Social and Labour History News

CfP: Cities and Decolonization: Anti-colonial Struggles, Urban Protest, and Global Solidarities

1 hour 46 minutes ago
Organizer: Norman Aselmeyer, Oxford; Eric Burton, Innsbruck Location: University of Oxford, Wadham College Postcode: OX1 3PN Location: Oxford Country: United Kingdom Date: 19.03.2026 - 20.03.2026 Deadline: 30.09.2025

The aim of the workshop is to reassess the relationship between the city and the struggle for decolonization in the colonial world. It brings together scholars examining anti-colonial movements in specific urban contexts in the twentieth century. The workshop seeks to foster dialogue on the relationship between anti-colonial protests and colonial cities in Africa and Asia, exploring how these struggles were shaped by diverse social groups, the spatial organization of urban environments, and the tensions between competing visions of anti-colonial practice.

Cities and Decolonization: Anti-colonial Struggles, Urban Protest, and Global Solidarities

Workshop description
What role did cities play in shaping the dynamics of twentieth-century decolonization? This question continues to captivate scholars across disciplines. Contemporaries perceived revolutionary movements as originating from urban hubs and radiating outward into rural regions. Aristide Zolberg evocatively characterized anti-colonial movements as “creatures with a relatively large head in the capital and fairly rudimentary limbs.”1 In contrast, postcolonial thinkers like Frantz Fanon, significantly influenced by Marxist scholarship, insisted that “the peasants alone are revolutionary.”2 Historian Raymond Betts proposed a nuanced interpretation, suggesting anti-colonial movements were simultaneously “rooted in the countryside and grounded in the city.”3

In recent years, research in anthropology, political science, and history has increasingly shifted focus toward the role of cities and urban populations, emphasizing the urban dimension of anti-colonial protest and the complex connections between urban centers and rural hinterlands in shaping anti-colonial resistance. As political scientist Jeffrey Herbst has argued, “nationalist politics in the 1950s and 1960s were very much urban affairs.”4 The most recent literature on cities as centers of anti-imperial activism has shown how colonial metropoles like London (M. Matera), Paris (J. Boitin; M. Goebel) or Brussels (M. Louro; D. Laqua) emerged as nodal points for activists in the interwar period and after World War II. Non-colonial or semi-colonial cities in Asia could also be hubs of anti-colonial networking in the interwar or postwar period, including Beijing (R. Leow), Hanoi/Saigon, or Bangkok (C. Goscha). From the late 1950s, governments of newly independent states in Asia and Africa became sponsors of anti-colonial organizations, turning cities into “hubs of decolonization” (E. Burton). Across postcolonial Africa, cities such as Accra (M. Grilli), Cairo (R. Abou-el-Fadl; J. R. Brennan), Dar es Salaam (A. Ivaska; G. Roberts), Algiers (J. Byrne), Léopoldville (L. Passemiers), Lusaka (C. Chongo, H. Macmillan) and Maputo (N. Manghezi) harbored liberation movements and provided infrastructures to mobilize followers, engage with international actors and get access to transnational audiences and support. Afro-Asian connections with cities such as Bombay, Rangoon, and Delhi also played a role here (C. Stolte; G. McCann), as did links to Havana and growing Tricontinentalism (A.G. Mahler; R. J. Parrott).

This recent scholarship emphasized significant variation across regions and contexts. The dynamics of resistance differed between trade and settler colonies, as Jean Allman has pointed out, and were further shaped by the specific character of colonial rule, the diversity of local cultures of resistance, and the distinct temporalities of decolonization.5 Some regions, such as the so-called “hinterland countries” (J. Herbst), that is, countries lacking densely populated urban centers, followed markedly different trajectories. Moreover, decolonization was not solely an elite-driven or urban-centered process. Elizabeth Schmidt’s work on Guinea compellingly demonstrates that nationalist narratives were often imagined and propelled “from below,” shaped by a wide range of actors (including urban workers, women, peasants, and military veterans) rather than imposed by political leadership from above.6 Similarly, John Lonsdale’s concept of “moral ethnicity” underscores the significance of local political languages and ethnic frameworks in shaping nationalist politics in Kenya.7 The complexities of twentieth-century decolonization demand a nuanced understanding of the urban-rural interface in anti-colonial movements. Drawing on the various strands of recent scholarship, the workshop aims to reassess the distinctive role cities played in shaping the trajectory of decolonization.

Focus areas: actors, venues, and tensions
The workshop advances current approaches to anti-colonialism by rethinking the urban histories of the struggle against empire through a focused examination of actors, venues, and tensions. By grounding discussions in the lived experiences of historically overlooked groups (across lines of class, gender, religion, and age) the workshop foregrounds the diverse actors who shaped anti-colonial protest on the ground, moving beyond purely elite narratives. Special attention is given to the spatial strategies employed by urban crowds, exploring how both major cities and smaller towns, as well as their hinterlands, became venues of unrest, organization, and resistance, and how the relationships between these spaces influenced the broader anti-colonial struggle. The workshop also seeks to complicate conventional understandings by investigating the role of labor and neighborhood movements, the significance of liminal spaces, and the moments when activism was blocked or constrained. This line of enquiry will also pay attention to everyday practices of anti-colonialism, asking for the quotidian dimensions and prerequisites of political and ideological work. By probing the tensions between competing visions and practices of anti-colonialism, the workshop aims to produce a nuanced analysis of how anti-colonial efforts, including their failures, contributed to reconfiguring strategies and solidarities across Africa and Asia. Ultimately, this approach moves beyond comparative frameworks to reveal the complex entanglements and ongoing legacies of urban anti-colonial protest, connecting historical struggles with contemporary debates over urban space and colonial heritage.

Application and funding
To express your interest in the workshop, please submit a title and abstract (max. 300 words) matching one of the aforementioned areas and a brief CV to the organizers Norman Aselmeyer (norman.aselmeyer@history.ox.ac.uk) and Eric Burton (eric.burton@uibk.ac.at). The deadline for submission is 30 September 2025. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by mid-October 2025.

The workshop is jointly organized by Norman Aselmeyer (University of Oxford) and Eric Burton (University of Innsbruck), in collaboration with Wadham College, Oxford. Meals and accommodation for all accepted participants will be provided by the college. We are currently seeking funding to support travel costs; please indicate in your application whether you would require financial assistance for transportation.

The workshop will be held in person at Oxford. A publication of the proceedings is intended.

Notes:
1 Aristide R. Zolberg, Creating Political Order: The Party-States of West Africa (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1966), pp. 34–35.
2 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (New York: Grove Press, 1963), p. 61.
3 Raymond F. Betts, Decolonization (New York: Routledge, 2004), p. 55.
4 Jeffrey Herbst, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), p. 17.
5 Jean Allman, “Between the Present and History: African Nationalism and Decolonization,” in Oxford Handbook of Modern African History, eds. John Parker and Richard Reid (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 224–242, here p. 230.
6 Elizabeth Schmidt, Mobilizing the Masses: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in the Nationalist Movement in Guinea, 1939–1958 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2005).
7 John Lonsdale, “The Moral Economy of Mau Mau: Wealth, Poverty and Civic Virtue in Kikuyu Political Thought,” in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley: Conflict in Kenya and Africa (Oxford: James Currey, 1992), pp. 315–504.

Kontakt

norman.aselmeyer@history.ox.ac.uk

Companies and the Colonial Past

1 hour 46 minutes ago
Weinheim/Germany   Organizer: Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte e.V. Location: Freudenberg & Co. KG Postcode: 69469

Date: 09.10.2025 - 10.10.2025

Website: https://unternehmensgeschichte.de/Veranstaltungskalender

On 9 and 10 October, the Society for Business History Germany is hosting its academic symposium on "Companies and the Colonial Past" at Freudenberg in Weinheim, Germany. The conference will examine the historical entanglements of companies and colonialism, as well as their lasting effects.

Companies and the Colonial Past

Companies operate in a globalized world—and they did so 150 years ago, in a world profoundly shaped by colonialism and imperialism. While the age of colonialism is over, its legacies continue to shape global inequalities, economic structures, and cultural narratives.

In recent years, colonial history—especially German colonialism—has become a vital and dynamic field of academic inquiry. Scholars are examining the role of private business actors in colonial expansion, the economic dimensions of imperial rule, and the long-term effects of colonial systems on global capitalism. Approaches such as the New History of Capitalism and research on global commodity chains have sharpened the focus on economic entanglements. At the same time, the increasing availability of corporate archives is opening up new methodological and empirical avenues for research.

This symposium provides a forum for this growing body of research and aims to foster dialogue between historians, companies, and other relevant stakeholders. It addresses both thematic and methodological questions concerning German companies and their colonial pasts. “Colonial past” is understood in the broadest possible sense, encompassing corporate activities in any colonial context—from the age of imperialism through decolonization and into the postcolonial present.

