Call
Call for From Boom to the History of Industrial Regions (1870-1970 and beyond)

*Call for papers: From Boom to Bust: the History of Industrial Regions
(1870-1970 and beyond)***

International Conference at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and
Digital History (C^2 DH), University of Luxembourg

09-10 June 2022, Esch-Belval

Submission deadline: 10 April 2022, Notification of acceptance: 20 April
2022

The Minett, the industrial region in the South of Luxembourg, has been
shaped over the course of the past 150 years by the emergence of a
modern iron and steel industry between 1870 and the First World War. The
region and its inhabitants were profoundly shaped by the mutation of
landscapes through mining and industrial activities, the rapid growth of
the population, the work migration from neighbouring and other European
countries, the urbanisation of towns, the shortage of appropriate
housing,and other developments. The political and economic turmoil of
the two world wars and the interwar period, as well as the subsequent
foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community did not only affect
the economic development but also the everyday lives of men and women,
young and old, miners and shop keepers, local inhabitants and migrants.
During boom cycles, the industry attracted workers and brought
prosperity to many; during economic crisis, the industry dismissed
workers and migrants. The decline of mining activities since the 1960s,
and the steel crisis of the 1970s announced another transformation of
the region. As mines and steel works closed, jobs were lost and with
them a part of the region’s collective identity. This storyline is, of
course, simplified, but it could be told in a similar way for many
regions in Europe and other parts of the world. The cycles of boom and
bust differed sometimes,and the development of regions that depended on
the iron and steel industry differed from regions that were shaped by
other industries.

The organizers of this conference work in the “Remixing Industrial Pasts
in the Digital Age” project that is funded by the European Capital of
Culture Esch2022. We are interested in the history of regions that went
through continuous transformations from industrialisation to de- and
post-industrialisation. Although our focus is on iron ore mining, on the
steel industry and, in particular, on the inhabitants of the Minett and
their daily lives,we are looking for contributions on comparable regions
from Europe and beyond. Our rough timeframe is 1870s to 1970s but we
also invite contributions that deal with de- and post-industrialization
past 1980.

We are looking for contributions from contemporary history, history of
technology, business history, environmental history, labour history,
social history and other related fields.

Some of the topics that are of interest for this conference:

–        – Impact of industrialization on local and migrant communities,
on everyday lives and collective identities

–        – Economic developments of industrial regions

–        – Migration history from migration movements within regions and
countries, and between neighbouring and more distant countries

–        – The housing and living conditions in industrial regions

–        – The shaping, re-shaping and contestation of identities
between industrialization to de-industrialization

–        – The transformation of “natural” landscapes and the creation
of industrial landscapes

–        – The history of industrial pollution

Travel and accommodation costs of invited participants will be covered
by the C^2 DH.

Please send proposals (350 words max.) and a brief biographical
statement to werner.tschacher@uni.lu; deadline 10 April 2022.

—

A-Prof. Dr. Stefan Krebs
Head of Public History Unit
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
University of Luxembourg
Maison des Sciences Humaines
11, Porte des Sciences
L-4366 Esch-Belval
Email: stefan.krebs@uni.lu <mailto:stefan.krebs@uni.lu>
Web: www.c2dh.uni.lu/people/stefan-krebs
<www.c2dh.uni.lu/people/stefan-krebs>