1. Persons

Balabanova, Anželika (c. 1878–1965) – Papers

Period: 1940

Size: 0.01 m.

Finding aid: inventory

Accrual: For initial description see GIA, pp. 37–38.

Two letters from Angelica Balabanoff (Anželika Balabanova) to Mr. Schmulovitz and some other documents regarding the lecture “Some Slices of a Colorful Life” given by Balabanoff at the Assembly Dinner of the Concordia-Argonaut Club, a Jewish social club, in San Francisco on 28 January 1940.

L’Aminot, Tanguy (born 1948) – Papers

Period: 1967–2015

Size: 0.06 m.

Finding aid: inventory

Accrual: For initial description see GIA for 2013, pp. 369–370.

Correspondence with A.J. Canellidis 1978, Roger Dorey 1977–2005, Daniel Giraud 1978–2014, Bernd A. Laska 1998 and Ngo Van and Hélène Fleury 1996–2008; manuscripts for the review Pausole n.d.; articles from L’Aminot on Jean Jacques Rousseau 1983–2015.

Rubinstein, Bernhard (1880–1944) – Papers

Period: 1905–1937 (–2015)

Size: 0.25 m.

Finding aid: inventory

Name of birth: Boris Nikolajewitsch Rubinstein; born in Valmiera (Wolnar), Russia, 1880, died in Auschwitz 1944; married Irene Barta, a Hungarian singer, and had two children, Nicolai (“Kolja”) (1911–2002) and Beate (Béatrice) (1916–2013); publisher and owner of the Bühnen- und Buchverlag russischer Autoren Iwan Ladyschnikow in Berlin, Germany, founded in December 1905 by Iwan Ladyschnikow; from June 1911 Rubinstein participated in this publishing house, now called I. Ladyschnikow, Verlag GmbH, and from 1913 he was the only shareholder and owner; this publishing house was specialized in the publication of Russian literature and theatre plays, sometimes in the Russian language, sometimes German translations, but also in the buying and selling of the publication rights of these authors. Important authors were Leonid Andrejev, Leo Deutsch, Fjodor Dostojevski, Maxim Gorki, Ivan Toergenjev, Leo Tolstoi, and Anton Tsjechov.

Correspondence, including contracts, between Ladyschnikow Verlag and other publishing houses, such as Axel Juncker Verlag, Malik Verlag and Ukrainischer Verlag, agencies and translators on the publication and the publication rights of, in most but not all cases, Russian writers, such as Leonid Andrejev, Schalom Asch, Henri Barbusse, Fjodor Dostojevski, Maxim Gorki, Camille Lemonnier, Leo Tolstoi, and Anton Tsjechov 1905–1937; documents on the management of Ladyschnikow Verlag 1905–1937; photocopies of the manuscript ‘Plauderei im Verlag Ladyschnikow’ [1920] and of an article on the publishing house 1987; two photographs of the personnel of Ladyschnikow Verlag n.d.

Letters from Béatrice Rubinstein to her uncle Alexander Stein 1945–1946; letters from Nicolai (“Kolja”) Rubinstein to Alexander Stein 1942–1948; letters from Nicolai Rubinstein to Hanna Papanek 1993–1994; letter from Béatrice Rubinstein to Hanna Papanek 1994; typescript by Hanna Papanek on her conversations with Nicolai and Béatrice Rubinstein about their youth 1989; articles from and on Nicolai Rubinstein 1988–2004; typescript “Mes justes” about life in Paris during the German occupation and the arrest of her father Bernhard in Hotel Bonaparte in January 1944 by Béatrice Rubinstein 2000; typescript “Notes by Hanna Papanek” 2015.

Schade, Ernst – Photo Collection

Period: 1985–1997

Size: 91 digital photographs (4.08 GB)

Finding aid: list

Born in Moergestel, Netherlands 1949; received training in tropical agriculture; worked for sixteen years in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and with governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations in rural development programmes; Resident Representative for Save the Children Norway in Mozambique 1989–1995; self-taught in photography, he started publishing his photographic work from 1984; living in Lisbon, Portugal, since 1995; photography is now his main activity; published together with Flora Veit-Wild Dambudzo Marechera 1952–1987 (1988).

