Antonius Adrianus Gerardus Maria "Ronald" van Raak (born 30 October 1969) is a Dutch politician, non-fiction writer and former academic. A member of the Socialist Party, he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 30 November 2006. He focuses on matters of home affairs, kingdom relations, the royal house and general affairs. From 2003 to 2006, he was a Senator of the Netherlands. Biography Van Raak is of a working-class background; his father was a truck driver. He grew up in his native village and attended secondary education in Tilburg. Afterwards he studied both social history and philosophy at Erasmus University Rotterdam and got promoted in humanities at the University of Amsterdam. On 1 April 2000 he joined the Socialist Party and started to work at SP's think tank. Three years later he became director. In 2003 he was elected into the Dutch Senate and was a member from 10 June that year till 28 November 2006. In November 2006 he was elected into the Dutch House of Representatives. The same month he changed positions, instead of being director he became SP's think tank chairman. From 2001 to 2005 he also taught history at the University of Amsterdam. Bibliography 2011: De Eerste Kamer. De andere kant van het Binnenhof: toen, nu, straks (editor, with Arjan Vliegenthart) 2010: Woorden in de strijd (editor, with Sj. van der Velden) 2008: Socialisten. Mensen achter de idealen 2008: Modern socialisme 2006: Het rijke rooie leven. Verhalen over socialisme in Nederland 2004: Socialisme, what's left? (editor, essays) 2003: Oud licht op nieuwe zaken. Adviezen van Erasmus, Spinoza, Thorbecke, Multatuli, Huizinga en anderen (essays) 2001-2003: De uitverkoop van Nederland (with N. Schouten) 2001: In naam van het volmaakte: conservatisme in Nederland in de negentiende eeuw van Gerrit Jan Mulder tot Jan Heemskerk Azn. (dissertation) 1997: De moderne dwaas. Bertolt Brecht en de moderne zingeving References Parlement.com biography External links House of Representatives biography 1969 births Living people Dutch essayists 20th-century Dutch historians Dutch political consultants Dutch speechwriters Dutch republicans Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Writers from Amsterdam People from Hilvarenbeek Social historians Socialist Party (Netherlands) politicians University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch historians