1. The ILO Centenary

  1. Featured publication

    The ILO from Geneva to the Pacific Rim – West meets East

  2. Featured publication

    A la rencontre de l’Europe au travail
    Récits de voyages d’Albert Thomas (1920-1932)

    Sous la direction de D. Hoehtker et S. Kott, avec une préface de Guy Ryder, Directeur général du BIT

  3. ILO Century Game

    In 2019 the ILO will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Although we know the ILO has a unique and long history, how much do we really know about its highlights and crises, innovations and changes, opportunities and setbacks? Test your knowledge and learn fascinating facts about ILO history at the click of a mouse.

  4. The ILO and the Quest for Social Justice

Century Project – ILO’s history project

The Century Project aims to expand and share historical knowledge on the World of Work and ILO’s role in changing political and economic circumstances.

The project serves as a focal point on ILO history - inside and outside the organization.

The Century Project's main objectives are to:

The Century Project is managed by the ILO RESEARCH department.

Publications

  1. Forthcoming

    100 years of ILO history

    The major output for the ILO’s Centenary will be an academic publication on the history of the ILO. Written by a renowned historian, Professor Daniel Maul (University of Oslo), the book will go well beyond the traditional institutional narrative and draw from the latest research.

  2. Academic publication

    Women’s ILO. Transnational Networks, Global Labour Standards and Gender Equity, 1919 to Present.

    The question of women workers has been on ILO’s agenda since 1919. This volume gathers newest scholarly research on the complex history of ILO’s activities for women workers. It does this by focussing on two major issues: on one hand the role of women’s organizations and networks in shaping ILO’s policies for women workers.On the other hand, the way labour standards affecting women have been negotiated, applied and used by policy makers in various local constellations throughout history.

New research from our network

  1. In French

    La justice sociale dans un monde global. L’Organisation internationale du travail (1919-2019)

    sous la diréction de Sandrine Kott

    This special issue gathers newest research on ILO history , reaching from ILO's engagement with cooperatives in the Interwar year to a comparative study of ILO action in the 1929 and 2008 crisis. As a special feature, Alain Supiot, member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work, discusses corporate social and environmental responsibility and the "Spirit of Philadelphia" with Professor Sandrine Kott, coordinator of this special issue, and Laure Piguet.

  2. In Spanish

    Una historia regional de la OIT: Aportes sobre regulación y legislación del trabajo latinoamericano

    Caruso, Laura and Stagnaro, Andrés. (Coords)

    This ebook presents collective research on ILO history in Latin America, carried out by Latin American researchers. Through the analysis of processes, institutions and programs that linked up the ILO and the diverse national and local realities in Latin America, the different chapters of this book discuss the scale of analysis which is needed to better understand the ILO as an institution acting on local/national/regional/global levels.

  1. Call for applications "Globalization and Social Justice: A Century of ILO action, 1919-2019"

    Papers on the history of the ILO will be presented during the international symposium in June 2019. Abstracts must be submitted by June 15, 2018.

  2. Centenary Publication Meeting
    March 2017

    Tor Egil Førland, Head of the Department of Archeology, Conservation and History, Kari Tapiola (ILO), Dorothea Hoehtker (ILO), Professor Daniel Maul and Erland Haavardsholm, Research officer (from left to right).