Dr. Peter Malcontent: An Interview 

By Akses Jerome Bekis & Daniël van Noord

Dr. Peter Malcontent’s career and life have been far from linear. He described his career as one based on ‘accidents’, happy accidents, that is. Originally educated as a historian in Nijmegen, he decided to leave that city behind as it did not offer the opportunities he was hoping for and restricted him due to the strong Catholic influence at the university. He found a position as a PhD candidate at Utrecht University with an NWO-funded project on the topic of Dutch human rights policy towards the Third World in the 1970’s. In 1998, he finished his dissertation for which he won the the best PhD dissertation award by the Netherlands School of Human Rights Research. It was then that the first accident happened; instead of pursuing an academic career, Dr. Malcontent actually ended up at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He worked on a project on developmental cooperation, but after finishing this project he was unemployed. Eventually, he found work as a factory worker, probably being the highest educated employee there. It seemed at first that he would not able to pursue his academic career. But then another happy accident happened. Somebody at the Human Rights Institute in Utrecht remembered his dissertation and the prize it received and considered Dr. Malcontent the perfect fit for a position that opened up. After working at the Human Rights Institute for several years, he eventually became an assistant professor with the History Department at Utrecht University.

During his time at the Human Rights Institute, dr. Malcontent followed his research interest and focused on international human rights and transitional justice. At that time, transitional justice was a popular topic which generated a lot of research, so there were few opportunities for new and groundbreaking research. Thus, when the History Department looked for somebody to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict he jumped at the opportunity. The outcome of this endeavour was his book An Open Nerve. The Netherlands, Israel & Palestine, which he published in 2018. By going through previously unused sources, the book provides insight into how Dutch governmental policy has developed over the years as well as how societal actors have shaped these policies. In his eyes, the book was a success, since both the Israeli and Palestinian communities were not completely happy with it.

Despite the completion of his book, Dr. Malcontent continues studying the conflict. He calls the conflict a ‘treasure box’ for anyone interested in international relations, as it contains almost all different aspects of international relations. Accordingly, his next publications will focus on possible solutions to the conflict from a historical perspective and the development of the Netherlands as a country with a fairly favourable stance towards Israel.

Whilst working hard on his own future publications, Dr. Malcontent had one key piece of advice to all aspiring researchers: ‘never be afraid to take risks’. He urges students not to be overly cautious with one’s sources just out of fear of being too outspoken, as sources often give us possibilities to come up with very interesting positions and arguments. We just need to take the risk to write them down.