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
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.
Technological change has produced hopes of growth and expectations of unemployment in the history of capitalism. The introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into production processes in industry and services across the world economy has given this issue renewed urgency today. Certain dominant firms present AI as the necessary instrument for the reorganisation and automation of labour processes and the replacement of unnecessary jobs. Some economic historians predict rapid change and ‘technological traps’ comparable to the 1960s, 1930s, 1880s, and 1830s.
