Between patterns and processes: Measuring labor markets and family strategies in Flanders, 1750–1990

Although the relationship between “internal” household strategies and “external” constraints has received much attention in recent family history, the debate about the conceptualization of “historical time” and the measurement of the micro-macro-linkages is still in its infancy. The aim of this article is two-fold: (a) to emphasize the importance of recurrence in historical time, by tracing three periods of acceleration in the societal changes of the two last centuries, and (b) to test the possibilities of comparative statistics that link micro-patterns and macro-processes. The exercise is applied to two rural regions and one urban area in Flanders.