Mission
The global turn has helped to revive the study of labour in imperial, colonial and post-colonial contexts. The 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 relating to Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East, as well as the European imperial metropoles. A core goal of the group is to go beyond Eurocentric perspectives and promote innovative, fresh research that adopt a global analytical approach. For this reason, contributions from scholars from across the world and from early career researchers are particularly welcome.
Activities
The group regularly issues call for papers, both as part of the biennal ELHN conferences and for separate group-only events. Since its formation in 2013, the Working Group has organised eight conferences, two in Paris (2013 and 2018), one in Turin (2015), one in Nanterre (2017), one in Amsterdam (2019), one in Vienna (2021), one in Bristol (2023) and one in Uppsala (2024). Contributions to these conferences have reflected the renewed vibrancy of labour 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.
During the year, the group organises a seminar series, in which members of the group present their work in progress (check the seminar program via the link at the bottom of the page). Calls to participate in the series are issued at the beginning of the academic year.
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 on trade unions in the Global South edited by Gareth Curless. Special issues drawing on the conferences in Bristol and Uppsala are in preparation for Labor: Studies in Working Class History and Labour History Review.
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 21 January 2025]