Welcome to the SSLH

Founded in 1960, the Society for the Study of Labour History (SSLH) is the UK’s principal organisation dedicated to the study of labour history.

Membership is open to everyone who would like to learn more about labour history and heritage whether on a professional or amateur basis.

The SSLH publishes the journal the Labour History Review, organises regular conferences and actively promotes the preservation of historical resources connected to the labour movement.

What’s new

Research bursaries

Yasmin Getirana (LSE) on domestic workers’ activism and Catholic internationalism in Cold War Latin America

The Young Christian Workers (Juventude Operária Católica/Juventud Obrera Católica, JOC) was founded by Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn in the 1920s, as a response to the perceived de-Christianisation and spread of communist and anarchist ideologies among the industrial working class in Europe. Rooted in Catholic Action and built around the ‘See-Judge-Act’ pedagogical method Cardijn developed, the… Continue reading Yasmin Getirana (LSE) on domestic workers’ activism and Catholic internationalism in Cold War Latin America

MA & BA bursaries

Tomas Einion Holland (Bangor University) on relations between Irish and Welsh socialists during the Irish revolutionary period

My dissertation focuses upon relations between Welsh and Irish socialists during the Irish revolutionary period (1910s–1920s) with a focus on newspapers produced in South Wales. Analysing the social history of these nations outside the strict confines of the British state is a developing field of study. The study aims to better understand how each nation’s… Continue reading Tomas Einion Holland (Bangor University) on relations between Irish and Welsh socialists during the Irish revolutionary period

Events

Llafur 1926 centenary programme

Llafur, the Welsh People’s History Society, continues its summer series commemorating the centenary of the 1926 General Strike and seven-month lock-out. The final two sessions look at 1926 in archives, libraries, and collections, as well as the strike’s enduring legacy in the present. All online sessions are accessible to all and will be held via… Continue reading Llafur 1926 centenary programme

Bursary reports

Rosa Lange (European University Institute) on self-organised labour in late colonial Accra

In March 2026, with the support of the Society for the Study of Labour History, I visited the National Archives in Kew. During this research trip, I collected material for the third chapter of my PhD project. In my research, I investigate urban labour struggles in late and post-colonial Accra, the capital of today’s Ghana… Continue reading Rosa Lange (European University Institute) on self-organised labour in late colonial Accra

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