49th Annual Conference of the International Association of Labour History Institutions (IALHI)
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation (Viale Pasubio 5), Milan, Italy
September 12th – 15th, 2018
THE SOURCES OF ’68
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
The memory of the international 1968 refers to a mosaic of sources related not only to national and territorial peculiarities, but also to the different structure and duration of each social movement that was launched in that year. The contribution that IALHI member institutes can provide to recreate the general framework is therefore of great importance and allows, through the comparison of the preserved documentation, to offer a broad overview of the available sources in order to find the questions, the instances, the desires of a generation that suddenly found itself at the centre of history and that tried to deeply change not only politics and society, but also languages and collective behaviours.
On the other hand, since we have to deal with a plurality of perspectives and approaches, of languages and contents, of supports and scenarios, it is essential not only to have a comparative view, but also to create a link between conservation and research, in order to generate a virtuous relationship between the availability of sources and tools, as a prerequisite for a more accurate knowledge, to the benefit of researchers. By consolidating this flow of information coming from the research sources and by sharing the proposals to enhance them, it will be possible to create a digital library on 1968, resulting from the identification of thematic keywords, as a starting point to aggregate cross-cutting paths.
The discussion will then be focused on eight keywords (freedom, individual, movement, power, collective, youth, society, utopia), introduced by the round table that closes the morning of Friday, September 14th. These eight open and horizontal keywords are not meant to limit the discussion to predefined disciplinary areas or to preset interpretations but, on the contrary, the goal is to promote contaminations and exchanges between those who preserve heritage and those who question it. The debate will then be split up in eight thematic tables: a curator and a researcher will be jointly responsible of each table, while a rapporteur will be charged of drafting a summary sheet to sum up the discussion outcomes that will be shared by IALHI.
The curators who will coordinate the tables, starting from their knowledge of the processes to acquire sources, their nature and articulation, as well as the relationships and links between archives and libraries (with particular attention paid to the audiovisual and iconographic sources), will witness the construction of the historical memory of the events of 1968, which, thanks to free access to sources, guarantees plural interpretations and a rich debate. As far as keywords are concerned, the curators ask for a survey on the documentation of greater heuristic value for research, based on the heritage available in the institutions they belong to.
In light of the advanced historical interpretations on the international 1968, the contribution requested to researchers lies instead in the identification of paths that can trigger an interdisciplinary and transversal comparison with other researchers and with the curators of archive and bibliographic heritage, with the aim of fostering the discussion not only on well-known thematic paths, but also to propose new research directions. Based on these reports, the researchers are also able to point out possible connections with the present and to suggest lines of interpretation for the future.
Therefore, curators and researchers who are willing to coordinate the thematic tables are asked to select the keywords they are more confident with in order to fuel the debate and involve all the participants.
The proposals (500 words), along with a brief professional profile (150 words), must be submitted by July 21, 2018 to ialhi2018@fondazionefeltrinelli.it. Conference participation is without a fee, however travel and accommodation costs are at your expense.
On Thursday 13 September as usual there will be opportunity for IALHI members to give short presentations (5-10 min.) on their current projects and activities. If you are IALHI member, you can submit your presentation with your name and working title.