Ninety-one black-and-white photographs of work and living conditions, especially of women and children, during and after the civil war in Mozambique by the Dutch photographer Ernst Schade 1985–1997.

Šelgunov, Nikolaj Vasilévič, and family members – Papers

Period: 1820–1919

Size: 0.2 m.

Finding aid: inventory

Nikolaj Vasilévič Šelgunov (1824–1891), prominent public figure and publicist, literary critic, specialist on forestry, a well-known journalist from the mid-1850s until the beginning of 1890s; graduated from the Forestry Institute in 1841 and served as forestry officer colonel in the Ministry of State Properties until 1862; became acquainted at the beginning of the 1850s with the poet-democrat Mikhail Larionovič Mikhajlov (1829–1865), N.G. Černyševskij, N.A. Dobroljubov, N.A. Serno-Solov’evič, M.A. Antonovič, S.I. Serakovskij and other “Narodniki”; in 1858, met twice, in Paris and London, Aleksandr I. Gercen; from 1859, wrote for the leading Russian journals – Russkoe slovo, Sovremennik and Trud; published his article “Rabočij proletariat v Angli i vo Francii” (“Working proletariat in England and France”) in Sovremennik 1859, the first and only legal Russian exposition of The Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels until 1905; in 1861–1862, Šelgunov and Mikhajlov published in London, with the help of Gercen, the revolutionary leaflet “To young generation”, written by Šelgunov, who was also the author of the other revolutionary leaflets; arrested in 1862, jailed in the Petr and Paul Fortress, convicted and from November 1864 until almost the end of the life was exiled in Vologda, Novgorod, Smolensk regions and in Vyborg; died in Saint Petersburg on 12 April 1891; his funeral, held on 15 April 1891, turned into one of the first labour demonstrations.

Nikolaj Nikolaevič Šelgunov (1864–1909), son of N.V. Šelgunov, was born in Geneva and, according to the documents, his father was N.V. Šelgunov; lived with his father until mid-1880s; his mother visited them periodically, she lived separately and earned a living for the whole family doing translation work in both capitals; studied at nautical school, served later as a warrant officer of the Baltic fleet; participated in populist movements, and in 1885–1886 was a member of the circle of “militarists”; advocate of rapprochement with the social democrats; arrested in 1887 and condemned to penal servitude for eight years, which, as a result of his “sincere repentance”, was commuted to compulsory service as a soldier; retired from service in 1897 and did no longer participated in revolutionary movement; graduated from the Institute of Mines in 1998 and became mines engineer; worked at the Taganrog iron and steel plant 1897–1899; appointed as Director of Sulinsk iron and steel plant by the owner, Sergej N. Pastuchov, in 1899; killed by his own workers 1909.

Various documents reflecting the life and works of Vasilij Ivanovič Šelgunov, Ivan Šelgunov, Nikolaj Vasil’evič Šelgunov, Nikolaj Nikolaevič Šelgunov, and other family members 1820–1919; the documents of the various generations of the Šelgunov family reflect the inner family life and the interrelations with the state in relation to birth conditions, social level, education, military and state services, participation in populist movement, property disputes with relatives, salary, pension payments, custody from the early 1820s till 1913; the collection includes birth certificates, school records, diplomas, correspondence with solicitors and factory owners, applications to state authorities, wills, court and state decisions, bills and receipts, insurance certificates, file on the death of N.V. Šelgunov, etc.

Serrarens, Hans – Slides Collection

Period: 1990

Size: 88 slides

Finding aid: list

Born in Amsterdam 1952; worked for many years as editor of the youth magazine Samsam, published by the KIT, the Royal Tropical Institute, in Amsterdam and later the NCDO; spring 1990 he and Karel Roskam paid a visit to the ANC refugee settlement Mazimbu in Tanzania in order to produce a special issue of Samsam on Mazimbu; Serrarens took all the photographs for this special issue.

