This track welcomes contributions investigating the role of borders in the history of labour. Themes may include the experiences of workers crossing state borders as well as political ideas questioning the notion of national borders. Additionally, we seek to explore how national borders and border crossings have been represented in graphic materials within the organized labor movement. Has it been possible to imagine a world arranged differently? Borders may also be internal and divide social classes and population groups from each other. How have such borders been delineated, upheld and transgressed within social practices and ideological frameworks?
Global labour history has in recent years aimed to foster a North-South dialogue and transcend the limitations of methodological nationalism. Inspired by this development, we especially welcome contributions that analyze previous Eurocentric perspectives on borders and the labour movement. Another theme of particular interest to this track is labour protectionism. In what ways have unions or other groups contributed to discourses associating borders and the protection of the interests of workers?
We warmly invite methodologically and theoretically diverse contributions.
Coordinator: Ainur Elmgren, University of Oulu (ainur.elmgren[at]oulu.fi)