The program focuses in particular on the role of companies—especially German ones—in shaping, maintaining, and benefiting from colonial structures. It is organized around four thematic blocks:

- Archives and Sources, highlighting the potential and challenges of corporate records in exploring colonial entanglements;
- Trade and Consumption, examining trading practices and consumer cultures in colonial contexts;
- Engagements, Markets, and (Post)Colonial Conditions, and
- Infrastructure, addressing how businesses contributed to the development and exploitation of colonial infrastructure.

Today, companies are increasingly confronted with calls for transparency and engagement regarding their historical entanglements in colonial contexts. The symposium thus also aims to contribute to historically grounded, research-based perspectives on corporate responsibility, remembrance culture, and the role of business in colonial and postcolonial history.

The conference will be held in English.

Please register for the event via the following link:
https://unternehmensgeschichte.de/public/symp2025

You can also register via the GUGwebsite:
https://unternehmensgeschichte.de/Veranstaltungskalender

The Symposium is organized by Prof. Dr. Alexander Engel, Dr. Marie Huber, Prof. Dr. Nina Kleinöder, Dr. Martin Müller, and Prof. Dr. Joachim Scholtyseck.

For questions regarding the academic program, please contact Nina Kleinöder: nina.kleinoeder@uni-bamberg.de

For organizational matters, please contact Christiane Borchert:
borchert@unternehmensgeschichte.de

Programm

Thursday, 9 October 2025

13:30 - Welcome and Introductions
Joachim Scholtyseck, University of Bonn
Nina Kleinöder, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg
Dr. Michael Horchler, Freudenberg & Co. KG

Archives and Sources

14:00 - Colonialism as an Agent of Commerzbank’s Ascent? An Archivist’s View
Matthias Kemmerer, Commerzbank AG

14:45 - Colonialism, Decolonization, and the Pharmaceutical Industry: Archival Sources from Boehringer Mannheim in Context
Tristan Oestermann, Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam

15:30 - Coffee Break

Trade and Consumption

16:00 - Sustaining Exploitation: "The General Store" in "Pre-Colonial" Namibia
Martin Kalb, Bridgewater College, Virginia

16:45 - From Colonial Goods Store to Retail Chain: "Kaiser's Kaffeegeschäft" between Colonial Trade and Consumption in the early 20th Century
Sabrina Schmitz-Zerres, University of Munster

17:30 - The Ignorance of the Colonial within a (Post-)Colonial Product. Snuff Tobacco and the Company Gebrüder Bernard
Michael Rösser, Center for Commemorative Culture, University of Regensburg

19:15 - Joint Dinner

Friday, 10 October 2025

Engagements, Markets, and (Post)Colonial Conditions

10:00 - From the Palm Trees of Africa to the Snowfields of Siberia
Anka Steffen, University of Vienna

10:45 - Global Corporations and the Agrochemical Transformation of (post)colonial Egypt, 1910s–1950s
Omri Polatsek, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science / TU Berlin

11.30 - An Anti-Decolonization Bloc? Rössing in Apartheid Namibia
Jayita Sarkar, University of Glasgow

12:15 - Lunch

Infrastructure

13:15 - Engines of Empire: The Woermann Business Group and German Colonialism
Kim S. Todzi, University of Hamburg

14:00 - Electrifying Colonialism? – The Electrical Company Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft and the Construction of a Hydroelectric Power Station at the Victoria Falls
Thomas Irmer, Berlin School of Economics and Law

14:45 - Closing Discussion

15:15 - End of Event

Kontakt

Christiane Borchert: borchert@unternehmensgeschichte.de

CfP: 7th International Conference of the Mediterranean Maritime History Network

4 hours 46 minutes ago

Conference website: https://conference.unizd.hr/mmhn2026/ 

University of Zadar, Department of History announces the 7th International Conference of the Mediterranean Maritime History Network (MMHN), which will take place at the University of Zadar in Zadar from the 25th to the 29th of May 2026.

The MMHN has a long tradition of bringing together scholars who study the maritime history of the Mediterranean Sea and its linkages to the world. We welcome papers that explore the relationship between humans and the sea in all its facets: on the sea (seamen, ships, navigation, sea trade, war, piracy); around the sea (maritime communities, islands, port cities, shipping, shipping-related, fishing and touristic businesses); in the sea (fishing, marine resources, environment); because of the sea (maritime transport systems and entrepreneurial networks, maritime empires, international and national maritime institutions and policy); and about the sea (the maritime culture and heritage, the ideology, the myths and poems of a sea, the impact of the sea on art).

If you are interested in participating, we kindly request that you submit a title and an abstract of no more than 300 words, accompanied by a brief biographical note of 200 words, no later than September 30th, 2025. If you would like to present a panel (3-4 speakers), please send the individual abstracts into one file, providing a title and an abstract for the panel topic of no more than 200 words.

Submissions in English are welcome and should be sent to: mmhn.zadar@gmail.com

CfP: HAAL Special Issue: Land, work and rural women’s resistance in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Global South

6 days 22 hours ago

Organizer: Joana Salém Vasconcelos, Universidad Federal do ABC, joana.salem@gmail.com Lia Pinheiro Barbosa, Universidad Estatal de Ceará, lia.barbosa@uece.br
Country: United Kingdom
Takes place: Digital
From - Until: 30.10.2025 -
Website: https://haal.cl/index.php/haal

The journal Historia Agraria de América Latina (HAAL) invites submissions of unpublished articles to be included in the dossier "Land, labour, and women’s resistance in the countryside." The dossier will bring together research on rural women in Latin America from the 1950s to the present, with an emphasis on work (productive and reproductive), peasant struggles for agrarian reform, the defence of territories and commons, political participation and community leadership, as well as issues related to agricultural production techniques and (agro)ecological experiences.

HAAL Special Issue: Land, work and rural women’s resistance in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Global South

The journal Historia Agraria de América Latina (HAAL) invites submissions of unpublished articles to be included in the dossier "Land, labour, and women’s resistance in the countryside." The dossier will bring together research on rural women in Latin America from the 1950s to the present, with an emphasis on work (productive and reproductive), peasant struggles for agrarian reform, the defence of territories and commons, political participation and community leadership, as well as issues related to agricultural production techniques and (agro)ecological experiences.
In the history of Latin American capitalism rural women have formed the largest contingent of unpaid workers, which has generated a chain of determining factors for our economies. First, women’s work in the countryside made low rural wages for men viable, since men were fed and clothed based on the unpaid labour of their mothers, wives and daughters. Second, these low rural wages have allowed lower urban food prices, which, in turn, have generated lower wages for urban workers and, consequently, bigger margins for rural and urban capitalists. We start from the premise that the unpaid labour of rural women is one of the most central foundations supporting the expansion of peripheral capitalism in our region. In this regard, we are interested in articles that address the following topics:

- The productive and reproductive work of rural and indigenous women in Latin America from 1950 to the present.
- Agrarian reforms in Latin America and women’s participation.
- Trade union and non-trade union struggles of rural Latin American women.
- Women’s resistance in the pursuit of rights to land and territory.
- The role of Latin America rural women in agroecological experiments and processes.
- Daily life, community leadership and political action of Latin American rural women.
- Rural women and political parties.
- Rural women, education and health in the countryside.
- Gender violence and human rights in rural areas.

Papers should be unpublished, include a discussion of recent literature on the topic, be based on primary research and make an original contribution to the field; depending on how they are developed, purely theoretical contributions may also be considered. If you would like to contribute an article to the dossier please send a title and 300-word abstract to the editors (Joana Salém Vasconcelos joana.salem@gmail.com and Lia Pinheiro Barbosa lia.barbosa@uece.br).

Manuscripts should be prepared in strict accordance with HAAL’s style guidelines.
Further information on HAAL’s editorial policy is available at: www.haal.cl

Key dates:

Deadline for the submission of manuscripts: 30 October 2025
Deadline for final versions: 15 April 2026
Publication of dossier: 30 May 2026

Lecture series "Soziale Arbeit im Nationalsozialismus" (German)

1 week ago

Würzburg/Germany

Veranstalter: Ralph-Christian Amthor, Technische Hochschule Würzburg; Carola Kuhlmann, Evangelische Hochschule Bochum; Esther Lehnert, Alice-Salomon-Hochschule Berlin; Sven Steinacker, Hochschule Niederrhein Mönchengladbach (Hochschule Niederrhein / Technische Hochschule Würzburg / Evangelische Hochschule Bochum / Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin / Hochschule München)
Ausrichter: Hochschule Niederrhein / Technische Hochschule Würzburg / Evangelische Hochschule Bochum / Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin / Hochschule München
Gefördert durch: Förderantrag bei der Fritz Thyssen Stiftung eingereicht.
PLZ: 97070
Ort: Würzburg
Land: Deutschland
Findet statt: Hybrid, vom 08.10.2025-21.01.2026
Deadline: 01.10.2025
Website: https://www.hs-niederrhein.de/sozialwesen/ringvorlesung-soziale-arbeit-und-nationalsozialismus-erinnern-reflektieren-positionieren/

2025 jährt sich das Ende des Nationalsozialismus zum 80. Mal – ein Anlass, der historisches Erinnern, aber auch kritische Selbstbefragung herausfordert: Welche Rolle spielte die Soziale Arbeit im Herrschaftssystem des NS-Staates? Welche fachlichen und institutionellen Verstrickungen trugen zur Ausgrenzung, Verfolgung und Vernichtung von Menschen bei? Und was bedeutet das für eine Profession, die sich heute „menschenrechtsorientiert“ versteht? Die interdisziplinär und hochschulübergreifend organisierte Veranstaltungsreihe lädt von Oktober 2025 bis Januar 2026 dazu ein, sich mit den historischen Grundlagen und Kontinuitäten sozialarbeiterischer Praxis auseinanderzusetzen.

