CfP: Maritime Labour History Working Group, ELHN Conference 2026
Call for papers, deadline 31 August 2025
The Maritime Labour History Working Group of the European Labour History Network (ELHN) invites submissions for its sessions at the 6th ELHN Conference, to be held in Barcelona from 16 to 19 June 2026.

https://socialhistoryportal.org/news/articles/311957

The working group brings together scholars interested in the study of maritime labour across time and space. Since its inception, it has provided a transnational platform for sharing research on the transformation of maritime and port labour markets, and the conditions, struggles and agency of labouring communities connected to maritime economies.

For the 2026 conference, we welcome contributions on all aspects of maritime labour history across Europe and its global connections, with no thematic, chronological or geographical restrictions. Possible themes include (but are not limited to):

Repertoires of labour struggles in the maritime world
Migration, mobility and diasporas of maritime and port workers
Labour relations, hierarchies and discipline at sea and ashore
Labour communities in urban and rural settings
Gender, ethnicity and race in maritime and port labour
Pluriactivity in the maritime world
Sources, methods and historiographical debates in maritime labour history
Based on the proposals received, the sessions will be organised thematically, grouping contributions by shared approaches or topics. The official language of the conference is English.

Abstracts (max. 400 words) should be sent to the working group coordinators by 31 August 2025 at the latest. It should incude a short academic CV (max. 200 words). Given the tight schedule for the organisation of sessions, we kindly ask you to submit your abstracts as soon as possible.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and to continuing our collective exploration of maritime labour history in Barcelona.

Please submit proposals by e-mail to the three coordinators:

Kristof Loockx (Centre for Urban History, University of Antwerp): kristof.loockx@uantwerpen.be
Eduard Page (Universitat de Barcelona): eduardpage@ub.edu
Kalliopi Vasilaki (Università degli studi di Genova): kk.vasilaki@gmail.com