Colour slides of the ANC refugee settlement Mazimbu, near Morogoro in Tanzania and (the students of) its secondary school Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO), made during a visit in spring 1990; subjects are: Charlotte Maxeke nursery; ANC-Holland Solidarity Hospital; cultural performances; Radio Freedom studio; piggery; workshops; furniture factory; SOMAFCO school facilities and students; primary school pupils; portraits of and the visit by ANC-leaders Albertina and Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki to Mazimbu.

2. Organizations

Brazil:

Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) Brasil – Collection

Period: 1981–2000

Size: 0.1 m., 9.4 GB, 1056 files

The Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) Brasil (Central Workers Union (CUT) of Brazil) is a Brazilian trade union mass organization; the CUT is the largest union federation in Brazil, Latin America and the fifth largest in the world with 3,806 affiliated entities, 7,847,077 workers and associates, and 23,981 workers; the CUT was founded on 28 August 1983 in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, during the 1st Congress National Working Class (CONCLAT); this meant a fresh start after the long years of military dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 until the beginning of the eighties.

Paper material: congress newspapers and other documents on the national and regional congresses of the CUT, also including the statutes and some comics 1981, 1985–1986, 1988, 1991–1993, 1996.

Digital material: 313 books and brochures, ten periodicals, decisions and resolutions of CUT congresses between 1981–2000, 598 posters.

Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias Químicas, Plásticas, Farmacêuticas, Cosméticas e Similares de São Paulo – Archives

Period: 1983–2013

Size: 0.12 m.

The Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias Químicas, Plásticas, Farmacêuticas, Cosméticas e Similares de São Paulo (Chemical Workers Union of São Paulo) was founded in the traditional São Paulo district of Brás in 1933; the organization split up in 1954 and was divided into two different unions: one representing the chemical industry workers and the other representing the pharmaceutical industry workers; both organizations were severely affected by the repressive forces of the military dictatorship that overtook the country in 1964 and subsequent years; the democratically elected boards of directors were brutally replaced by administrative officers from the then-called Ministry of Labour and Social Security; the unions reclaimed their freedom in 1982; the chemical and pharmaceutical unions’ reunification took place in 1994; both unions operate today under the banner of the Unified Workers’ Central (CUT), a symbol of the ‘new Brazilian unionism’.

Plastiluta, periodical and pamphlets of the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias Químicas, Plásticas, Farmacêuticas, Cosméticas e Similares de São Paulo, 1985–1993; Sindiluta, daily newspaper and pamphlets of the same Sindicato dos Trabalhadores, 1988–1992; Conjuntura, a periodical also issued by the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores, 1991–1993; various bulletins of the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores 1983–1984, 1988–1990, 1993–1994; about thirty brochures and booklets issued and collected by the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores 1983–1997; various documentation 1989, 1995, 2006, 2008, 2013.

Nepal:

General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions – Mixed Collection

Period: 1989–2010

Size: 1 m.

Finding aid: list

The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (Gefont) was established in 1989. This occurred underground because, at that time, there was no right of assembly in Nepal; it has operated as a legal organization since 1995; in 2014, Gefont had twenty affiliates, covering agriculture, industries, and services; as the largest trade union confederation in Nepal, it represents nearly 400,000 workers from all affiliates.

Notebooks, booklets, membership cards, and other documentation, photographs, posters, DVDs, banners, flags, T-shirts and other textiles, related to the Gefont and its member unions, including the Nepal Independent Carpet Workers’ Union; the Nepal Independent Food and Beverage Workers’ Union; the Independent Press Workers’ Union of Nepal; the Central Union of Painters, Plumbers, Electro and Construction Workers; and the Independent Transport Workers’ Association of Nepal 1989–2010.

The Netherlands:

* Uitgeverij Allert de Lange – Archives

Period: (1880–) 1929–1939 (–1981)

Size: 0.06 m.

Finding aid: inventory

Accrual: For initial description see GIA, pp. 340–341.

Correspondence on Joseph Roth, contract between Joseph Roth and Verlag Allert de Lange and typescripts by and other documents on Joseph Roth 1929–1981; correspondence by and other documents on Uitgeverij Allert de Lange and his exile authors 1880–1981.

