On 27 February - 2 March 2002 the fourth European Social Science History Conference will take place in The Hague, the Netherlands. The ESSHC brings together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. The conference is characterized by a lively exchange in many small groups, rather than by formal plenary sessions. The Conference is organised in a large number of networks which cover a certain topic (e.g. criminal justice, family, social inequality, economics). Sessions and papers on Labour and Working Class History can be proposed to the chairs of the Labour History Network, David De Vries (devries@spirit.tau.ac.il) and Lex Heerma van Voss (LHV@iisg.NL).

We think that progress on fundamental issues in Labour History is being made by taking into account besides class other constituent elements of working class identities, like gender, ethnicity, religion, age and nationality, and by analyses on a micro level, which can show the actual choices made by working class individuals and families. The Labour History Network welcomes proposals for sessions and papers on these issues but also other contributions dealing with all topics and periods within labour and working class history. When proposing a session or paper, please realise that full sessions are always somewhat easier to accommodate in the conference programme than single papers.

Further information on the ESSHC is available from the conference web site at http://www.iisg.nl/esshc

How to propose a paper: pre-register through the conference website, indicating 'Labour" as your network of preference. How to propose a panel session: pre-register for 3 or 4 participants. Add full names and addresses of all paper authors, and of a chair and/or commentator. Most sessions choose the panel format, but other types of sessions are encouraged. The deadline for sending in abstracts is 1 March 2001.