Mart Bax

Mart Bax is a Dutch emeritus (retired in 2002) endowed professor in political anthropology at the Vrije Universiteit (VU University), Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After his retirement he came into prominence to a wider public in the Netherlands in 2012 because of serious suspicions of scientific misconduct. In September 2013 these suspicions were confirmed in an official report.

Biography

He wrote his dissertation (cum laude[1]) for the University of Amsterdam in 1973 about the anonymized Irish town "Patricksville".[2]

He further wrote about an anonymized pilgrimage center, called "Neerdonk" in the Dutch province of North Brabant.

He also wrote extensively about the pilgrimage center Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia.

Scientific misconduct

The presentation by Bax of the town of "Patricksville" as having extensive corruption, bribery, and clientelism is considered controversial among experts.[3]

He claimed in his scientific publications there had been an estimated 140 killings, 60 people missing and 600 refugees from the pilgrimage village Medjugorje, in Bosnia during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). Bax wrote that he had based his observations on extensive local field research. He called these killing the "small war". The reason for the killings in 1991/1992 were according to Bax not ethnic conflict but a vendetta between clans. Apart from very local writings near Medjugorje these claims were first criticized in journalistic writings in 2008.[4] In April 2013 at latest both the existence of the mass killing, missing people, and refugees turned to out to be false beyond reasonable doubt.[5]

In October 2012 the Dutch book Ontspoorde Wetenschap (Engl.: "Derailed science") by the science journalist Frank van Kolfschooten was published. In the book Van Kolfschooten pointed to the lack of confirmation for the vendetta. Bax had published anonymized results about field research that he stated to have done in a monastery in the province of North Brabant, the Netherlands. Van Kolfschooten had doubts about the existence of the monastery, because the existence of the monastery could not be confirmed by experts and because Bax refused to tell anyone in confidence the name and the location of the monastery.The writings by Van Kolfschooten were largely based on the unpublished work of Dr. Peter Jan Margry of the Meertens institute.[6][7] The Free University, Amsterdam, reacted by announcing an investigation to Bax' works.[8]

The Dutch Volkskrant newspaper wrote in April 2013 that Bax' scientific writings about Medjugorje contained many important incorrect citations to local writings or to non-existing local writings.[9] Bax also incorrectly stated that the resident register was destroyed during the Bosnian war.[10]

The Volkskrant also wrote in the same lengthy article that approximately one third of the scientific publications that Bax had submitted in the internal database, called Metis, of the university does not exist.[11] The Volkskrant accuses him of fraud.[12]

A commission to investigate this possible scientific misconduct was chaired by Michiel Baud and published its findings in a report dated September 9, 2013, and made public September 23, 2013.[13][14][15] The commission confirmed serious misconduct:

The VU announced that it will warn academic publishers against Bax.[17]The VU stated that it will not take legal steps against Bax because he is old and because the crime of written misrepresentation has passed the statute of limitatiosn.[18]

Reactions by Bax

According to his own words, starting in the mid 1990s Margry could not make sense of Bax' works regarding the Neerdonk case, in particular Bax' inaugural speech from 1989. Margry contacted Bax and received replies from Bax that did not remove his doubts.[19]

In 2008 the Frankfurter Rundschau did not receive a reply from Bax about the fact that he could not have observed in Medjugorje what he claimed to have observed.[20]

In 2012 Van Kolfschooten did not receive a reply to the letters that he sent to Bax.

In April 2013 Bax wrote to the Volkskrant the following.[21]

In 2013 the Baud committee spoke three times with Bax. In addition to the explanations to the Volkskrant, Bax said that he had written down improbable alleged historical events with certainty to make his articles accessible to readers. He stated that he had followed in this respect the example of Norbert Elias.

In September 2013 Bax did not reply to the report of the Baud committee.[23]

Bax' selected scientific publications

Bibliography by others about Bax

External links

References

  1. Album Academicum Amsterdam University; the Baud-report pag. 34 talks about his M.A. thesis 1964 ("afgestudeerd")
  2. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V3
  3. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V5
  4. Norbert Mappes-Niediek: Die Toten, die es nicht gab. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. 27. August 2008.
  5. http://www.vu.nl/nl/nieuws-agenda/nieuws/2013/jan-mrt/VU-onderzoekt-werk-emeritus-hoogleraar-Mart-Bax.asp
  6. 'Ik kon begin jaren negentig al geen chocola van Bax' verhaal maken' by Patrick Meershoek in Het Parool September 24, 2013 page 4
  7. http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/3337170/2012/10/25/Hoogleraar-Politieke-Antropologie-VU-verzon-mogelijk-klooster.dhtml
  8. http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2012/10/25/academici-frauderen-vaker-dan-instituten-meldden/
  9. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V5
  10. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V2
  11. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V5
  12. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V5
  13. "Commissie-Baud onderzoekt beschuldiging wetenschapsfraude". VU nieuws, April 29, 2013.
  14. Michiel Baud, Susan Legêne, and Peter Pels (September 9, 2013). "Draaien om de werkelijkheid: Rapport over het antropologisch werk van prof. em. M.M.G. Bax".
  15. "College van Bestuur VU onderschrijft conclusies onderzoekscommissie Baud". VU nieuws, September 23, 2013.
  16. Michiel Baud, Susan Legêne, and Peter Pels (September 9, 2013). "Draaien om de werkelijkheid: Rapport over het antropologisch werk van prof. em. M.M.G. Bax" pages 41 and 42
  17. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5288/Onderwijs/article/detail/3515907/2013/09/25/VU-gaat-internationaal-waarschuwen-voor-Bax.dhtml
  18. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5288/Onderwijs/article/detail/3515907/2013/09/25/VU-gaat-internationaal-waarschuwen-voor-Bax.dhtml
  19. Meershoek, Patrick in Parool newspaper, 24 Sept 2013 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BU9DgvBCAAEwbZB.jpg:large https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/cms/files/Schermafbeelding%202013-09-27%20om%2016_58_05.png
  20. http://www.fr-online.de/kultur/krieg-in-bosnien-die-toten--die-es-nicht-gab,1472786,3307334.html
  21. Het Kaartenhuis van hoogleraar Bax by Richard de Boer in Volkskrant April 13 page V3
  22. Door: Richard de Boer en Maarten Keulemans − 13/04/13, 05:56 Veldstudie VU-antropoloog Bax zit vol onwaarheden. See also the complete letter from Bax linked to in that article.
  23. http://www.advalvas.vu.nl/nieuws/%E2%80%98ernstig-wetenschappelijk-wangedrag%E2%80%99-van-antropoloog-bax