Australian Society for the Study of Labour History

 

The Society

The Australian Society for the Study of Labour History is a non-profit organisation, founded in 1961 to study “the working class situation … and social history in the fullest sense”. The Society encourages teaching and research in labour history and the preservation of the records of working people and the labour movement. It desires to make history a vital part of popular consciousness and a matter for reflection and debate.

The Society draws its membership from the union movement, activist groups, and the academy. It relies on the passion and energies of its members and has six branches across Australia. Each of these hold events and document their region’s history, commemorating the long activist tradition of workers in Australia and the world. We would love you to join us. Here, you can read more about who we are and what we do.

The Journal

In association with Liverpool University Press, the Society publishes Labour History: A Journal of Labour and Social History. The interdisciplinary nature of labour history, and its acceptance of less traditional sources, including folklore and oral testimony, make it a fascinating field, alive to past and present social justice issues.The journal, which has been appearing twice yearly since 1962, is the premier outlet for refereed, scholarly articles in its field in Australasia. The journal is edited by Professor Diane Kirkby. Click here to learn more about the journal.

Labour History Prizes

The winners of Labour History’s five prizes for 2021 were announced at our 17th Biennial Conference in April. Congratulations go to Phoebe Kelloway, D
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Vale Stuart Macintyre

We mourn the death of our friend and president, Stuart Macintyre. In the days since Stuart’s death there has been an avalanche of tributes and we repr
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Aboriginal Workers

A 1995 special issue of Labour History revisited in 2020. With work from Indigenous scholars and activists. Read an interview with Ann McGrath, Kay Sa
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