Picture: ILO
A research project on the collaboration between UNESCO, ILO and IFWEA in the field of workers’ education, will form part of a publication celebrating the 80th anniversary of UNESCO.
Michele Mioni is a postdoctoral researcher at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a research associate at the Centre d’histoire sociale des mondes contemporains (CHS) of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
He says that while his work will centre on the role of UNESCO, he is in the process of uncovering material that should be of interest to IFWEA, particularly in relation to the history of the federation. Michele’s focus is on the period 1945 to around 1979. IFWEA was officially launched in 1947.
“If we contextualise the post-World War II era, it becomes clear that for international actors, the role of the labour movement was ever more important. A lot of organisations were committed to social progress, like the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as the United Nations policy makers and leaders of organised labour. It’s not a surprise that they decided to cooperate in a number of opportunities,” says Michele.
His research has taken him to the IFWEA archives at the TUC Library Congress in London and at the IISH in Amsterdam, while the UNESCO and ILO archives also hold folders on the joint activities of IFWEA with the two organisations.
“Workers education is often understudied. But it is very relevant, especially in terms of offering opportunities, and social improvement (of both individuals and social classes).
My impression is that we really should look at this big picture. There are stories that can be dug out, that are really exciting!” Michele says.
By analysing the reciprocal influences and the differences among the three organisations, this approach studies the evolution of UNESCO’s vision on workers’ education in connection with the methods of ILO and IFWEA.
Three aspects of internationalism
“The organisations represent an intersect between three aspects of internationalism we see after the Second World War – the internationalism of social policy (ILO), international education (UNESCO), and the international labour movement (IFWEA),” explains Michele.
Although he stresses that the research is still in the beginning phase, Michele says that so far, indications of IFWEA activities include seminars, mainly for worker educators, on training methods: training of trainers, in a way. There are evidence of seminars being held in Austria, France, and also the Sudan. There are some pamphlets on the work that IFWEA was doing.
But, Michele notes, there is a lack of IFWEA documentation such as scientific articles and papers – and he keen to find this.
“This could open up the potential for study of different kinds of global labour history. How the different associations dealt with regional and local actors, across geographical and cultural areas, for example. And the issue of the Cold War – and the position of IFWEA during this bi-polar war – for example,” says Michele.
To this end, he welcomes any leads on IFWEA history, from documentation to meeting minutes to information on activities. If you have information, or advice on where to find further IFWEA material, please contact michelemioni88@gmail.com
Michele Mioni’s scholarly interests concern the history of social policy and of the labour movement, with a focus on the role of international and transnational organisations. His research on UNESCO, ILO and IFWEA falls within the scope of an international webinar series on the 80th anniversary of UNESCO over the course of 2025.
Read more: IFWEA on Wikipedia