The mainstream historiographies of industrialisation habitually emphasise the novel energy sources and materials that powered this transformative era, such as coal, steel, steam and electricity, implicitly assuming that wood, an important pre-industrial resource, was destined for an inevitable decline. Histories of industrialisation also disproportionately focus on Europe and North America.

Between Global Standards and Unequal Treatment
The International Labour Organization and Racialised Labour, 1920s–1950s
- Fabiana Kutsche

Futures in the History of Deindustrialisation
Edited by Eloisa Betti, Liliosa Azara, Stefan Moitra, Francesca Sanna, Christian Wicke

Paris/France

Dates: 22-23 October 2026

Location: Somerville College, Oxford (Margaret Thatcher Centre)

Convenors: Damiano Bardelli (Voltaire Foundation, Oxford) and Matilde Cazzola (DiSCi, Bologna and mpilhlt), with Joanna Innes (Faculty of History Oxford)

THURSDAY, 22 October

13:30 Welcome and Introduction

14:00 Session 1 – Rural Poverty

Joanna Innes (University of Oxford): The Invention of Rural Poverty in England, from 1760

How important has socialism been to adult education? For most of history, adult education – structured learning, involving organised study and usually teaching – was restricted largely to social and religious elites. During the nineteenth century, however, as the industrial revolution tore apart the bonds of ‘traditional’ economies and societies, propelled migrants to towns and foreign lands, and demanded mastery of new skills, new popular democratic movements arose – most profoundly, the socialist movement.

Haledon, New Jersey - The Annual Labor Day Parade, co-sponsored by the American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark and the Borough of Haledon, is scheduled for Sunday, September 6th, 2026.  The opening ceremony begins at the Museum at 10:30AM.  Step-off at the Museum is at 11:00AM, rain or shine.

This year’s Labor Day Parade honors Grand Marshals Kevin Jarvis, Acting Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development and Brian Jackson, President, Passaic County Building & Construction Trades Council.

by Marc Loriol

Pourquoi les Français travaillent-ils ? Pour quelles raisons s’investissent-ils dans leur activité professionnelle ou, au contraire, cherchent-ils à s’en détacher ? Quelle place le travail occupe-t-il dans leur existence et comment cette place a-t-elle évolué au fil du temps ? Ces questions mettent en évidence la complexité et l’ambivalence du rapport au travail. Une même personne peut, au cours d’un entretien, exprimer à la fois un fort attachement à son métier, le souhait d’en changer ou le refus de voir ses enfants exercer la même profession.