Ringvorlesung "Soziale Arbeit im Nationalsozialismus"

Im Jahr 2025 jährt sich das Ende des Nationalsozialismus zum 80. Mal – ein Anlass, der nicht nur historisches Erinnern, sondern auch kritische Selbstbefragung Sozialer Arbeit herausfordert: Welche Rolle spielte die Soziale Arbeit im Herrschaftssystem des NS-Staates? Welche fachlichen und institutionellen Verstrickungen trugen zur Ausgrenzung, Verfolgung und Vernichtung von Menschen bei? Und was bedeutet das für eine Profession, die sich heute „menschenrechtsorientiert“ versteht?
Mit der Ringvorlesung „Soziale Arbeit und Nationalsozialismus – Erinnern. Reflektieren. Positionieren“ wollen wir diesen Fragen nachgehen. Die interdisziplinär und hochschulübergreifend organisierte Veranstaltungsreihe lädt von Oktober 2025 bis Januar 2026 dazu ein, sich mit den historischen Grundlagen und Kontinuitäten sozialarbeiterischer Praxis auseinanderzusetzen – und gleichzeitig einen kritischen Blick auf aktuelle Herausforderungen der Profession im Umgang mit Demokratiefeindlichkeit, Ausgrenzung und institutioneller Diskriminierung zu werfen.

Die Vorlesungsreihe thematisiert unter anderem:
- die Beteiligung der Sozialen Arbeit an der Umsetzung nationalsozialistischer Gesellschaftspolitik,
- die Kontinuitäten fürsorgerischer Praxen über die politischen Zäsuren von 1933 und 1945 hinaus,
- den Umgang der Sozialen Arbeit mit der NS-Vergangenheit nach 1945
- sowie die Verantwortung der Sozialen Arbeit angesichts gegenwärtiger autoritärer und menschenfeindlicher Entwicklungen.

Start der Ringvorlesung: 08. Oktober 2025, Hochschule Niederrhein, Campus Mönchengladbach, 18:00 – 20:00 Uhr

Weitere Termine finden an Standorten in Berlin, Bochum, Würzburg, München und durchgehend bei allen Terminen auch "online" statt.

Eine Teilnahme ist hochschulübergreifend möglich.

Das vollständige Programm finden Sie auf der Website unter https://www.hs-niederrhein.de/sozialwesen/ringvorlesung-soziale-arbeit-und-nationalsozialismus-erinnern-reflektieren-positionieren/

Zur besseren Planung bitten wir um Anmeldung bis zum 01. Oktober 2025.

Programm

08.10.2025
Soziale Arbeit und Nationalsozialismus – Befunde und Perspektiven der Forschung
Prof. Dr. Sven Steinacker, Mönchengladbach
Standort: Hochschule Niederrhein Mönchengladbach

15.10.2025
„Volksgemeinschaft“ und „Volkspflege“ – Ideologie und Gesellschaftspolitik im Nazismus
Prof. em Dr. Heinz Sünker, Wuppertal/Brighton
Standort: Hochschule Niederrhein Mönchengladbach

22.10.2025
Umsetzung der sozialrassistischen Ideologie in der fürsorgerischen Alltagspraxis am Beispiel der Berliner Pflegeämter auf dem Gebiet der Gefährdetenfürsorge
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Esther Lehnert, Berlin
Standort: Alice-Salomon-Hochschule

29.10.2025
Jugendfürsorge im Nationalsozialismus – Sozialrassistische Deutung von Verhaltensauffälligkeiten und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Praxis der Heimerziehung
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Carola Kuhlmann, Bochum
Standort: Evangelische Hochschule Bochum + online

05.11.2025
Die NS-Psychiatrieverbrechen und ihre Relevanz heute
Prof. em. Dr. Franz Werner Kersting, Münster
Standort: Hochschule Niederrhein Mönchengladbach

12.11.2025
Zwangssterilisation im NS – Das Beispiel Mönchengladbach
Karl Boland, Geschichtswerkstatt Mönchengladbach
Standort: Hochschule Niederrhein Mönchengladbach

19.11.2025
„Bewahrung" im NS-Staat - Kontinuitäten gesetzlicher Bestrebungen und Praxen fürsorgerischer "Bewahrung" (Weimar - NS - BRD)
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Christa Paul, Hamburg
Standort: Alice-Salomon-Hochschule Berlin

26.11.2025
Jüdische Wohlfahrt und jüdische Soziale Arbeit unter Bedingungen gesellschaftlicher und sozialer Exklusion – die NS-Zeit
Prof. Dr. Gerd Stecklina, München
online-Veranstaltung

03.12.2025
„Völkisch. Katholisch. Anti-nationalsozialistisch?" Zur Ausbildung von Sozialarbeiter:innen im NS-Staat am Beispiel der Sozialen Frauenschule Aachen
Tim Ernst, M.A., Aachen
Standort: Hochschule Niederrhein Mönchengladbach

10.12.2025
Erinnerungsarbeit zum Nationalsozialismus in der Sozialen Arbeit nach 1945 bis zur Gegenwart, Perspektiven auf die Zukunft
Präsenzveranstaltung im Rahmen der 12. Menschenrechtswoche Technische Hochschule Würzburg + online
Impulsvortrag zur „Rezeption der NS-Geschichte in der Sozialen Arbeit“ von Thure Alting, Spiegelbild e.V., Wiesbaden
Anschließende Podiumsdiskussion mit folgenden Gästen
Thure Alting u. Benny Momper, Spiegelbild e.V. Wiesbaden
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Heike Radvan, Universität Tübingen
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Annette Eberle, Katholische Hochschule München
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Gabriele Fischer, Hochschule München
Dr. Thomas Roth, NS-Dokumentationszentrum Köln

17.12.2025
Sozialpädagog:innen und Nationalsozialismus: Anknüpfungspunkte, (Dis-)Kontinuitätslinien, Legitimierungsmuster
Prof. em. Dr. Stefan Schnurr, Basel/ Bielefeld
online-Veranstaltung

07.01.2026
„Wir sind viele und wir waren viele. Widerstand war nicht so unser Ding“ - zur Rolle der Berufsverbände im Nationalsozialismus und zur Entnazifizierung der Sozialen Arbeit nach 1945
Prof.‘in Dr.‘in Christa Paulini, Würzburg
Standort: Technische Hochschule Würzburg + online

14.01.2026
„Es hätte protestiert und aufbegehrt werden müssen!“ – offene Fragen und kritische Perspektiven aus sozialgeschichtlichen Erinnerungsprojekten zum Widerstand in der Sozialen Arbeit
Prof. Dr. Ralph-Christian Amthor, Würzburg
Standort: Technische Hochschule Würzburg + online

21.01.2026
Lernen/Lehren aus der Geschichte?
Prof. em. Dr. Manfred Kappeler, Berlin
Standort: Alice-Salomon-Hochschule Berlin + online

Kontakt

Prof. Dr. Ralph-Christian Amthor, Technische Hcohschule Würzburg, Fakultät Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften, Münzstraße 12, 97070 Würzburg

Wenn der Tag zu Ende geht. Nachtarbeit seit dem 19. Jahrhundert (German)

1 week ago

Bielefeld/Germany

Veranstalter: Anna Horstmann, Universität Bielefeld; Marcel Bois, Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg; Martin Lutz, Universität Bielefeld; German Labour History Association (German Labour History Association, Universität Bielefeld)
Ausrichter: German Labour History Association, Universität Bielefeld
Veranstaltungsort: Universität Bielefeld
Gefördert durch: German Labour History Association (GLHA)
PLZ: 33615
Ort: Bielefeld
Land: Deutschland
Findet statt: In Präsenz, vom 24.11.2025 - 25.11.2025
Deadline: 30.09.2025
Website: https://www.germanlabourhistory.de/tagungshinweise/

Nachtarbeit tritt in den unterschiedlichsten Branchen auf, dementsprechend viele Menschen müssen in den Abendstunden ihrem Beruf nachgehen. Betroffen sind nicht nur die Nachtarbeitenden selbst, auch das Umfeld ist gezwungen, sich dem Arbeitsrhythmus anzupassen. Gleichzeitig ist unser Zusammenleben auf diese Nacharbeit angewiesen. Trotzdem ist sie nach wie vor ein wenig erforschtes Feld der Labour History – das möchte diese Tagung ändern.

