Democratic utopians imagined that the labor movement could exist without figureheads and leaders. The second verse of the Finnish translation of the Internationale captured this sentiment: “No other leader, no creator, just the almighty people” (Ei muuta johtajaa, ei luojaa kuin kansa kaikkivaltias).
However, throughout history, there have been ideologues, demagogues, agitators, journalists, trade unionists as well as statesmen and -women who have left their mark on local and global labor history.
In all Nordic countries, there are individuals whose actions and ideas have shaped and continue to shape the histories of movements, organizations, strikes, and revolts at national, Nordic, and global levels. Do biographies of individuals provide new insights, or do they merely present hagiographies that shift the focus from collective efforts to individual endeavors?
Microhistory, feminism, history from below, subaltern and decolonial studies, as well as other theoretical perspectives and methods, have brought rank-and-file activists and even some oddballs into the spotlight in critical historical inquiry.
Biography can offer a unique approach to examining collective movement and action from a different angle. Biographies often deconstruct old dichotomies and provide nuanced perspectives on the past. Personal journeys are often so intricate that they compel us to acknowledge a more multidimensional and even chaotic picture of how the history of labor and labor movements have developed in all their complexity.
It is time to bring the theoretical implications and practical examples from this rich field of research into the discussions at the Nordic Labour History Conference.
For the track Idols, Oddballs, and Human Beings – Biography in Nordic Labour History, we welcome personal reflections on the process of creating labor history biographies, as well as historiographic, theoretical, and case study papers on biographical research in Nordic labor history.
Coordinators: Nina Trige Andersen, journalist & historian (nina.trige.andersen[at]gmail.com); Tapio Bergholm, Docent, University of Eastern Finland (tapio.bergholm[at]uef.fi)