IISG - 25 years of global labour history

On 25th May 2023 the IISH organised an event where they analysed the past achievements and future perspectives of global labour from the perspectives of Marcel van der Linden and Jan Lucassen, successive directors of research at IISH. Both dedicated researchers published 25 years ago their Prolegomena for a Global Labour History.

This laid the groundwork for a flourishing research programme on Global Labour History at the International Institute of Social History, which is still bearing fruit today. Recently, Jan and Marcel published wide-ranging monographs based on the insights they accumulated over a lifelong of research – The Story of Work. A new History of Humankind and The World Wide Web of Work. A History in the Making. Although different in many ways, both books offer a synthesis and an overview of what twenty-five years of Global Labour History has brought.

IISH senior research fellow Gijs Kessler interviewed both men about their insights and the lessons they took from their research.