Wenn der Tag zu Ende geht. Nachtarbeit seit dem 19. Jahrhundert

Ob Pflegerin im Krankenhaus, Portier im Hotel, Stahlarbeiter am Abstich oder Ingenieurin im Kraftwerk: Sie alle vereint die Notwendigkeit, nachts arbeiten zu müssen. Nachtarbeit gilt als eine Form atypischer Arbeitszeiten.
Die Gründe für diese Form des Arbeitens sind vielfältig und basieren auf technischen, wirtschaftlichen, sozialen oder kulturellen Anforderungen. Letztere betreffen meist Berufe, die mit dem großstädtischen „Nachtleben“ verbunden sind wie Barkeeper:innen, Türsteher:innen oder auch Sexarbeiter:innen. Technisch bedingt ist kontinuierliche Schichtarbeit dann, wenn Produktions- oder Arbeitsprozesse nicht unterbrochen werden können, wie etwa in der Chemieindustrie. Sozial notwendig ist Nachtarbeit etwa in Krankenhäusern und anderen Einrichtungen der öffentlichen Versorgung. Wirtschaftliche Ursachen finden sich in der Gewinnmaximierung, etwa durch längere Maschinenlaufzeiten.
Nachtarbeit tritt also in den unterschiedlichsten Branchen auf, dementsprechend viele Menschen müssen in den Abendstunden ihrem Beruf nachgehen. Betroffen sind nicht nur die Nachtarbeitenden selbst, auch das Umfeld ist gezwungen, sich dem Arbeitsrhythmus anzupassen. Gleichzeitig ist unser Zusammenleben auf diese Nacharbeit angewiesen. Trotzdem ist sie nach wie vor ein wenig erforschtes Feld der Labour History – das möchte diese Tagung ändern.

Programm

Montag, 24.11.2025

13:15 Uhr Begrüßung und Einführung: Marcel Bois, Anna Horstmann und Martin Lutz
Grußwort der GLHA: Knud Andresen und Anna Strommenger

13:30-14:45 Uhr Panel 1: Militär und Sicherheit
Markus Pöhlmann (Potsdam), Nachtkampf. Die Erschließung der Dunkelheit durch das Militär im langen 19. Jahrhundert
Marcus Böick (Cambridge), Die Nachtwache nach 1900. Über ein umstrittenes Geschäftsmodell urbanen Nachtlandschaften

15:15-16:30 Uhr Panel 2: Verrechtlichung
Laurens Brandt (Frankfurt), Die Geschichte der Regulierung der Nachtarbeit im Völ-kerrecht der ILO
Birte Förster (Bielefeld), Reclaim the Night. Wie skandinavische Politikerinnen 1919 die Konvention der ILO zur Nachtarbeit von Frauen infragestellten

17:00-18.30 Uhr Keynote
Kristin Hussey (Newcastle), Working Through the Night. Gender, Labour, and the Poli-tics of Women’s Unsociable Hours of Work in 20th-Century Britain

Dienstag, 25.11.2025

9:00-11:00 Uhr Panel 3: Industrie und Handwerk
Willy Buschak (Bochum), Die „weißen Bergleute“. Nachtarbeit in europäischen Bäckereien
Nina Kleinöder (Bamberg), „Wer weiß denn schon was Kontischicht bedeutet?“ – Stahlarbeiterfamilien zwischen dem Takt der Maschine und Humani-sierung des Arbeitslebens
Anna Horstmann (Bielefeld), „Die ganze Familie wird zum halben Schichtarbeiter”. Nachtarbeit in der Chemieindustrie

11:30-12:45 Uhr Panel 4: Nachtleben
Mareen Heying (Bochum), Wirte und Kellnerinnen in der Kneipe
Mona Rudolph (Kiel), Nächte der Unsichtbarkeit? Prostitution, Migra-tion und Nachtarbeit in der Bundesrepublik (1950–1980)

14:00-15:15 Uhr Panel 5: Gegenwartswelten
Tim Preuß (Halle), Nachtarbeitswelten in der Gegenwartsliteratur. Am Beispiel von Texten Clemens Meyers und Thorsten Nagelschmidts
Laura-Solmaz Litschel (Berlin), Nächtliche Gig Work in der Smart City Berlin

15:15-15:30 Uhr Abschluss

Die Tagung wird von der GLHA mitveranstaltet und findet am 24./25.11.2025 an der Universität Bielefeld statt. Zuhörer:innen sind zu dieser Tagung herzlich willkommen und werden gebeten, sich bis zum 30. September 2025 als Teilnehmende per Mail bei anna.horstmann@uni-bielefelde.de anzumelden. Die Teilnahme ist kostenlos.

Kontakt

Anna Horstmann (anna.horstmann@uni-bielefelde.de)

CfP: Illegal workers and illegal work before 1930

1 week ago

Date: 5 March 2026-6 March 2026
Location: Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Subject Fields:Labor History / Studies

The term “illegal” to refer to a person’s official status was introduced in the Western hemisphere in the 1930s and is closely tied to the regulation of international (labor) migration, but processes of illegalization have much deeper roots. For centuries, people have found themselves undocumented, illegalized, or unable to prove that they were in a place in accordance with the law.
This workshop aims to explore how workers were dragged from legality into illegality, and the other way around. Who found themselves in conditions of illegality and undocumentedness, when, how, and why? How could they get out? We invite scholars from all disciplines who engage the past to answer these questions. For example, they might study how the state of technological development informed ways of identification. They might analyze processes of illegalization that took place with or without State sanction. They might look into the underlying motivations or consequences of il/legalization, such as social exclusion, forced mobility, susceptibility to exploitation, vulnerability to policing, restricted access to the legal justice system, and many more.
The workshop explores processes of il/legalization and their relation to labor in a variety of historical contexts. The intention is to relativize the importance of international movements, passports, and borders; to complicate the claim that illegality is a recent phenomenon; and to shed light on the variety of political and social institutions involved in creating, upholding, condoning, or ignoring illegalization.
Themes include, but are not limited, to:

- Methods to think about illegality before 1930

- The relation between illegality and labor coercion / exploitation

- The impact of illegal workers on the larger working population

- The role of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in the il/legalization of workers

- Illegal workers as consumers

- Local economies’ dependence on illegal workers

- Undocumented workers and citizenship / belonging

- Criminalization and punishment

- Illegal labor as a legacy of slavery

- Normativities in conceptualizing the il/legality of workers

Please submit a paper proposal of 250 words and a short bio to Viola Müller (viola.muller@wur.nl) and Paulo Cruz Terra (paulocruzterra@id.uff.br) by August 15, 2025. If included in the workshop, you will be asked to submit a short paper of ca. 3,000 words in advance.
Please reach out to the organizers if you have any questions.

Contact Information:

Viola Müller (Wageningen University, Netherlands)

Paulo Cruz Terra (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil)

Contact Email:

paulocruzterra@id.uff.br

À l'assaut du ciel rouge. Une histoire orale de la CFDT Longwy, 1978-1979 (French)

1 week ago

by Sébastien Bonetti et Théo Georget

 

Hiver 1978.

Alors que le gouvernement de Raymond Barre vient d’annoncer un vaste plan de restructuration de l’industrie sidérurgique entraînant une suppression massive d’emplois, des milliers de personnes se jettent dans les rues de Longwy en défense de « leurs » usines.
De toutes les organisations qui prennent part à la bataille, la section locale de la CFDT est l’une des plus actives. Héritière de la tumultueuse décennie post-68, elle contribue à sortir la lutte des lieux de travail et à élargir le champ des revendications en questionnant le sens de la production industrielle et la place des minorités dans l’univers sidérurgique. De l’occupation du crassier à l’enlèvement de Johnny Hallyday, de l’emprunt de la Coupe de France à la création d’une radio libre, du piratage de la télévision aux attaques du commissariat local, les actions que mène la CFDT propulsent Longwy à la une de l’actualité nationale durant plusieurs mois.

S’appuyant sur le témoignage de nombreux membres de l’organisation et sur de multiples archives, ce livre entend rendre compte de la vie de la CFDT Longwy au cours de cette période.

CfP: Labour in Mining Working Group, ELHN Conference 2026: Extractive Industry under Dictatorship in the 20th Century

1 week 4 days ago

Call for Papers
European Labour History Network Conference 2026 – Barcelona
Session: “Extractive Industry under Dictatorship in the 20th Century: Social, Political and Environmental Issues”
Organizers: Labour in Mining Working Group

The mining sector occupied a central role in shaping the economic, political, and social history of many countries throughout the 20th century. As a strategic industry, mining was closely tied to national development agendas, regimes of labour control, environmental transformations, and the consolidation of state power.

