel? Een onderzoek naar de rol van inspraak en overleg in de waterstaat van de laatmiddeleeuwse Vlaamse kustvlakte (1250-1600)

The management of the coastal water control system in the medieval Low Countries was characterized by a bottom-up organisation, with apparently broad participation of all people concerned. The joint effort of rural communities facing the threat of inundation and land-loss, is often considered to have been at the very origin of a long-lasting tradition of non-hierarchical, bottom-up decisionmaking – the so-called ‘polder-model’. This hypothesis is verified for the latemedieval Flemish coastal plain. Notwithstanding the formal attention paid to participation and broad consultation, the everyday... Mehr ...