How did deindustrialisation change local communities at the end of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21th century?
Call for papers of the ELHN Working Group Memory and Deindustrialisation for the 6th ELHN Conference, 16-19 June 2026, Barcelona
Organizers: Irene Diaz, Tibor Valuch
As a global process, deindustrialisation has profoundly transformed the social, cultural and economic frame of countless countries and regions around the world. There is abundant literature and solid research on this subject, offering a general framework of the deindustrialisation process, its causes, consequences and economic, social and cultural impact. The closure of industries and factories, once pillars of the economy, generators of strong work cultures and sources of identity, has left behind complex legacies, whose traces are particularly visible when we focus on local communities.
It is precisely with an interest in the local scale that we ask ourselves how communities have dealt with those processes of deindustrialisation. What have been the main changes experienced, and in this sense, what continuities and ruptures people perceive as meaningful? What responses have been articulated, what strategies for productive transformation have been implemented (or not), all from approaches that address both institutional responses and those that could be carried out ‘from below’ in terms of both reflection and action. All of this, ultimately, with the aim of going beyond a mere analysis of the deindustrialisation process to ask ourselves questions, investigate and reflect on the ‘aftermath’. Undoubtedly, as prolonged processes, both the confirmation of the end of a cycle and its perception often introduce enormous complexity which, precisely because of the ‘continuity in discontinuity’ they represent, open up interesting lines of research.
With this purpose, we propose the following topics:
- Identity and culture in the post-industrial context
- Industrial heritage and the process of touristification
- Community responses and resilience
- Environmental legacies
- Gender roles in deindustrialised contexts
- Urban transformation and gentrification processes
We welcome abstracts related to these questions. Abstracts (max. 300 words) should be sent by 30 September 2025 to Irene Diaz (irenedzmz@gmail.com) and to Tibor Valuch (valuch63@gmail.com).