Spain:

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) – Photo Collection

Period: 1936–1938

Size: 2288 photographs, 5358 negatives

Finding aid: list

Accrual: For initial description see GIA, pp. 258–259.

Photographs and negatives of the Spanish Civil War and, in particular, of the social revolution that took place in Spain after the coup by Franco and his right-wing factions, which started on 17 July 1936 and ended, for the most part, with the events of May 1937, when a week of civil violence between anarchists and communists took place in Catalonia and, in particular, Barcelona; the collection shows the anarchist CNT revolution that took place in Barcelona since his early days with images of barricades, burning and occupation of churches, and the activity of CNT militia members in the streets of the city; it also contains photographs of the libertarian youth, and, in particular, the libertarian Column Los Aguiluchos departing for the front to fight against fascism, and of the anarchist Durruti Column; photographs of occupation and collectivization of the means of capital by workers mainly in the industrial and transport sectors; many photographs of Minister of Public Instruction and Health, Segundo Blanco González, and his State Secretary Puig Elias, and of school camps and children’s homes 1938; the photographs show the fundamental role played by propaganda during the war, using a large number of rallies, anniversaries, celebrations and funerals, celebrated by the CNT.

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) – Rubber Stamp Collection

Period: 1936–1939

Size: 0.25 m.

Finding aid: list

Accrual: For initial description see GIA, pp. 258–259.

Sixteen rubber stamps of the CNT-FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica); five rubber stamps of the Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista (SIA); sixteen keys; some CNT-FAI Comité Regional de Cataluña stationery with stamp-proofs 1939.

Sri Lanka:

* Ceylon Mercantile Union – Archives and Photographs

Period: 1954–2015

Size: 0.75 m.

Finding aid: inventory

The Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU) is one of the largest trade unions in the commercial sector in Sri Lanka; the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union was originally built in 1928 as a white-collar union in the mercantile sector; Victor Corea and A.E. Goonesinha were, respectively, the inaugural President and Secretary of the CMU; after Bala Tampoe became its General Secretary in February 1948, it changed from a union of about 300 white-collar workers to a nationwide organization of almost 30,000 workers; Tampoe defended members and leaders of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurgency and the nationwide hunger-strike on 18 October 1972 against the severe repression under the state of Emergency 1971–1972; Tampoe remained CMU General Secretary until his death in September 2014.

Correspondence, circular letters, procession permits and other documents from and on the CMU 1954–1972; documents on the meetings of the General Council of the CMU, circular letters and other documents on the activities of the CMU 1989–2014; documents on the Delegates Conferences of the CMU 1989–2012; documents on a legal procedure on a labour dispute around the journalist Jeanne Moonesinghe, writing under the pseudonym ‘Jane Freeman’ 1960–1962; documents on trials at the High Court Colombo under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), including documents on Japan, North Korea, Portugal, and the Fourth International 1975–1987; typescript on the fiftieth anniversary of the CMU 1997–1999; correspondence from Bala Tampoe 1963–1999; brochures, handbills, and leaflets of the CMU 1960–2014; leaflets and brochures on the death of Bala Tampoe 2014; photographs of May Day’s, International Women’s Day’s, the fiftieth anniversary of the CMU, seminars and strikes as the Paranthan Chemicals strike in Jaffna 1984–1999.

3. Subjects

Argentina:

Fondo Club de Cultura Socialista José María Aricó – Audio Collection

Period: 1992–2008

Size: 378 CDs

Finding aid: inventory

The Fondo Club de Cultura Socialista José María Aricó built an audio collection in the period 1984–2008 on various themes, such as political history, literature, economics, law, religion, social and labour movements, education, agriculture and human rights in Argentina; the fund was named after the Argentinean Marxist and founder of the journal Pasado y Presente, José María Aricó; important persons among the various speakers are:

On political history: Carlos Altamirano (born 1939), one of the most eminent intellectuals of Argentina; taught at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, where he led an intellectual history programme; a central theme in his work is the role of the intellectual in the society, but he is also an expert on the history of left-wing political parties and the Montoneros, a Peronist urban guerrilla group active in the 1960s and 1970s; writer of books such as Para un programa de historia intelectual (2005) and Intelectuales. Notas de investigación (2006).

