The Program Committee of the North American Labor History Conference (NALHC), an international conference with a global perspective on labor and working-class history, invites proposals for papers, panels, roundtables, and workshops on the theme of Workers and Global Cities: Detroit and Beyond, for our thirty-eighth annual meeting. 

Taking our cue from global developments, the NALHC Conference committee is looking for panels and workshops that will explore the connections between labor and urban history, workers and city-dwellers, in the context of globalization. We are interested in how “work,” “workers,” and “cities” remake and are remade by the global economy and by the dangers inherent in new global realities—where migration and exchange are seen both as constructive and destructive of urban life. Boundaries between nations, between regions, and between cities and suburbs have become increasingly important, but so, too, has the blurring of these lines in the global system. Even as metropolitan Detroit has become a focus of national—and international—attention, in celebration and criticism of its “rebirth,” so too does it reflect developments in urban worlds across the globe. Examining the history, current state, and future prospects of work, workers, and their movements, as they develop(ed) in Detroit, and in global cities such as Los Angeles, Tokyo, Mumbai, Chennai, Cairo, Lagos, Moscow, London, Rio de Janeiro, and New York, will expand our understanding of the forces that historically drove and currently drive the global economy in Detroit and beyond. 

We welcome proposals from a wide variety of disciplines and from scholars and activists working in various geographical and temporal frameworks. We also welcome proposals on topics that differ from the conference theme, especially if submitted as a full panel or roundtable. 

Submissions of proposals for papers, panels, or roundtables should include a one paragraph abstract and a brief biographical statement or CV for each participant. Submissions should be sent to: Thomas Klug, Conference Coordinator (nalhc[at]wayne.edu)