Henk-Jan Dekker
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henk-jandekker.bsky.social
Henk-Jan Dekker
@henk-jandekker.bsky.social
Historian of mobility, energy, and technology; working on global histories of cycling and automobility. Postdoctoral researcher at Bielefeld University. Book review editor at Technology and Culture.
Pinned
The takeover of Amsterdam University Press by Taylor & Francis apparently means that a more affordable paperback version is forthcoming but unfortunately the open access ebook has become a bit harder to find. It should still be available here: library.oapen.org/handle/20.50...
Cycling Pathways
library.oapen.org
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
"Umwelt - Technik - Wissen" - Ein großartiges Gemeinschafts- und Verflechtungsprojekt mit jungen Autor:innen aus der ganzen DACH-Region! Herzlichen Dank an alle Beteiligten und viel Spaß bei der Lektüre (Open Access)! #envhist #histtech #histsci #envirotech www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-7...
Umwelt – Technik – Wissen
Junge Forschung aus der Umweltgeschichte: warum Umwelt, Technik und Wissen als Triebfedern der Gesellschaft gelten.
www.transcript-verlag.de
November 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM
1/ It's great to see that the new book Cycling Cities: The African Experiences has just been published! It’s a must-read for anyone interested in cycling and sustainable mobility and looks at African history through a new lens. A short thread: www.transitiestudies.nl/product/cycl...
Cycling Cities: The African Experience - SHT
Cycling Cities: The African Experience: explores a century of urban cycling across Africa—from the rural towns of Aba and Zomba to the bustling capitals of Cairo and Cape Town, and many cities in betw...
www.transitiestudies.nl
November 11, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
GWU-Member @czumbragel.bsky.social contributed to the radio feature “100 Years of Energy Transition–How Germany Almost Became Renewable Once Before”
The episode explores how people once imagined a different energy future
open.spotify.com/episode/3W18...
#energistories #UniBielefeld #energyhistory
Energiewende 1925 - Als Deutschland fast schon einmal erneuerbar wurde
open.spotify.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.
October 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
It's been almost four years since publishing my book on the history of Dutch cycling, and it's been great to see all the exciting work on global cycling history that has come out since. Such an underrated mode of transport in so many contexts, it's finally getting its due. www.aup.nl/en/book/9789...
Cycling Pathways
In an effort to fight climate change, many cities try to boost their cycling levels. They often look towards the Dutch for guidance. However, historians have only begun to uncover how and why the Neth...
www.aup.nl
September 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
Seriously, fuck off.
I say that with all due gravity.
August 5, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The July Issue of Technology and Culture is out now, with another exciting and diverse set of book reviews, including books in Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, and Russian: muse.jhu.edu/issue/55249
Project MUSE - Technology and Culture-Volume 66, Number 3, July 2025
muse.jhu.edu
July 24, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
The people of Gaza face starvation under the joint U.S.-Israeli food distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Our Reporter Got Into Gaza. He Witnessed a Famine of Israel’s Making.
The people of Gaza face starvation under the joint U.S.-Israeli food distribution system run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
interc.pt
July 21, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
Uitstekende kop; 14 gevluchte meisjes niet welkom. Dat het maar duidelijk is waar deze mannen met vuur en woede bang voor zijn; 14 meisjes.
July 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
NEW EPISODE!

"What Makes a City a Cycling City?"

Why do some cities become places where it’s easy to bike for transportation? We talk to the researchers behind the Cycling Cities project and look at places beyond Northern Europe to find out.

Follow and listen:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
June 24, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Interesting-looking new article on the history of motorized tricycles in Greece by Papazafeiropoulou, Tsouchlis, and Tympas. A nice case study of 'marginal mobilities' that foregrounds the role of users and the historical complexity of motorization pathways
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Marginal mobilities: three-wheeled vehicles in Greece from the 1940s to the present
The article discusses mobility in terms of sociotechnical normalization. A central hypothesis is that discipline and control are structural facets of mobility that create uneven mobilities. The art...
www.tandfonline.com
June 24, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
La part du vélo dans les déplacements domicile-travail a dépassé les 20% à Grenoble en 2021, contre 2% à St-Etienne. Les écarts entre villes de population semblable sont énormes, une politique volontariste sur la durée fait la différence. Chiffres fournis par Guy Bourgeois, dans la revue TIM.
June 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Er wringt toch iets als elk dubbeltje dat aan zorg of onderwijs wordt uitgegeven drie keer moet worden verantwoord terwijl we blijkbaar wel denken ergens 19 miljard voor defensie vandaan te kunnen toveren.
June 13, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I'm happy to share that I've started a new position as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bielefeld! I've learned a lot and had a wonderful time in the ETRANHET project @cired.bsky.social and am looking forward to continuing my research at the crossroads of energy and mobility history.
May 13, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The April issue of Technology and Culture is now out! As always, we put together a wide-ranging collection of 40 book reviews, this time including titles in Chinese, French, Spanish, German, and Polish. Take a look at this exciting and diverse collection of books at muse.jhu.edu/issue/54592
Project MUSE - Technology and Culture-Volume 66, Number 2, April 2025
muse.jhu.edu
April 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
🚨 I am delighted to announce that Tom Turnbull’s and my volume with @stanfordpress.bsky.social is out today, featuring Jennifer Eaglin, Victor Seow, Shellen Wu, Antoine Missemer, Giuliano Garavini, Michael Dobson, Laura A. Twagira, Damilola Adebayo, Troy Vettese, Liz Chatterjee, and Rebecca Wright
March 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Vandaag in Trouw een reflectie van @tvlaake.bsky.social en mij over wat Nederland als fietsland kan leren van Ciclovía in Colombia: www.trouw.nl/opinie/opini...
Opinie: Laat het radicale fietsactivisme terugkeren
De Colombiaanse hoofdstad Bogotá stelt al vijftig jaar elke zondag 120 kilometer aan wegen open voor de fiets. Een voorbeeld voor Nederland, betogen Henk-Jan Dekker en Thomas van Laake.
www.trouw.nl
January 30, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Reposted by Henk-Jan Dekker
Earlier this month, Bogotá's Ciclovía marked it's 50th anniversary.

In this @urbancyclinginstitute.org blog, @henk-jandekker.bsky.social and I reflect on what Bogotá tells us about cycling histories and futures: urbancyclinginstitute.org/ciclovia-at-...
Ciclovía at 50: Thinking cycling histories from Bogotá - Urban Cycling Institute
Written by guest authors:Thomas van Laake, doctoral researcher at the University of ManchesterHenk-Jan Dekker, post-doctoral researcher at CIRED The early 1970’s marked a critical juncture in the hist...
urbancyclinginstitute.org
December 26, 2024 at 2:31 PM