This panel aims to explore the labour, social, political, and environmental dimensions of the mining sector under dictatorial regimes during the 20th century. While we are particularly interested in European cases, we also strongly encourage contributions that examine similar processes in other parts of the world—such as Latin America, but we could consider other cases in Africa or Asia—to foster comparative perspectives and transregional dialogues.

We invite paper proposals that address, among others, the following topics:

  • Labour regimes and working conditions; state violence and labour discipline; occupational health and safety;
  • Industrial relations and collective action: trade unionism, strikes, worker mobilization, and their repression or negotiation by authoritarian regimes;
  • The role of mining in economic and political planning under dictatorships: including its ideological instrumentalization in fascist, communist, or military regimes;
  • The responses of dictatorial regimes to the environmental impacts of mining and the narratives of progress or sacrifice that justified extractive policies.

We are especially interested in interdisciplinary approaches that bridge labour history with environmental history, political economy, social history, or the history of science and technology. Contributions may be based on local case studies, national analyses, or comparative and transregional frameworks.

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 October 2025

Please send a 250–300 word abstract and a short CV to: labourinmining@gmail.com; josejgg@ual.es; or francesca.sanna@univ-tlse2.fr

Panel organizers:

  • José Joaquín García Gómez (Universidad de Almería, Labour in Mining Working Group, ELHN)
  • Francesca Sanna (Université de Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès, Labour in Mining Working Group, ELHN)
  • Eva María Trescastro López (Universidad de Alicante)

Verschwiegener Alltag. Gewalt am Arbeitsplatz seit dem 19. Jahrhundert (German)

1 week 6 days ago

by Mareen Heying, Alexandra Jaeger, Nina Kleinöder, Sebastian Knoll-Jung, Sebastian Voigt

 

Der Sammelband gibt einen Einblick in Wandel und Kontinuitäten seit dem 19. Jahrhundert. Die Autor_innen fragen nach Akteur_innen und gesellschaftlichen Verhältnissen, die die Gewalt ermöglichten, analysieren aber auch die Reaktionen der Betroffenen.

Gewalt am Arbeitsplatz war und ist allgegenwärtig. Sie wurde hinter Fabriktoren, Bürotüren oder in Haushalten oft nicht sichtbar, verharmlost oder tabuisiert. Die Gewaltformen, ihre Wahrnehmung und ihre Rahmenbedingungen haben sich seit dem 19. Jahrhundert verändert. Der Band gibt einen Einblick in Wandel und Kontinuitäten, Gruppen von Akteur_innen und die gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse, die die Gewalt ermöglichten und ermöglichen.

Gewalt zeigt sich in der Arbeitswelt in unterschiedlichen Formen: Gewalt von oder gegen Vorgesetzte, Gewalt unter Kolleg_innen, aber auch Gewalt durch Kund:innen. Eine besonders verbreitete Form ist die sexualisierte Gewalt, die von unangemessenen Kommentaren bis zu körperlichen Übergriffen reicht. Die Autor_innen analysieren Macht- und Geschlechterverhältnisse sowie Reaktionen von Betroffenen.

Mareen Heying/Alexandra Jaeger/Nina Kleinöder/Sebastian Knoll-Jung/Sebastian Voigt (Hrsg.) Verschwiegener Alltag. Gewalt am Arbeitsplatz seit dem 19. Jahrhundert

Bonn 2025

Reihe: Politik- und Gesellschaftsgeschichte, Bd. 115

240 Seiten
ISBN 978-3-8012-4298-5

CfP: Industrial Relations and Institutional Resilience in Central Europe (1789–2004)

2 weeks 1 day ago
Organizer: Institute of History / Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences Location: Akademické konferenční centrum Postcode: Prague Country: Czech Republic Date: 08.12.2025 - Deadline: 17.08.2025

A one-day international interdisciplinary methodological workshop on industrial relations in modern and contemporary history will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, on 8th December 2025. The event is organized by postdoctoral researchers from the Institute of History and the Institute of Contemporary History at the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Industrial Relations and Institutional Resilience in Central Europe (1789–2004)

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to invite proposals for a one-day international interdisciplinary methodological workshop on industrial relations in modern and contemporary history, to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, on 8th December 2025. The event is organized by two postdoctoral researchers from the Institute of History and the Institute of Contemporary History at the Czech Academy of Sciences, and is supported by the Academy’s “Strategy AV21” program.

This workshop aims to explore the role of labour–employer relations and the management of industrial conflicts in shaping the stability and reproduction of social institutions—viewed as essential components of a resilient society. We seek to bring together scholars from various disciplines, including history, sociology, social anthropology, political science, and state theory, to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and comparative insights.

Thematic Focus:
We welcome both national-level studies of industrial relations and micro-level research rooted in labour history, especially those that address:
- The transfer of industrial conflicts into the political realm or their political instrumentalization;
- Reflections of labour-related tensions in political thought and ideologies;
- Transformations in labour relations during periods of institutional upheaval (e.g., revolutions, coups, systemic transitions);
- The interconnected evolution of employment relations and political representation in modern societies.
We especially encourage methodological contributions that engage with these issues across a broad historical period—from the late 18th century (ca. 1789) through the post-communist transformation (up to 2004)—with a geographical focus on Central Europe.

Practical Information:
The workshop will take place in Prague and will be conducted in English. Thanks to the support of Strategy AV21, we are able to offer full reimbursement for travel expenses (up to €250), accommodation for one or two nights, and meals (lunch and dinner on the day of the workshop).

While no collective publication is planned at this stage, we hope the meeting will serve as a starting point for future scholarly collaboration.

How to Apply:
If you are interested in participating, please contact us (rames@usd.cas.cz, raska@hiu.cas.cz) with a brief abstract (max. 300 words) and a short bio (max. 150 words) by 17th August 2025. The selection procedure is expected to be finished by early September.

We look forward to your contributions and to a rich and productive discussion in Prague.

Best regards,

Jakub Raška and Václav Rameš
Institute of History & Institute of Contemporary History
Czech Academy of Sciences

Kontakt

rames@usd.cas.cz
raska@hiu.cas.cz

CfP: Maritime Labour History Working Group, ELHN Conference 2026

2 weeks 3 days ago

The Maritime Labour History Working Group of the European Labour History Network (ELHN) invites submissions for its sessions at the 6th ELHN Conference, to be held in Barcelona from 16 to 19 June 2026.

The working group brings together scholars interested in the study of maritime labour across time and space. Since its inception, it has provided a transnational platform for sharing research on the transformation of maritime and port labour markets, and the conditions, struggles and agency of labouring communities connected to maritime economies.

For the 2026 conference, we welcome contributions on all aspects of maritime labour history across Europe and its global connections, with no thematic, chronological or geographical restrictions. Possible themes include (but are not limited to):

  • Repertoires of labour struggles in the maritime world
  • Migration, mobility and diasporas of maritime and port workers
  • Labour relations, hierarchies and discipline at sea and ashore
  • Labour communities in urban and rural settings
  • Gender, ethnicity and race in maritime and port labour
  • Pluriactivity in the maritime world
  • Sources, methods and historiographical debates in maritime labour history

Based on the proposals received, the sessions will be organised thematically, grouping contributions by shared approaches or topics. The official language of the conference is English.

Abstracts (max. 400 words) should be sent to the working group coordinators by 31 August 2025 at the latest. It should incude a short academic CV (max. 200 words). Given the tight schedule for the organisation of sessions, we kindly ask you to submit your abstracts as soon as possible.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and to continuing our collective exploration of maritime labour history in Barcelona.

Please submit proposals by e-mail to the three coordinators:

CfP: Working Group European Trade Unionism, ELHN Conference 2026: The conceptions and contributions to Social Europe

2 weeks 6 days ago

Call for Papers: The conceptions and contributions to Social Europe of European Trade Union Federations, the European Trade Union Confederation, and the Workers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee of the EU

Sixth European Labour History Network (ELHN) meeting

Barcelona-16-19 June 2026

Working Group: European Trade Unionism.

The creation of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in 1973 marked a new departure in the history of European trade unionism by creating a specific common agenda and institutional links between European trade unions. It aimed to overcome ideological differences, and Cold War divides with a common action in the framework of the process of European integration. Such European transformation had been already announced and practiced in various European sections of international trade union federations (ITUFs). The building of a European integration of trade unions, therefore, was driven by both the institutional constraints marked by European institutions, and the concrete struggles of European dimension to which various ITUF had been confronted with the building of global capitalism.

This working group aims to bring together those researchers interested in the trade union organizations designed for concrete struggle at the European level. Departing from the network created for the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the history of the ETUC, this working group had focused on the contribution of national trade unions and key trade union leaders to the ETUC history. We aim to continue this cooperation by extending this reflection to the contribution of European trade union federations (ETUFs) to build European solidarity not just across borders, but also across sectors. Last, but not least, the group would like to engage into a historiographical dialogue with on-going research projects about the history of international trade unionism and international solidarity with a particular attention to the interaction between ETUFs and ITUFs, which resulted to a large extent in the progressive creation of global unions.

