Presentation

Founded in London on 28th September 1864, the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) brought together English trade unionists, French mutualists, and German Communists, as well as all the currents, some of which were only nascent, that were active in the working class movement, such as Anarchists, Marxists and Blanquists. The IWA, the first workers’ international, did not survive the sharp decline in the working class movement following the crushing of the Paris Commune and split in 1872, although it continued in other countries where it took on different forms. During its short existence, this heterogeneous grouping was, however, a fruitful space for discussion and the creation of collective policies, punctuated by working class struggles. Nevertheless, divergences appeared within the IWA which have characterized the working class movement for over a century. 

Conference

On the occasion of the 150^th anniversary of the First International, this conference aims to bring together historians, sociologists and philosophers and provide a forum for research into the history of the IWA as well as the contemporary significance of the divergences within it and its objectives. It will compare the experience of the IWA with more recent attempts to coordinate struggles internationally, including the social movements which have appeared in the past 15 years (the European marches against unemployment between 1997 and 2002, alter-globalization and Social Forums since 1999/2000, the Indignant Movement and Occupy Wall Street in 2011, and the Arab revolutions since 2011).