Assignment
The global turn has helped to revive the study of labour in relation to imperial, colonial and post-colonial dynamics. The ELHN Labour and Empire Working Group, co-ordinated by Lorenzo Costaguta, Justine Cousin, Nicki Kinderseley and Thomas van Gaalen, aims to provide a forum for historians to share new and emerging labour history research that centres colonial and imperial dynamics in, as well as connections between, Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and European imperial metropolises. A core goal of the group is to go beyond Eurocentric perspectives and promote critical research that adopts a global analytical approach. For this reason, contributions from across the world and from early career researchers are welcome.
Activities
The group regularly issues calls for papers, both as part of the biennial ELHN conferences (such as the most recent ELHN conference in Uppsala, Sweden, 2024) and for separate group-only events. Since its formation in 2013, the Working Group has organised seven conferences: two in Paris (2013 and 2018), one in Turin (2015), one in Nanterre (2017), one in Amsterdam (2019), one in Vienna (2021) and one in Bristol (2023). Contributions to these conferences have reflected recent developments in the fields of labour history and (post-)colonial history. Topics have included the often blurred boundary between free and unfree labour, labour (im)mobility, labour and colonial violence, gender and the labour question, maritime labour, transnational activism, and the relationship between class, labour and empire.
Over the year, the group organises a seminar series, in which special guests as well as members of the group present work in progress. You can check the seminar programme via the link at the bottom of the page.
The activities of the group have led to several publications, including the volume Workers of the Empire Unite: Radical and Popular Challenges to British Imperialism, edited by Yann Béliard and Neville Kirk (Liverpool University Press, 2021) and a special issue of Labor History on trade unions in the Global South edited by Gareth Curless.
Contact
The co-ordinators of the group welcome enquiries from prospective contributors and members, as well as suggestions for future events and collaborations. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, with a view to being notified about upcoming conferences, workshops and CfPs, please contact the main email address of the working group (labourempire.elhn@gmail.com).
External links
[last updated 25 February 2025]