» What is ITH?
» ITH goes global and transnational
» Main projects and activities
» Organisational structure and executive
» Membership
What is ITH?
The International Conference of Labour and Social History (ITH) is an international
network of associations, research institutes and historians of labour and
social movements. It has more than 100 members
from five continents. It was founded in 1964 in Vienna (Austria) as "Internationale
Tagung der Historiker der Arbeiterbewegung / International Conference of
Labour Historians". Its initial rationale was to serve as a platform
of dialogue between the "Western" and "Eastern" scientific
communities of labour historians.
ITH goes global and transnational
Since the end of the bipolar world system, ITH's initial function as a bridge
between labour history in the "East" and the "West"
became obsolete. ITH redefined its mission as a forum of international scholarly
exchange in the field of labour and social history. Since the first years
of the new millennium, ITH has reorientated its "East-West" axis
of communication towards a global "South"-"North" orientation
in order to take up the impulses of the emerging labour history in the global
"South", thus contributing to a renewal and enrichment of European
and North American historiography of labour, the labour movement and related
social movements. The aim of this dialogue is the formation of a transnational
community of labour and social historians operating an exchange between
"old" and "new" centres of this historiography.
ITH emphasizes a global approach to labour and social history and
focusses on transnational topics. Following a tradition of cooperation
with organisations of the labour movement, ITH sets a high value on communicating
scholarly research to an interested public outside the scientific community.
Here you can find the topical contributions
to ITH's strategic orientation.
Main projects and activities of ITH are:
• The planning and organizing of the annual Linz
Conferences (named after the location Linz in Upper Austria where the
conference is hosted by the Austrian Chamber of Labour) and the publication
of the conference papers. Conference languages are English, German and French.
The Linz Conferences are gatherings of the member institutes. International
experts are invited to present papers on the topic of the conference. Participation
is due to previous registration.
In 2007, ITH has launched a triennial
cycle of conferences on the subject of "Labour History beyond Borders".
A series of conferences 2007-2009 deals with aspects of labour as part of
global history, focussing on networks, flows of communication, transfers
and migrations. In 2010, a new thematical cycle shall start on "Labour
as an Agent of Social Transformation".
• For several years, ITH has been organising an increasing number
of international conferences and workshops between the annual "Linz
Conferences".
• In addition to its annual conferences and regular cooperations with
other institutions, ITH functions as a global network of institutions and
people working in the field of labour and social history.
• In this perspective, ITH publishes newsletters
and operates a website linked to the homepages of the member institutes.
Both are conceived as regular media for communication within the ITH-network.
• ITH tries to encourage research by 2 awards: the René
Kuczynski Prize for outstanding publications on the field of social
and economic history, and (in cooperation with the Documentation Centre
of Austrian Resistance) the Herbert
Steiner Prize for the promotion of scholars on the fields NS Persecution/Antifascist
Resistance/Exile and Labour History.
Organisational structure and executive:
The board consists of the president, the general
secretary, the treasurer and vice-treasurer and the board of trustees. An
international scientific and honorary committee comprises outstanding personalities
of the international scientific community.
Executive
committee (president, general secretary, treasurer, vice-treasurer)
Statutes
in German
Membership is open to:
Research institutes and associations for labour and social history; membership
of individuals not attached to institutional structures is possible.
• Annual membership fee for institutions: EUR 360,- (possibility of
reduction for financially weak institutes)
• ITH membership entitles to participate in ITH's conferences for
a modest "all inclusive" package fee, to decide about the topics
and programs of those conferences, to receive the annual report of ITH's
conference proceedings for free and to be an active part of ITH's world
wide network. Members have one vote in the General Assembly. In addition
they may place news about their activities in the newsletter as well as
on the website of ITH.
For further informations please contact: eva.himmelstoss@doew.at
August 2008