Labour History News Archive

Labour History News

The Representation of Working People

The Representation of Working People in Britain and France
Call for papers
Venue: Université de Rouen
Date: Thursday 13 - Saturday 15 November 2008

Jointly organised by the Society for the Study of Labour History (United Kingdom) and CORPUS (COnflits, RePrésentations et dialogues dans l'Univers anglo-Saxon), Universités d'Amiens et de Rouen

This conference will constitute a challenging reconsideration of representations of workers and the meaning and experience of labour, and the diverse ways in which the socio-political relations of work were mediated from the medieval period to the twentieth century. We aim for a series of workshops based either on chronological periods or thematic topics (or of course on both). Comparative papers on Anglo-French similarities and contrasts are also welcome.

Our title has been devised to encompass

Organisations and movements that sought to represent working men and women
The modes and mediums through which work and the working class[es] have been represented, by themselves and others

We therefore invite proposals not only from labour historians and those working in the discipline of history more generally, but also from art historians, critical theorists, historical sociologists, literary scholars, museum curatorial staff, and specialists in the history of economic thought. The submission of either single papers or panels will be welcomed.

Papers may be presented in either English or French. Proposals (250 words - panels pro rata), accompanied by a brief, single paragraph vitae, should be submitted electronically, no later than 1 April 2008 to the organisers:

Professor Antoine Capet (Université de Rouen: )

Dr Matthias Reiss (University of Exeter: )

Dr Malcolm Chase (University of Leeds: )

Proposers will be notified of the organisers' decision no later than 1 July 2008.