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

Lewis Willcox (St Andrews) on the rural labour movement in Scotland, c.1918-1935.

The ‘Celtic Fringe’ is a somewhat unorthodox location for a labour historian to conduct archival research. Beyond the dynamics of agrarian protest between the 1880s and the 1920s, studied by historians such as Jim Hunter, Eric Hobsbawm, Iain Robertson, and Neville Kirk’s study of industrial unrest in Ballachulish, rural Scotland has received little attention from… Continue reading Lewis Willcox (St Andrews) on the rural labour movement in Scotland, c.1918-1935.

Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 2025 now online

The latest issue of Historical Studies in Industrial Relations (Vol. 46, September 2025) is now available online via Liverpool University Press (subscription required). Table of contents Research Articles’History through Literary Imagination: Portrayals of Worker Representation and Collective Action in Condition-of-England Novels, c.1830-1855’Michael Gold ‘The Rise and Demise of the Institute for Workers’ Control, 1964-1985’Alan Tuckman Essays’Industrial Relations,… Continue reading Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 2025 now online

Call for 2026 SHCG Journal and Conference Submissions 

The organisers are pleased to announce an open call for submissions to the 2026 editions of the Social History Curators Group journal and conference, under the theme of ‘The Long March – Strikes, Protests and Riots Through History’.   Inspired by the centenary of the 1926 General Strike, this year’s theme invites papers that examine how museums and heritage sites engage… Continue reading Call for 2026 SHCG Journal and Conference Submissions 

Revisiting A.L. Morton

A.L. Morton and the Radical Tradition by James Crossley, Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. 432pp. In his heyday, the Marxist historian, literary critic and journalist A.L. Morton (1903-1987) was admired by and influenced, now more famous contemporaries such as Eric Hobsbawm and Christopher Hill. While his most popular work, A People’s History of England (1938), still remains… Continue reading Revisiting A.L. Morton

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