In 2026 the group aims to keep having papers on the history of the ETUC, but now extended to the creation and development of ETUFs recognized by the ETUC and originating in the European regional organizations of ITUFs. It also encourages to focus on key moments of European integration (Enlargements and European Treaties) and the role played at regional, national or European level by trade unions leaders and key officials. We would like to include also a particular attention to the means of this action by their contribution to European legislation through their representatives in the workers’ group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) of the European Union. 

We aim in particular for papers to build panels addressing:

  • The history of ETUC in particular during the role played by European Trade Unions leaders and officials during the period led by Mathias Hinterscheid (1976-1991) and Emilio Gabaglio (1991-2003).
  • The history of ETUFs (and their predecessors)m and in particular UNI-Europa, European Public Services Union, European Transport Federation and Industriall Europe.
  • The history of European trade unionists who participated in the Workers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee of the EU and its predecessors (ex. Consultative Committee of the European Coal and Steel Community).

This call for papers is not just addressed to historians of labor, but it also aims to engage into a reflection on how to write a new history of European trade unionism. Therefore, it welcomes presentations from industrial sociologists, political scientists, and labor law scholars interested to engage with historical dimensions of European and international trade unionism.

Deadline for submissions

The deadline is 23rd September 2025. The outcome of the selection will be communicated by 15th October 2025.

How to apply: Sending a 500-word abstract and short academic CV (max.500 word) to both organisers:

  • · Sigfrido Ramírez Pérez, Max-Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt-am-Main, ramirez@lhlt.mpg.de
  • · Claude Roccati, Centre d’histoire sociale des mondes contemporains, Paris, claude.roccati@orange.fr

The proposal should include name, surname, current affiliation and contact details. 

CfP: Working Group Workplaces, Pasts and Presents, ELHN Conference 2026: Grounded Work: Social, Spatial and Environmental Ecologies of Labour

2 weeks 6 days ago

We invite scholars to explore the complex entanglements between labour, sites of production, industrial geography and environments across historical contexts. We seek papers that examine how workplaces—whether factories, offices, shipyards, mines, farms, or digital infrastructures—function not only as sites of economic production, but also as dynamic ecosystems embedded in social, spatial, and environmental relations.

Workplaces are ecosystems with variable interdependencies of labour, space, technology and environment (Becker, 1990). Work has never occurred in a vacuum. It is shaped by and shapes architectural forms, infrastructural systems, material flows, climatic and territorial conditions and, of course, the social and technological organisation of labour. Workplace ecologies both reflect and reproduce social hierarchies, environmental transformations, and spatial configurations of power.

Environmental historians have argued that we should begin with work to understand how societies know and transform nature, insisting that people encounter and shape the environment primarily through labour (White). Concepts like “workscapes” describe the dynamic material settings forged by the interplay between labour and natural processes (Andrews). Labour historians, in turn, have drawn on perspectives including labour geography and environmental justice to explore how capital reorganizes nature—and how ecological conditions, in turn, structure relations of class, gender, and exploitation (Bailey and Gwyther, Peck). Workplace ecologies and infrastructures are also deeply intertwined with systems of imperial extraction and racialized labour hierarchies (Larkin 2013; Cowen 2014). These approaches unsettle disciplinary boundaries, bringing ecological analysis into labour history and reintroducing political economy into environmental studies.

This call for papers aims to foreground historical approaches that interrogate how the organization of labour intersects with ecological systems and spatial politics. We welcome contributions that analyze the reciprocal influences between the workplace as a constructed space and broader environmental and social processes. How have workplaces historically mediated relations between humans, technology, materials, and the environment? What role has the built environment played in codifying or contesting labour relations and environmental impacts? How has the social and spatial organisation of labour impacted resistance or accommodation to management control? 

As a site where ecological processes and social struggles meet, the workplace enables a more grounded analysis of how human and nonhuman worlds are co-produced through situated practices of labour, contestation, and survival. Through an empirical and conceptual focus on the workplace as an interconnected ecosystem, and through interdisciplinary frameworks, this call for paper opens space to reframe these questions.

Possible themes include (but are not limited to):

  • Spatial politics of labour: segregation, mobility, and infrastructures of control
  • Ecological transformations in specific workplaces (e.g., mines, factories, ports, farms, warehouses) and their effects
  • The role of industrial geography in shaping workplace ecologies and workers’ lived experience across local, regional, and global scales
  • How material infrastructures shape labour regimes and labour processes.
  • Labour struggle and how they reshaped workplace ecology
  • Methodological challenges in researching workplace ecologies: archives, oral histories, and interdisciplinary approaches
  • Conceptual papers that explore the multidimensionality of workplace ecology.
  • Environmental histories of workplaces: pollution, toxicity, resource use, and ecological change
  • The embodied and metabolic experience of workers and the socio-natures that they interact with
  • Gender, race, class, and the ecologies of workplace design and function
  • Technological change and the environmental footprint of work
  • Transnational and colonial entanglements in the construction of labour ecologies
  • Digital and remote work and its spatial and ecological implications

Submission Guidelines

We welcome both individual paper proposals and session proposals. For session proposals, please include 3 to 4 papers, along with an abstract that outlines the overarching theme or common thread of the session. Each individual paper should also include an abstract.

  • Each abstract should be a maximum of 500 words (excluding the bibliography).
  • Your proposal should include your name, surname, current affiliation, contact information, and paper title.
  • Abstracts must explicitly indicate which of the themes (from the provided bullet points) your paper or session addresses.

Please submit your abstract by 15 August 2025 to Görkem Akgöz (akgozgorkem@yahoo.com) or Nico Pizzolato (n.pizzolato@mdx.ac.uk).

About the ELHN “Workplaces: Pasts and Presents” Working Group

The working group has been active since 2014, initially known as “Factory History.” The name change in 2021 reflects the expanding scope of the group, which now includes scholars studying a wide range of workplaces beyond the industrial context. It also acknowledges the growing contributions from scholars in fields like anthropology and geography, in addition to history. The group is truly international, bringing together scholars at various stages of their careers from a
wide range of academic disciplines. It has developed a rich library of working papers and primary materials and is fuelled by a wealth of energy and innovative ideas. The group also runs a digital platform for collaborative research exhibits and produces a podcast series.

If you are interested in joining or would like to receive updates from the group, please contact one of the coordinators at akgozgorkem@yahoo.com or n.pizzolato@mdx.ac.uk.

Colloque « le conflit des cheminots de l’hiver 1986-1987 » Espace Condorcet (Aubervilliers) 20 et 21 janvier 2027 (French)

3 weeks ago

Institut d'histoire sociale de la Fédération CGT des cheminots 263, rue de Paris - Case 546 - 93515 Montreuil Cedex

L’institut d’histoire sociale de la fédération CGT des cheminots lance l’organisation d’un colloque portant sur la grève de l’hiver 1986/1987, qui s’est étendue du 18 décembre 1986 au 15 janvier 1987, faisant de ce conflit (à ce moment-là) le plus long de l’histoire sociale des cheminots. Ce conflit avait notamment permis le retrait d’une grille des salaires « au mérite » rejetée par l’ensemble du corps social.

Ce conflit a durablement marqué l’histoire des luttes cheminotes pour des raisons qui ne tiennent pas seulement à la durée de la grève. Dans un contexte marqué par le recul important des effectifs syndicaux d’un côté, par l’entrée dans la première cohabitation de la 5ème République de l’autre, cette grève s’inscrit d’abord dans une séquence de renouveau des luttes sociales qui se manifeste de différentes manières. En cette fin d’année 1986, les étudiants sont notamment mobilisés contre le projet Devaquet alors ministre de l’éducation nationale. Parmi les agents de la SNCF, le conflit prend forme dans un contexte de durcissement des relations avec le gouvernement.

Dès le mois d’août 1986, le ministre Douffiagues avait accordé au Monde un entretien, reçu comme une véritable provocation par les syndicats. Le ministre y déclare notamment vouloir « ouvrir un débat » sur le statut du cheminot, au motif qu’il ne lui semble pas toujours justifié par des considérations techniques, et exige à la SNCF des comptes sur la façon dont elle dépense 33 milliards de francs de concours publics annuels. En riposte, la fédération CGT appelle à un rassemblement des cheminots de la région parisienne à la gare d’Austerlitz.

