BLOCKADE

Maurice Backschat is a postdoctoral fellow of BLOCKADE and part of the Freiburg-based team. His project explores autarky ‘from below’ by analyzing women’s mobilization and adaptation strategies during the blockades of the First and Second World Wars, focusing on cookbooks as representations of grassroots resilience. The research examines how women and women’s organizations in Germany and the Netherlands adapted to wartime scarcities, challenging traditional top-down historical narratives through the lens of household management and culinary practices. The chronological focus spans both World Wars, investigating learning effects and continuities between the conflicts. Among the concrete strategies investigated are ingredient substitution, food conservation, and the cultural adaptation of culinary terminology, with special emphasis on the transnational comparison.

Backschat’s wider research interests revolve around 20th-century history, including the religious and secular dimensions of society—its composition, mechanisms, and influences. His analyses are based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative sources, compiled from public and private archives in several countries, including the Netherlands, Germany and the USA.

He studied Economics in Mosbach, Germany and religious studies with a focus on historical themes in Groningen, the Netherlands. His PhD from the University of Groningen in collaboration with the Münster University explored the social, political and religious influence of Protestant theologians in Germany during the first half of the 20th century. He is a professional athlete, won gold at the national collegiate championships in the marathon and was Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara.