Contribution to the Study of the Genesis of the European Welfare States (CEPRESSE)

Europe, constructions and transition dynamics

The project proposes to study the private international organizations occupied with social law in the Belle Époque, such as workplace accidents, labor regulation, unemployment, etc. They represent different, partly overlapping epistemic communities: networks of specialists that had an authoritative claim on policy-making. They were not only active on the international level (by the organization of conferences, the publication of journals and conference reports and the exchange of ideas), but also on the national level where they were the driving forces in the development of national social legislation. They also directly paved the way for the ILO. In other words, these international organizations played a pivotal role in the development of international labor regulations and in the genesis of the modern welfare states. The project wants to map these international organizations, their epistemic communities, their activities, the sources they have left behind and the impact they have had on the development of social law. The goal is to create a European research network of legal historians specialized in social law, based on the existing cooperation between the Universities Lille, Ghent and Uppsala. This project naturally followed on from the research carried out on accidents at work, which was one of the first international congresses on industrial legislation. The celebration of the ILO's centenary has helped to strengthen the scientific links forged over many years with the Universities of Ghent (Bruno Debaenst) and Uppsala (Marianne Dahlén) and to extend the network to other nations. The network can count on the participation of Virginia Amorosi (University of Naples), Carola Togni (Haute école de travail social et de la santé de Lausanne) and Julia Moses (University of Sheffield), as well as doctoral students. A first study day was held in December 2022.

ANR-HLJPGenre Gender Relations and Legal and Judicial Systems

The research project titled "Gender Relations and Legal and Judicial Systems" funded by the ANR (National Research Agency) has garnered the support and involvement of the "Norms and Social Practices" team. This project aims to investigate the historical relationship between law and gender, with a particular focus on labor law, as it is intrinsically linked to the emergence of this legal field. The legal protection of “minors”, including children, adolescents, and women, has been a recurring theme in the early social legislation. International congresses on social law consistently placed this issue on their agendas, leading European countries to sequentially enact legislation to safeguard the rights of children and subsequently women.This project is closely connected to the CEPRESSE project. France, too, became part of the movement to regulate women's work, beginning with the prohibition of underground work in 1874 and night work in 1892. These measures naturally prompt us to explore and comprehend the underlying reasons behind treating the legal status of adult women similar to that of children (as contemporaries of the time would express it). However, the analytical framework within social law is influenced by the unique circumstances of vulnerable workers. The subordinate position in which they find themselves necessitates legal protection of their employment relationships and the conditions under which they work. This protection, though crucial, may have implications for certain individual freedoms. It is these inherent tensions that we seek to highlight and form the basis for our support and participation in this project, with the ultimate aim of shedding light on contemporary social law.

Justice & Populations: The Belgian Experience in International Perspective, 1795-2015 - BeJust 2.0

« Occupational accident and social law: a comparative historical approach France-Belgium, legal logic and judicial practices »

This project, funded by the BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy Office) under the Interuniversity Attraction Poles (IAP) program, spanned from 2012 to 2017. The "Social norms and practices" team specifically focused on comparing French and Belgian legislation regarding compensation for work-related accidents, which were enacted in close succession. This comparative study was accompanied by a bilateral agreement, particularly necessary in a region where cross-border mobility raised the issue of harmonizing laws.  In the initial year of the project, a prospective approach was adopted, involving the Archives Départementales du Nord and the Archives Nationales du Monde du Travail, to assess the existing collection of legal documents related to work-related accidents. Extensive surveys were conducted, including the documentation of photographs. This preliminary investigation revealed the extensive and diverse holdings of each archive center, constituting a documentary base of approximately 30,000 photographs. Subsequently, detailed inventories of this digitized collection were compiled, categorizing the different types of documents obtained, such as judgments, procedural files, expert assessment files, and company litigation files. Depending on their nature, a brief description of each dispute was provided. This comprehensive database served as a valuable resource to outline the procedure for work-related accidents in France, based on the findings from the various archives. Eventually, these documents will be made available on the Acci-travail website. The research conducted during this project led to the organization of two study days, and the proceedings of these events were subsequently published in the Revue du Nord.