The labour of disabled people: a CamPo workshop

The Labour History Cluster and the CamPo collaboration generously funded a workshop for historians, sociologists and other scholars interested in disability issues, to present and discuss recent research on the employment and labour of disabled people.

Papers presented at the December workshop ranged across contemporary British, contemporary French and British imperial contexts. Research on part time working, invisible disabilities, assistive technology, the intersection of social welfare systems with formal employment and industrial accident compensation all featured. We discussed both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as conceptual, methodological and historiographical approaches.

Recent debates about the significance of the shift towards industrialised economies from the 19th century, as well as post industrial economies of the 21st century, were centre stage in our reflections. Intersections of disability, racialization and gender were also very prominent.

The sociology and history of disability is an exciting and growing field, and participants were delighted to be able to discuss their shared interests.