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The diffusion of knowledge – through classrooms, print, media, the internet – is one of the most powerful forces of modern global culture. While the intellectual labor needed
to create these words, images and ideas is often invisible, the conditions and
compensation for that labor has recently come into the public debate. The wrangling
over artists’ compensation for illegal downloads, the debate over advertising on
blogging websites, or the movements for better pay for graduate teaching assistants,
represent several different arenas where the worth of ideas is currently playing itself out.
The 2009 North American Labor History Conference “Knowledge, Work and Class” will
explore the myriad questions that emerge when considering the worth, conditions and
compensation for the labor of thought and production of ideas. From journalists to
teachers to researchers, labor performed with the brain as well as the hand is
foundational to modern economies but also presents challenges to those seeking to
historicize, contextualize and analyze these types of labor.
The program committee encourages comparative and interdisciplinary scholarship from
a range of national and international contexts, the integration of public historians and
community and labor activists into conference sessions, and the use of differing session
formats (workshops, roundtable discussions, and multimedia as well as traditional
panels). It encourages sessions that address the theme from perspectives of gender,
race, ethnicity, and sexuality.
Please submit panel and paper proposals (including a 1-2 page abstracts and brief vitas
or biographical statements for all participants) by March 23, 2009,
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