CfP: Fighting Harmfulness: Work, Health, and Environment between Knowledge and Power (19th–21st Centuries)

Grenoble/France

How can we fight against the harmfulness of work? The concept of “harmfulness” (“nocività”) emerged from Italian political and trade union reflections in the second half of the 20th century. It refers to the detrimental effects of work on both health and the environment (Feltrin, Sacchetto, 2021) and serves to articulate the relationship between these two. The aim of this conference is to explore the forms of social creativity expressed in workers’ struggles against the health and environmental damage caused by production and reproduction activities.

By strengthening dialogue between research on the “environmentalism of the poor” (Martinez-Alier, 2003, 2023) and recent work on labour environmentalism (Barca, 2015; Bécot, 2015; Davigo, 2017; Thirion, 2024), we seek to shed light on the knowledge and practices generated by social groups at the forefront of the damage caused by work. Previous studies have focused primarily on countries with a long history of industrialization and on the postwar decades. To broaden these perspectives, this conference will propose two kinds of expansion:

• Geographical: toward territories with more recent industrialization, where repertoires of action may be less closely linked to traditional labour movements;
• Chronological: to understand the longer temporalities of certain struggles, and focus the attention on understudied historical moments, such as the interwar period or the decades of deindustrialization.

Using a multidisciplinary approach (historical, sociological, geographical, anthropological, epidemiological, medical, and others), we will examine the diversity of mobilizations while reflecting on the strengths and limitations of the forms they take. At a time when environmental policies tend to result in the “ecological dispossession of the working classes,” the objective is to explore which socio-ecological configurations fostered struggles against harmfulness and how actors confronted with constraints and obstacles. Furthermore, we wish to emphasise that such actions remain a current—and often neglected—component of the ecological condition of social classes (Collectif Classes Vertes, 2024).

Work is understood here in a broad sense: we aim to encompass mobilisations organised in paid sectors—including productive work(agriculture, industry) and services (transportation, public administration, care, etc.)—as well as in reproductive work, covering a range of activities (material, emotional, or educational) that are rarely remunerated (Fortunati, 1982; Sarti, Bellavitis, Martini, 2018; Barca, 2020; Gallot, Harari-Kermadec, 2024). This broad definition of work allows us to grasp how red flags of harmfulness take shape within particular activities, and to better identify the actors who facilitate the transmission of these alerts across the different spheres of work.

In this perspective, we will also consider the production of knowledge and practices that have contributed to reinventing occupational medicine, as well as the mobilisations of scientists and doctors defending occupational and environmental health (Marri, Oddone, 1967; Oddone, 1974, 1978; Laure Pitti, 2009; Marichalar, Pitti, 2013; Centemeri, 2022).

We invite researchers from all disciplines to submit original contributions based on concrete case studies to ground reflection in specific territories and give substance to the narratives of struggle. Contributions should rely on a variety of sources (maps, testimonies, documents, photographs, videos, etc.) that help articulate analysis and the materiality of mobilisations. The goal of this call is to build a multidisciplinary research team toward a project for a global atlas of workers’ mobilisations around health and environmental issues, aiming to map, contextualize, and document these conflicts worldwide.

We welcome in particular submissions focusing on non-Western contexts. Such perspectives, still underrepresented in research on health- and environment-related labour mobilisations, provide essential insights for widening analytical frameworks, highlighting the diversity of collective experiences, and fostering a truly global reflection on the relationships between work, health, and environment.

The material dimension of struggles is strictly related with the materiality of sources used to reconstruct their history and stakes. In France, the abolition of Comités d’hygiène, de sécurité et des conditions de travail by the 2017 executive order raises, among other things, questions about the fate and preservation of their valuable archives. The growing use of digitalised sources (such as those from the Centro ricerche e documentazione rischi e danni da lavoro in Italy) reflects a major shift in archival access. Yet the status of digital archives, the sustainability of digitalisation projects, and the future of historiographical research based increasingly on immaterial sources are serious concerns for scholars. Although archives are not the conference’s central topic, participants are encouraged to take these issues into account in their reflections.

