Red and Green: Towards a Cross-Fertilisation of Labour and Environmental History (Essay‪)‬

While labour history focuses upon the human face of labour, its emphasis has shifted over time. Early preoccupations with working class political histories and the development of the labour movement have been joined by an emphasis on the social and cultural development of working people, a broadening of interest from class to gender, race and ethnicity, and an increasing number of comparative and international studies. Through all of this, the working lives and politics of 'ordinary' people remain central. Environmental history, on the other hand, is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time. Its underlying premise is that humans shape their environment while the latter, in turn, shapes human activity. The introduction to this thematic asks: Is there a possible productive relationship between labour history and environmental history? At first glance, labour history and environmental history might seem antithetical, with little sympathy or common ground between them. The history of organised labour, in particular, foregrounds material questions about adequate wages and safe workplaces (for workers) and profitability (for capital). The natural world is at most a backdrop to labour history, of no particular significance to the nature of class and other struggles. In contrast, histories of the environment focus on the natural world. While sociologically inclined environmental historians place much emphasis on the human beings who inhabit that world, they do so within a frame different from that which a labour historian would use; a frame that is unlikely to emphasise class and interrogate the nature of work.