Cette mobilisation s‘inscrit dans un ensemble de 14 actions nationales initiées par le syndicat au cours de l’année 1986 chez les cheminots. Ainsi dès le 30 janvier contre la flexibilité du travail ; en février et mars contre les sanctions frappant les militants du train jaune de Cerdagne qui se sont opposés à son démantèlement. Une manifestation nationale des cheminots est organisée à Montpellier le 20 février pour défendre les militants du train jaune ; puis le 23 avril action contre la mise en oeuvre du contrat de plan État/SNCF prévoyant la suppression de 28000 emplois entre 1986 et 1989. Citons encore la forte mobilisation des agents de conduite et contrôleurs le 30 mai, et la semaine d’actions organisée du 20 au 25 octobre sur les salaires, l’emploi, les conditions de travail, les atteintes aux libertés syndicales, la défense du statut ; dans la foulée, du 10 au 16 décembre, s’enclenche la grève victorieuse des guichetiers des gares contre le retrait de la « prime de saisie »

Si la grève de l’hiver 1986 prend donc naissance dans un contexte d’intensification des luttes syndicales cheminotes, les conditions de son émergence et les modalités de son organisation en ont cependant aussi débordé les cadres habituels du travail syndical d’organisation des mobilisations. Le déclenchement de cette grève n’a pas été en effet impulsée par la CGT ni par une autre organisation syndicale, dont le rôle dans l’organisation de la lutte est aussi mis en question par l’émergence de coordinations, qui donnent une place centrale à la pratique de l’assemblée générale dans la conduite du mouvement. Autre trait distinctif de cette grève, sa temporalité, puisqu’elle s’enclenche et se poursuit pendant les fêtes de fin d’année. C’est là une autre rupture manifeste avec les stratégies syndicales habituelles de recours à la grève, qui préfèrent en règle générale éviter d’en faire usage à cette période, dans une logique de défense du sens du service public et de limitation des risques de stigmatisation de la lutte syndicale.

Au regard de ces différents éléments, ce colloque se propose de réinvestir l’étude de cette grève à partir d’une double ambition : celle de contribuer à une meilleure connaissance des ressorts de cette mobilisation et de ses effets, en encourageant pour cela la mise en perspective de recherches académiques et de témoignages militants permettant de décentrer le regard à partir duquel cette mobilisation a été le plus souvent appréhendée dans le champ scientifique. Outre que les travaux historiques spécifiquement centrés sur ce conflit restent rares, les sociologues s’en sont eux emparés à partir d’un prisme essentiellement centré sur l’objet des coordinations. Elles ont été saisies comme un révélateur de la crise du syndicalisme, qui s’est imposée, jusqu’à la fin des années 1990 comme le principal angle de questionnement à partir duquel les sciences sociales se sont intéressées aux questions syndicales. Sans remettre évidemment en cause l’intérêt de ces travaux, l’objectif de ce colloque est cependant de rassembler des contributions qui permettent d’élargir tout aussi bien les angles de questionnement que les échelles de l’analyse, en ne la réduisant pas notamment à ce qui s’est joué dans la région parisienne.

Comment le déclenchement et le déroulement de ce conflit a-t-il été appréhendé et accompagné (ou non) par les directions syndicales qui n’en avaient pas pris l’initiative ? Quelle place ont concrètement occupé les militants syndicaux (et lesquels) dans les coordinations ? Cette forme d’organisation de la lutte était-elle d’ailleurs généralisée sur l’ensemble du territoire ? Comment le « tabou syndical » de la grève pendant les périodes de fêtes de fin d’année a-t-il pu être levé ? Quelles résistances internes, quelles réactions politiques et médiatiques hostiles cela a-t-il pu engendrer ? Enfin, qu’a produit ce conflit, tant du point de vue de ses résultats revendicatifs immédiats ou à plus long terme (le retrait du projet de grille des salaires au mérite en particulier), que des formes d’adaptation et de redynamisation de l’action syndicale qu’il a pu encourager ? Plus que la fin du syndicalisme cheminot, ce conflit n’a-t-il pas davantage marqué son entrée dans une nouvelle séquence, posant les germes de la démarche syndicale qui aboutira au conflit de novembre et décembre 1995 ? Quel impact de la lutte et de ses formes sur les orientations et pratiques de la CGT au-delà de la seule fédération des cheminots ? Telles sont, parmi d’autres possibles, les questions que ce colloque se propose notamment de défricher.

 

Dans cette optique, les contributions pourront s’ordonner autour de quatre principaux axes de questionnement :

  1. Le moment du conflit et sa genèse
    1. effets du conflit sur le champ syndical CGT et autres
    2. effets sur les pratiques et les organisations

 

    1. expériences territoriales
    2. portée de ce conflit quatre décennies plus tard

 

Les archives de l’Institut d’Histoire Sociale de la CGT Cheminots pourront être exploitées en vue d’apporter des contributions originales au colloque

 

Conseil scientifique :

Baptiste GIRAUD, maitre de conférences en science politique, université Aix-Marseille, Laboratoire d’Économie et de Sociologie du Travail

Paul BOULLAND, ingénieur de recherche, CNRS

Maryse DUMAS, membre du bureau de l’Institut CGT d’Histoire Sociale

Isabelle PASQUET, Patrick CHAMARET, Christian JONCRET, Pierre DELANOUE, membres du bureau de l’IHS CGT Cheminots

Contact :

colloque8687.ihs@cheminotcgt.fr

Pierre DELANOUE : 06 22 33 77 00

Postsocialist Transformation as a World of Meaning: Domination, Agency, and Sense-Making

3 weeks ago

12–13 February 2026, Vila Lanna/Prague

More than three decades after the fall of state socialism in Europe, the liberal democratic, capitalist regimes that emerged in 1989 face new and growing challenges. The post-1989 liberal order—once broadly accepted—now finds itself in a moment of crisis. But how deep did that original acceptance run? What meanings did people attach to the new political, economic and social arrangements? How did they navigate and make sense of these transformations in everyday life?

This exploratory conference seeks to open a new perspective on postsocialist transformation in Eastern Europe —not just as a political and economic process, but as a "world of meaning" shaped by the complex interplay of domination and agency. We draw inspiration from conceptual approaches used in the study of state socialism and communist dictatorship, particularly the ideas of Sinnwelt (world of meaning) and Eigensinn (individual sense-making), to ask fresh questions about how the post-1989 order was lived, legitimated, adapted—and sometimes resisted—by those within it (Lüdtke 1993; Lindenberger 1999; Donert, Kladnik and Sabrow 2022).

We invite proposals for papers that explore how people navigated, internalized, or challenged the shifting norms, values, and ideals of the new postsocialist order and are interested in perspectives that take into account the lived experience of different social, age, gender and ethnic groups. We are particularly seeking contributions that examine how the legitimacy of the liberal democratic order was constructed in everyday life, beyond official discourses and binary frameworks of "winners and losers."

 

We invite papers that explicitly engage with Sinnwelt and Eigensinn on topics such as:

  • Prepolitical sources of legitimacy and how they were accepted, challenged or transformed
  • Everyday practices of navigating new power structures (in workplaces, institutions, etc.)
  • The persistence, adaptation or rejection of late socialist social strategies
  • The relationship between hegemonic ideologies and lived experience across different social groups
  • The market as a site of both domination and self-realization: how different kinds of capitalism shaped moral expectations, subjectivities, and life trajectories
  • The market as a political order: how market logics replaced or supplemented traditional forms of governance and legitimacy
  • Conceptual and theoretical approaches to postsocialist meaning-making, including comparisons with state socialist frameworks

We also welcome contributions that explore how the concepts of Sinnwelt and Eigensinn relate to frameworks such as governmentality (Foucault), praxeology (Bourdieu), or Polányi’s concept of the “great transformation” in the study of postsocialist transformation.

 

The conference is organized as a collaborative, work-in-progress space. Participants will be expected to develop their contributions into written chapters for a collective publication following the event.

Submit abstracts (max 300 words) and a brief biographical note by 15 September 2025 to:
transformace@usd.cas.cz

We look forward to your submissions and to collectively rethinking how postsocialist transformation has shaped—and continues to shape—our worlds of meaning.

Conference organizers:

Dr Martin Babička, Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Dr Veronika Pehe, Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Dr Michal Kopeček, Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Organizational partners:

Hannah-Arendt-Institut für Totalitarismusforschung, TU Dresden
Research Center for the History of Transformations, University of Vienna

References

Donert, Celia, Ana Kladnik, and Martin Sabrow. Making Sense of Dictatorship: Domination and Everyday Life in East Central Europe after 1945 (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2022).

 

Lindenberger, Thomas, and Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam. Herrschaft Und Eigen-Sinn in Der Diktatur : Studien Zur Gesellschaftsgeschichte Der DDR (Köln: Böhlau, 1999).

 

Lüdtke, Alf. Eigen-Sinn: Fabrikalltag, Arbeitererfahrungen und Politik vom Kaiserreich bis in den Faschismus (Hamburg: Ergebnisse Verlag, 1993).

 

This conference is supported by the Lumina Quaeruntur Award 300632301 of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

 

IV Jornadas internacionales de historia de los/as trabajadores/as y las izquierdas (Spanish)

3 weeks ago

13 al 17 de abril de 2026

Mesas temáticas: 13 al 16 de abril (modalidad virtual)

Conferencias y paneles: 17 de abril (modalidad presencial - CABA)

 El Centro de Estudios Históricos de los Trabajadores y las Izquierdas y la revista Archivos invitan a participar de las “IV Jornadas internacionales de historia de los/as trabajadores/as y las izquierdas” que se realizarán entre el 13 y el 17 de abril de 2026.

