» What is ITH?
» ITH goes global and transnational
» Main projects and activities
» Organisational structure and executive
» Membership
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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 annual international conferences
(mostly in Linz, Upper Austria) 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 dealt with Labour in a
global history perspective, focussing on networks, flows of communication,
transfers and migrations.
In 2010, a new thematical cycle
started on “Labour as an agent of social transformation” with
conferences on “The Memory of Labour” 2010 and “Is One
World Possible? Practices of International Solidarity and International
Development” 2011. This cycle is to be achieved by a conference
on “Social and Cultural Change through Labour Movements” 2012.
The conference 2013 shall deal with “A Global History of Domestic
Workers”.
• Between the regular annual conferences in Linz, Austria, ITH organizes
international conferences and workshops in cooperation with other institutes.
Recent examples are the conferences:
- “Transnational networks. Contributions to the history of Globalisation”,
in cooperation with the Institute of Economic and Social History,
University of Vienna, Vienna 2007
- Panel “New developments in Labour History” of the conference:
“Labour Crossings: World, Work and History”, in cooperation
with History Workshop, University of Witwatersrand, and Centre
for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg
2008
- „Krisenerfahrungen im historischen Vergleich 1929 – 1973 –
2008“, in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Berlin
February 2011
• 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.
• 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/Anti-fascist
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
July 2011