The International Institute of Social History (IISH) conducts advanced research on the global history of work, workers, and labour relations and to this end gathers data, which are made available to other researchers as well.
Research Focus
IISH research focuses on the transnational and transcontinental study of labour, labour relations and workers' social movements in the broadest sense of the word.
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Collection profile
The International Institute of Social History collects archives, documentation, publications, objects, images and datasets pertaining to, on the one hand, individuals and organizations belonging to movements that address important social issues, and on the other, labour relations and living conditions of working people. The social issues that constitute the focus of the institute are: poverty, exploitation, human rights violations, political oppression, war, labour migration, housing and land ownership.
The IISH actively seeks out and acquires material that fits its collection profile in Russia, South- and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia, Africa, Latin-America and the Netherlands. It also actively collects material from international organizations without a clear regional base. As of 2010, the IISH no longer actively acquires material from the countries of Western Europe, North America, East Asia, Australia/New Zealand and Oceania, but it is ready to accept material originating in these regions that is offered if it fits the collection profile and if there is no local alternative.
The collection profile is the primary criterion for decisions on the acquisition or rejection of material, but the IISH recognizes that it has a duty to rescue material of great historical significance if it is in immediate danger of destruction, even if the material does not fit the profile. In these cases the acquisition on principle has a temporary character.
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