On labour movements and, in particular, Los Piqueteros: Héctor ‘Toty’ Flores (born 1953); worked in the metal industry and now participates in the organization of the MTD (Movimiento de Trabajadores y Desocupados); the MTD is one of the oldest piquetero movements, organizing popular actions since 1966; the word “piqueteros” finds its origin in Argentina and applies to working-class activists, including the unemployed; their main activity is blocking streets to stop the circulation of transport.

On literature: Beatriz Sarlo (born 1942), a well-known academic in Argentina on the area of literary and cultural studies; in 1978 she founded the journal Punto de Vista, which was an important voice against the military regime of Jorge Videla and for a long period was one of Argentina’s leading periodicals; in addition, she is interested in topics like feminism and the emergence of the modern city in global debates, mostly finding her arguments in critical theory and postmodernism.

378 CDs (414 items) with speakers (intellectuals, trade union leaders and others) representing different sectors of Argentina’s society; see for a more detailed survey of the content of these CDs the inventory of the series “Conferencias, asambleas y reuniones de socios”, held in the period 1992–2008.

Azerbaijan:

Oral History of the Caucasus Project – Audio Collection

Period: 2001–2003

Size: 70.55 GB

Finding aid: list

In cooperation with the BBC World Service, in 2001 the IISH started to record the oral history of the Caucasus in the period 1988–1991; the project planned to explore the last days of Mikhail Gorbachev and the beginning of independence; the first interviews, held by Solmaz Rustamova-Towhidi, are with political leaders of the independence movement in Azerbaijan; Solmaz Rustamova-Towhidi is professor of historical sciences at the Ziya Bunyadov Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and co-author of several books, such as The Baku Documents (1995) and 1918. Azerbaijani Massacres in Photos and Documents (2012).

Digital copies of interviews by Solmaz Rustamova-Towhidi with political leaders of the independence movement in Azerbaijan, and also with police functionaries and news editors, on the events in the years 1988–1991; interviewed persons are: Zardusht Alizade, Hikmet Hacizade, Penah Huseynov, Etibar Memmedov, Rasul Quliaev, and Leyla Yunusova.

Bangladesh

Shahbag Movement in Bangladesh 2013 – Collection

Period: 2013–2014

Size: 10 books, 62.2 GB, 347 files

The Shahbag Movement started suddenly when the international crime tribunal of Bangladesh handed a life sentence to “liberation-war criminal” Abdul Quader Mollah on 5 February 2013; from that afternoon, thousands of people gathered in Shahbag Square near Dhaka University; the people demonstrating demanded the death penalty for Abdul Quader Mollah and other accused war criminals of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971; in particular, the movement mobilized young urban citizens, and social media, including Facebook and the Bloggers and Online Activists Network (BOAN), played an important role; this movement was called Gonojagaron Mancha (National Awakening Stage) and was at its peak from February until May 2013; the protest spread from Dhaka to other parts of the country; protesters called for those convicted of war crimes to be sentenced to death and also to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami party; Jamaat-e-Islami started a violent counter-protest in the country, demanding the release of its convicted and accused leaders; on 17 September 2013, the Bangladesh Supreme Court found Mollah guilty of murders and other war crimes, and converted his life sentence to a death sentence; he was executed on 12 December 2013 and was the first person to be executed for crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

The project to collect and to digitize these materials was planned at the end of 2013 by the IISH in collaboration with researchers in Bangladesh; the project was conducted in 2014 and the beginning of 2015.

A number of books and many digital copies of various printed and audiovisual media materials produced and disseminated during the Shahbag Movement in Dhaka from February until May 2013, 2013–2014.

