University of Warwick, 26-27 June 2026

The workshop entitled “Between Thompson and the Global: Rethinking Labour History Today” will seek to bring together historians of labour to collectively reflect on a large historiographical shift that has taken place over the last two decades, from the social history of labour (in national contexts) to global and trans-national labour history. The social history of labour “from below” is a tradition initiated by E.P Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class (1963), and extended over several decades by a robust tradition of politically engaged left-wing historical studies of the working classes: a tradition most powerfully entrenched in British historiography (but with many imprints elsewhere, ranging from the United States to Brazil to South Africa to India). The global history of labour, which revised and questioned many of the features of “Thompsonian” history-writing, has sought to overcome “methodological nationalism” in the writing of labour history, to investigate specific labour histories within a global frame, and to enable trans-national histories of workers and work. It has emerged as an increasingly dominant frame of reference for contemporary studies of labour around the world.

We invite scholars from across disciplines to submit 300 word abstracts for pre-circulated papers by 5pm on 30 January 2026, and to submit their papers for pre-circulation by 5 pm on 29 May 2026.

For additional details on the workshop and guidance on how to apply, please consult the call available at the following link.