Editorial Policy

Labour History, as a journal of labour and social history, is committed to publishing in both the traditional and the newer fields of labour history. The editors believe that labour history points social history towards the significance of the state and politics in the community and the workplace, while social history enlarges the structural and linguistic emphases of labour history.

Amongst topics of current interest to the editors are Indigenous labour, Indigenous peoples and the labour movement, gender and work (both paid and unpaid), labour organising methods, the cultural and community dimensions of labour history, industrial relations history, biography, labour intellectuals and the history of labour ideas.

Because history needs to be informed by the analytical strengths of other disciplines, Labour History encourages historians to write with theory in mind and seeks contributions about history from writers in other disciplines. We look for lucid prose in historical narration and in discussion of method and theory.

While the focus of Labour History remains Australasia, we also welcome:

• articles that engage in international debates in labour historiography and theory;
• innovative articles on labour and social history in other countries and regions;
• comparative and transnational perspectives on Australian labour and social history.

Besides publishing scholarly articles, Labour History aims to strengthen the network of labour and social historians and to reflect their involvement in the practice of history in the community. We invite the submission of short essays, review articles, notices of coming events, discussions of the teaching of labour history and of ethical, professional and legal issues affecting labour historians, etc.

Labour History is committed to the view that history has a social purpose. The history of labour, the classic social movement, has much to offer the new social movements. In turn labour history can learn from feminism and environmentalism. As each new generation of historians enlarges the scope of labour history we hope they will remember its social purpose, sending us articles which, in Ian Turner's words, engage our sympathies, affect present circumstances and suggest answers to present problems.

Policy revised February 2004.