Desde junio de 2015 se realizan las “Jornadas internacionales de historia de los/as trabajadores/as y las izquierdas” con el objetivo de potenciar la elaboración y el intercambio acerca de la historia de la clase trabajadora y las izquierdas en la Argentina y en el mundo. Las diversas y masivas ediciones del evento congregaron a una significativa representación de los investigadores especialistas en las temáticas en cuestión y se desarrollaron bajo múltiples modalidades. Sin rehuir a la crítica y al debate franco, en un clima abierto y plural, se aportaron valiosas contribuciones sobre las dimensiones empíricas, teóricas, metodológicas y políticas de nuestro campo de estudio.

El desafío inicial sigue vigente, pero sobre un pilar aún más sólido: la consolidación del CEHTI, constituido en julio de 2016 y en donde se prolongó la elaboración desde una perspectiva crítica y de intercambio colectivo. Aspiramos a recibir trabajos que se extiendan a los múltiples aportes de la historia social, política, intelectual, cultural y de género, desde enfoques interdisciplinarios, abiertos tanto al escenario nacional como internacional. Retomando toda esta dinámica de trabajo, ahora nos proponemos la organización de las “IV Jornadas internacionales de historia de los/as trabajadores/as y las izquierdas”, en las que apelamos a una convocatoria pública para la presentación de ponencias y con una serie de ejes temáticos que pretenden priorizar y ordenar la discusión.

La modalidad de las Jornadas será doble. Por un lado, las mesas temáticas con ponencias funcionarán de modo virtual entre los días lunes 13 de abril y jueves 16 de abril de 2026. Por otro lado, el día viernes 17 de abril desde la mañana y durante toda la jornada se realizarán múltiples conferencias y paneles que se desarrollarán de modo presencial en nuestra sede y que oportunamente serán comunicados.

Los resúmenes y las ponencias podrán abordar cualquiera de estas dinámicas:

1)     Las izquierdas: culturas políticas, tradiciones, partidos y programas.

2)     Izquierda y clase obrera: experiencias de lucha y organización.

3)     Proceso de trabajo, estructuras sindicales y conflictividad laboral.

4)     Teoría e historia del marxismo.

5)     Historia intelectual de las izquierdas: redes y trayectorias.

6)     Estudios de género, clase trabajadora e izquierdas.

7)     Experiencias artísticas y culturales.

8)     Juventudes y movimiento estudiantil.

9)     Clase trabajadora, migraciones y etnicidad.

10)  Derechas, mundo católico y movimiento obrero.

11)  Violencia política y lucha armada.

12)  Formas de trabajo y conflictos sociales y políticos.

13)  Sociabilidad y vida cotidiana.

14)  Estado y clase trabajadora: iniciativas reformistas y políticas represivas.

15)  Cuestiones historiográficas y metodológicas.

16)  Clase obrera, nacionalismo y peronismo.

17)  Movimientos sociales, conflicto territorial y luchas medioambientales.

Fechas de presentación:

  • Envío de Resúmenes: hasta el 1 de septiembre de 2025
  • Envío de Ponencias: hasta el 1 de marzo de 2026

Criterios de presentación:

  • Se aceptarán ponencias en español, inglés y portugués.
  • Los resúmenes deben tener hasta 200 palabras y un encabezado con el nombre y apellido, el e-mail y la pertenencia institucional del autor/autora. Las ponencias podrán tener un máximo de 55.000 caracteres con espacio, en letra Times New Roman, tamaño 12 e interlineado de 1,5. En el encabezado se debe explicitar si autoriza la publicación en las actas de las Jornadas.
  • Las propuestas deben ser enviadas a cuartasjornadascehti@gmail.com en un archivo cuyo nombre debe ser el apellido del autor/autora y el eje seleccionado. Ejemplo: PerezEje2.doc
  • La asistencia será gratuita y el arancel para ponentes se detallará oportunamente.

Organizan:

  • Centro de Estudios Históricos de los Trabajadores y las Izquierdas (CEHTI).
  • Revista Archivos de historia del movimiento obrero y la izquierda.
  • Proyecto de investigación UBACyT, “Izquierdas y movimiento obrero en la Argentina, 1880-1990: culturas políticas y experiencias de clase”, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Instituto de Hist. Arg. y Americana “Dr. Emilio Ravignani”, UBA/CONICET.

Auspician:

  • Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires.d

www.cehti.org

La Mouvement Social: Produire les aliments Les industries agroalimentaires en France (xixe-xxie siècle) (French)

3 weeks ago

Sommaire

 

L’ère des aliments industriels

Pour une histoire des industries agroalimentaires en France (19e-21e siècle)

Marc-Olivier Déplaude et Julian Mischi

 

Les vacheries parisiennes

Régulations d’une production laitière urbaine, 1815-1830

Thomas Le Roux

 

Le travail des ouvrières et sa rationalisation dans les biscuiteries industrielles en France avant 1940

Julian Mischi

 

Les ateliers de viande militaires, une production intégrée pendant la Première Guerre mondiale

Emmanuelle Cronier

 

L’invention du porc industriel

Résidus alimentaires et porcheries d’engraissement dans la France des années 1860-1930

Marc-Olivier Déplaude

 

Quelle place pour la coopération agricole dans l’industrie agroalimentaire ?

Le délicat rééquilibrage des soutiens publics au temps de la « modernisation agricole »

Pierre-Antoine Dessaux

 

L’avènement de la Cooperl

Le rôle des coopératives dans la modernisation de l’élevage porcin breton (années 1940-années 1970)

Clémence Gadenne-Rosfelder

 

Une usine encombrante

La régulation des « débordements industriels » d’une sucrerie normande face à l’intensification de sa production au 20e siècle

Nicolas Larchet

 

Organisation de la production et conditions d’emploi dans une usine agroalimentaire périurbaine

Pauline Liochon

 

Condition ouvrière et hors-travail dans l’industrie du saumon au Chili

Natalia Briceño

Naissance d’une nouvelle revue internationale, la Revue d’histoire sociale (RHS) (French)

3 weeks ago

Cher.e.s collègues cher.es ami.e.s,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous faire part de la naissance d’une nouvelle revue internationale, la Revue d’histoire sociale (RHS).

Cette revue interdisciplinaire, ouverte sur l’ensemble des périodes historiques, y compris la préhistoire, l’ensemble des continents, vise à prendre une place, modeste, aux côtés de ses ainées, en (re)vitalisant, sans dogmatisme le terrain fertile de l’histoire sociale dans sa pluralité. Elle accueille les recherches et travaux de chercheur.e.s de différentes nationalités pouvant proposer articles, recensions, hypothèses en lien avec les thématiques poursuivies par la revue. Elle publie actuellement des articles en français, anglais, Italien ou espagnol.

Aussi, le premier numéro de la Revue d'histoire sociale est désormais en ligne https://www.ouvroir.fr/portail/index.php?id=81. Au travers de nombreux entretiens, de différentes recensions, il pose la question suivante : Où en est l'histoire sociale ?

Vous trouverez ainsi la présentation de la revue : https://www.ouvroir.fr/rhs/index.php?id=77

Le prochain dossier à paraitre est consacré aux « usages scientifiques du peuple ».

 

Contact général et soumission d’articles

jerome.lamy(at)laposte.net

En guerre et en grève Enquêtes dans les cités minières britanniques (1939-1945) (French)

3 weeks ago

by Ariane Mak

 

« Il n’y avait pas de grèves pendant la guerre ! » Ce livre défie l’idée, solidement ancrée dans les représentations de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, d’une suspension des conflits sociaux au nom de la nécessaire unité nationale. De 1939 à 1945, le Royaume-Uni connaît plus de 7 000 grèves, la plupart dans l’industrie charbonnière. Qu’est-ce qu’implique la grève en temps de guerre ?

Faut-il être solidaire de la nation ou plutôt de la classe ouvrière ?

En revisitant les enquêtes ethnographiques réalisées au cœur des grèves par un institut de recherche, le Mass-Observation, Ariane Mak propose une analyse par le bas, à hauteur des mineurs et des communautés, des vies ouvrières en temps de guerre. La grève se dévoile dans les dépenses de la voisine chez l’épicier, au détour de plaisanteries échangées entre grévistes dans les pubs ou encore à travers les ragots transmis entre femmes sur le pas de la porte. L’ouvrage met en lumière l’articulation entre revendications salariales, rapports de genre, transmission familiale et fierté professionnelle. Le travail des enquêtrices et celui de l’historienne se font échos ici pour mieux éclairer un pan méconnu des luttes sociales du XXe siècle.

Checked
1 hour 46 minutes ago
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