Thomas D'haeninck (Ghent University, Maastricht University) started in March 2014 his doctoral research on the position of Belgian reformers in a transnational network of social reform, intellectual mobility as a search for a moral awaking (1850-1914). To what extent were Belgian reformers appealed to participate in "expertise performances" at international gatherings on social reform issues? This research analyses how intellectual mobility in a transnational network spread ideas and practices beyond the borders of the nation state and thus made local and international milieus intertwine. The underlying question that drives this research relates to the individual and his urge to travel beyond the borders of the nation state and to discuss with international fellow reformers. In order to truly understand the drives to be intellectually mobile in the nineteenth century, this research will focus on individual case studies and their trajectory within a transnational network in order to disentangle the different ambitions and motivations that drove these Belgian social reformers.
