Organized Labor, the City, and the Grassroots: An International Workshop on the History of Urban Social Movements”

Organized by Dr. Philipp Reick and sponsored by the Martin Buber Society of Fellows, this workshop brought together a diverse group of historians and social scientists who explored the legacy of urban struggle and protest over the course of the past two centuries. Papers focused, inter alia, on the peculiarities of urban conflict in Spanish history, on the significance of housing for Zionism past and present, and on the historical rhythms of riot and collective violence in Copenhagen. The workshop therewith contributed to recent efforts by social and urban historians that aim at historicizing urban social movements. In particular, it critically assessed the novelty of the “new” social movements of the 1970s by investigating what set these struggles apart from earlier forms of contestation. The workshop was a full success, and it laid the foundation for fruitful academic cooperation in the future.