Beyond traditional academic presentations, other formats will be especially welcome—such as dialogues between researchers and activists, or presentations by activists or association representatives about past or ongoing struggles.

Our discussions will be guided by several lines of inquiry:

• Building collectives: Who are the actors in these mobilisations? What forms do the groups take? How are they connected to existing collectives? Are they short-lived or long-lasting? How are they organised and how do they function? What ties do they maintain with other collectives or professional figures (physicians, lawyers, etc.)?
• Producing counter-expertise and counter-information: How is knowledge about health and environment produced by those mobilised? How is it disseminated, to what effect, and who are its main audiences (other workers, local residents, public opinion, etc.)?
• Mobilising repertoires of action: How do mobilisations take shape in practice? How do these practices evolve over time? What imaginaries do they draw upon?
• Forging class pride: Through what instruments is socio-professional identity built among participants? How does their social perception of work change through conflict? What forms of commitment have opposed the coercion of the “employment blackmail”?
• Engaging territories: How are the environmental impacts of work conceptualised? How do mobilisations root themselves in specific territories, and on what scales? How do militant practices circulate between territories, and through which actors?
• Resisting green backlash: When mobilisations face repression or institutional dismantling, how do actors reorganise? How are their goals reoriented? What new forms of action emerge in such contexts? Given that such backlash often seeks to erase the history of these mobilisations, how do activists work to preserve the visibility of their causes?

This conference will take place on the 50th anniversary of a conference dedicated to responsibility in workplace accidents and diseases, organized in Grenoble by the CGT, CFDT, and Syndicat de la magistrature (January 31–February 1, 1976). Occurring amid heated debates over occupational legislation, that event marked a significant moment. As professional and environmental contamination remain subjects of recurring controversy and socio-ecological struggle, this conference on the fight against harmfulness will welcome not only academic researchers but also health professionals, prevention key actors, and union or association activists who wish to participate.

Submission Guidelines and Timeline

The conference languages will be French, English, Italian, and Spanish.

Submissions from non-tenured researchers are particularly welcome.

The conference will be held in person.

Proposals should be sent to luttercontrelanocivite@gmail.com and must include:

• A title
• An abstract of the paper indicating the sources analysed (300–500 words)
• A short biographical note (150 words)

All elements (proposal and biography) should be submitted as a single PDF file.

Submission deadline: 30 April 2026
Notification of acceptance or rejection: before the beginning of summer

The organising committee cannot guarantee full coverage of transportation costs for speakers. We invite you to inform us of any potential needs, which we will address depending on the available financial support.

Organising Comittee

-          Estelle Amilien (UGA, ILCEA4)

-          Renaud Bécot (SciencePo Grenoble, Pacte)

-          Elisa Santalena (UGA, LUHCIE)

-          Marie Thirion (UGA, LUHCIE)

Scientific Committee

-          Mikaël Chambru (MCF en sciences sociales, UGA)

-          Emilie Counil (Chargée de recherche en épidémiologie à l’INED)

-          Marie Ghis Malfilatre (Chargée de recherche en sociologie, CNRS, Pacte)

-          Emanuele Leonardi (MCF en sociologie, Università di Bologna)

-          Judith Rainhorn (PR en histoire sociale contemporaine, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne)

-          Nicolas Renahy (chercheur au Centre d'économie et de sociologie appliquées à l'agriculture et aux espaces ruraux - CESAER, INRAE-Institut Agro Dijon)

-          Amalia Rossi (Fellow Researcher at THE NEW INSTITUTE – Center for Environmental Humanities (NICHE))

-          Dr Borhane Slama (Onco-Hématologue, Chef de pole de Cancérologie Publique de Territoire, Président de la Commission Médicale du Groupement 84)

-          Bruno Strasser (PR en histoire des sciences et de la médecine, Université de Genève)

-          Gilda Zazzara (MCF en histoire contemporaine, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia)