Call for Papers – International Association of Labor Museums
The 2025 General Conference of WORKLAB – International Association of Labor Museums – will take place in Hamburg, hosted by the Museum der Arbeit from November 5-7. This year’s theme is:
Workers’ Culture
In an era of growing social and economic inequality, the cultural heritage of working people remains a powerful and necessary part of our collective memory. Workers’ culture—from songs and rituals to union banners, tools, and everyday practices—offers insight into identity, solidarity, resistance, and creativity. It reflects how working people have made meaning in their lives across different historical periods, geographies, and political contexts.
The conference invites museum professionals, curators, researchers, archivists, and cultural practitioners to explore how museums and heritage institutions collect, preserve, interpret, and communicate workers’ culture—and how they can play a role in empowering communities and advancing museum practice today.
Call for Papers
We welcome proposals for papers and workshops on topics including, but not limited to:
- Interpreting workers’ material culture: banners, badges, tools, union ephemera, and publications
- Preserving immaterial culture: songs, stories, and oral histories
- Artist–worker–community collaborations
- Cultural expressions shaped by gendered experiences and LGBTQ workers
- Labor migration and transnational narratives
- Museums as spaces for democratic engagement and cultural memory
Submissions from museum professionals, researchers, activists, artists, and interdisciplinary contributors are encouraged.
Deadline for proposals: Monday, August 25, 2025
Send your proposal to Dr. Sandra Schürmann, [email protected].
Please find additional information here.
