Deindustrialization in Europe has followed an uneven development, which has affected particular regions and cities more strongly than societies as a whole, and transformed particular sectors rather than the entire economy of a nation. This conference aims to make an important addition to deindustrialization studies by marking the beginning of a comparative regional history that takes multidisciplinary perspectives required to better understand the complexities and effects of deindustrialization processes. Experts in the field will meet at the German Historical Institute in Rome to discuss two examples of the most heavily industrialized regions in Italy and Germany, the Ruhr and Northwest Italy. Both have experienced dramatic structural changes over the second half of the twentieth century. Comparing them makes visible the distinctly transformative developments at the regional level and allows us to contextualize the sustained German-Italian comparison in a wider framework beyond the national. As both regions have taken very different paths in their economic, social, environmental, urban and cultural histories, they can learn from each other and serve as examples for others.
Programme
18 April 2018
14:00
Martin Baumeister & Christian Wicke, Introduction
14:30 – 16:30
Methodology and Historiography of the History of Deindustrialization
Chaired by: Stefan Berger
Giuseppe Berta (Bocconi University) & Angelo Pichierri (University of Turin)
Deindustrialization and Structural Change in Historical Perspective: The Case of Nord Ovest
Hans-Werner Wehling (University of Duisburg-Essen)
The Industrial Cultural Landscape of the Ruhr: Its Structures and Perspectives
Roberta Garruccio (University of Milano Bicocca)
An Oral History and Public History Project in Sesto San Giovanni
Stefan Moitra (German Mining Museum, Bochum)
Framing Structural Change in Life Stories: Oral Histories of Labor and Deindustrialization in the Ruhr
16:30 – 17:00
Coffee
17.00 – 18:30
Keynote Lecture by Marcel van der Linden (International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam)
19 April 2018
9:00 – 11:00
Labour Relations and Social Movements under Conditions of Deindustrialization
Chaired by: Stefano Musso
Salvatore Cominu (AASTER, Milan)
New Jobs, New Workers and Social Movements in De-industrialized Urban Environments
Manfred Wannöffel (Ruhr University Bochum)
Forms of Glocalization: Economic Globalization and Political Regulation: The Role of Labor Re¬la¬tions in the Process of Deindustrialization in the Ruhr
Gilda Zazzara (University of Venice)
Italian Trade Unions Facing Industrial Change: Restructuring, Metamorphosis, Decline, De¬in-dus¬trialization
Sebastian Voigt (Institute for Contemporary History, Munich-Berlin)
Structural Crisis? The Perception of Crises and the Debate about Structural Policy in the Ger-man Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in the 1970s
11:00 – 11:30
Coffee
11:30 – 13:30
Economic Policy Responses to Deindustrialization
Chaired by: Stefano Musso
Stefan Goch (Ruhr University Bochum)
Which Endogenous Potentials and which Exogenous Aids Promote the Management of Struc-tural Change in the Region? Experiences from the Ruhr Area
Aldo Enrietti (ISMEL / University of Turin)
The Structural Changes in the Nord-Ovest Car Industry
Jan Kellershohn (Ruhr University Bochum)
From Coal and Steel to Education and Knowledge? Deindustrialization and Politics of Know-ledge in the Ruhr Region
Marco Doria (University of Genoa)
Governing the City in Deindustrialization Processes: The Case of Genoa
13:30 – 15:00
Lunch
15:00 – 17:00
Environmental Histories of Deindustrialization
Chaired by: Christian Wicke
Frank Uekoetter (University of Birmingham)
Brownfield Green: Growing Environmentalism along the Ruhr
Gabriella Corona
The Case of Bagnoli: The Failure of Environmetal Policies in Italy
Pia Eiringhaus (Ruhr University Bochum)
From Black to Green: A Critical Perspective on Post-industrial Representations of Region and En¬vironment in the Ruhr Area
Salvatore Adorno, Francesco Martinico & Marisa Meli (University of Catania)
Decontamination and Redevelopment in Southern Italy: Historical, Legal and Urban Profiles
20 April 2018
9:00 – 11:00
Urban Histories of Deindustrialization
Chaired by: Martin Baumeister
Giorgio Bigatti (ISEC / Milan and Bocconi University)
Deindustrialization in the History of Milan
Christa Reicher (TU Dortmund University)
Urban Transformation of the Ruhr and the Influence on Urbanity
Sergio Scamuzzi (University of Turin)
The Role of Local Government for Economic Recovery and Urban Transformations: The Case of Turin
Sebastian Haumann (Darmstadt University of Technology)
Deindustrialization in Urban History: Current Research and Desiderata
11:00 – 11:30
Coffee
11:30 – 13:30
Historical Cultures of Deindustrialization
Chaired by: Christian Wicke
Jörn Rüsen (Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Essen)
A Cultural Reaction to the Deindustrialization in the Ruhr-area: Historical Museums
Roberto Tolaini (University of Genoa)
Deindustrialization between Memory and Reutilization: Some Cases in Nord-Ovest
Jana Golombek (German Mining Museum, Bochum)
Filling the Gap: The Aesthetic Transformation of the Deindustrializing Ruhr through Industrial Land Art since the 1960s
Anna Moro
Re-use of Former Industrial Areas and Cultural Issues: The Case of Sesto San Giovanni
13:30 – 15:00
Lunch
15:00 – 16:00
Stefan Berger and Stefano Musso: Concluding Discussion
16:00
End of Conference