Mission
The ELHN Working Group ILO Histories seeks to bring together scholars interested in the rich history of the International Labour Organization [ILO] and its promotion of global labour standards and tripartism since 1919. We envision a broad scope as detailed herein.
Scope
- The role of the ILO in formulating and promoting international labour standards to regulate the economy, and fight the exploitation of working people, worldwide.
- The impact and limitation of the ILO’s specific model of tripartism, the role of trade unions and employers in shaping international labour policies.
- The ILO’s interaction with and role in larger civil society networks and movements to promote labour rights.
- The transformation of the world of work and the ILO’s contribution to analyse these trends.
- The impact of changing geopolitical constellations on the ILO’s mandate of social justice and peace.
- The ILO’s role in 20th century multilateralism (League of Nations and United Nations).
There are good reasons for labour historians to analyse labour history through the lens of the ILO.
- The ILO allows to study the dynamics of national, regional and international attempts to regulate labour-capital relations over more than a hundred year period.
- ILO history is multidimensional. It brings together global labour history, gender and post-colonial history, the history of ideas, and more. It is multidisciplinary given the economic, legal and societal dimensions of labour issues.
- Historical research with a focus on the ILO can support today’s labour activism for international and national labour law and democracy.
Activities
The Working Group offers a meeting space for labour historians interested in the transnational, institutional, and activist efforts to promote labour rights and fight the destructive dynamics of capitalism. It further allows scholars to share materials, especially in light of possible disruptions in access to records during reorganization of departments and buildings at the ILO and other United Nations entities in Geneva and elsewhere. With founding members from around the world who focus on global as well as regional histories, the ELHN Working Group ILO Histories will become a place for a transnational conversation on key themes in global labour history.
Contact
Organizing Committee:
Paula Lucia Aguilar, aguilarpl@gmail.com
Ludovica Aricò, ludovica.arico@studenti.unipd.it
Victoria Basualo, basuvic@yahoo.com.ar
Eloisa Betti, Eloisa.betti@unipd.it
Eileen Boris, boris@femst.ucsb.edu
Selin Catagay, selincagatay@gmail.com
Laura Caruso, lauracaruso@gmail.com
Norberto Ferreras, norberto.ferreras@gmail.com
Dorothea Hoehtker, hoehtker@ilo.org (dhoehtker@ikmail.com as of 1 July 2026)
Jill M. Jensen, jmj18@psu.edu
Sandrine Kott, Sandrine.Kott@unige.ch
Isabelle Lespinet-Moret, isabelle.lespinet-moret@univ-paris1.fr
Ivelina Masheva, masheva@gmail.com
Daniel Maul, daniel.maul@iakh.uio.no
Lorenzo Mechi, Lorenzo.mechi@tiscali.it
Amalia Ribi-Forclaz, amalia.ribi@graduateinstitute.ch
Andres Stagnaro, andres.stagnaro81@gmail.com
Susan Zimmermann, zimmerma@ceu.edu
External links
[last updated 26 June 2026]