Bolivia:

Social Movements in Bolivia – Collection

Period: 1991–2011

Size: 46.1 GB, 19.266 files

This collection is an outgrowth of a SEPHIS Project about “Preserving Social Memory History and Social Movements” in Bolivia; the documents are related to the important social movements since 1992 until 2010: press photographs about strikes, barricades, demonstrations of workers, peasants, women, children, and pensioners; articles about these movements, news on the radio about these movements and documents of some groups that were important in the field of women’s and gay rights; SEPHIS stands for the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development and was founded in 1994.

Digital copies of about 19,283 items: 5,520 press photographs of Social Movements in Bolivia 1991–2010; 6,780 articles from the Bolivian newspaper Ultima Hora 1993–2001; 4,500 audio recordings from “Radio Erbol” about these social movements 2003–2011 and political discussions; 1,130 documents, including posters and photographs, about the rights of women and lesbians and, in particular, the lesbian women’s group Mujeres Creando 1995–2010; 1,353 documents, including posters, about the rights of gays and, in particular, the gay group Familia Galán 1995–2011.

Workers in Bolivia. Their voices and an analysis of its history – Audio Collection

Period: 1965–1996

Size: 1.2 TB, 11.219 files

At the beginning of 2012, the Latin America Desk of the IISH initiated a project to digitize some of the tapes preserved by the MUSEF (National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore) between 1982 and 1997; the digital collection includes 1,851 cassettes on labour topics in Bolivia recorded in different workers’ meetings; hence the title “Workers in Bolivia. Their voices and their analysis”; audio tapes preserved the voices of peasants and indigenous people, miners, coca producers (or “cocaleros”), teachers and artisans within their meetings; these different workers have an oral culture and very occasionally they leave traces in written documents; in addition to worker’s voices, there are also audio tapes, complementing the worker’s voices, which recorded the views of different public figures and intellectuals coming from the trade union sector, the political sphere, and the academic area; this important project preserves the collective memory on social and labour struggles, but also registers the experiences after the period of dictatorship that gave birth to new projects of social emancipation that finally raised the new state model that has been functioning in Bolivia since 2006 and is based on the new Constitution, approved by referendum in 2009.

Digital copies of “Worker’s Voices”: recordings of meetings of peasant congresses, particularly mining congresses; artisans; indigenous movements; coca leaf peasants; left-wing political parties; and “voices of leaders and intellectuals”: academic events; meetings; TV programmes; and seminars around different topics 1965–1996.

Brazil:

Brazilian Alternative Newspapers – Collection

Period: 1962–1980

Size: 4.1 GB, 507 files

During the Military Dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 until 1985, workers, students and leftist movements struggled against the repression and the censorship imposed by the military regime; one of their activities of resistance was the publication of a variety of alternative newspapers from different left-wing clandestine groups, including activists that had gone into exile and urban and rural guerrillas; they aimed to report the acts of the military governments, such as the violation of human rights (the torture and the imprisonment of activists), the repression of labourers, the economic exploitation by the multinationals and the United States, and the labour policy based on the salaries reduction.

Digital copies of alternative newspapers from the Centro de Memoria da Universidades Estadual Paulista (CEDEM) in Brazil 1962–1980; seventy-seven newspapers, from Brazilian left-wing clandestine groups, each with several issues.

Brazilian Anarchist Newspapers from the Edgard Leuenroth Digitized Collections – Collection

Period: 1900–1920

Size: 2 GB, 1006 files

In Brazil, some anarchist newspapers were published in the first twenty years of the twentieth century; examples of these Brazilian newspapers are: A Plebe, A Lanterna and A Folha do Braz.

Digital copies of A Plebe, A Lanterna and A Folha do Braz, 1900–1920; these three newspapers are a valuable addition to the important IISH collection on early twentieth century Brazilian labour history, collected by Max Nettlau.

Brazilian Labour Courts – Collection

Period: 1940–1979

Size: 21.3 GB, 6291 files

After 2000, labour historians increasingly showed interest in the Brazilian labour grievances documents; most of these papers have been under the custody of Labour Courts; in 2007, the Tribunal Regional do Trabalho (TRT) of 2. Region, located in Sao Paulo state, the major industrial area of the Brazilian economy, started, in cooperation with the Centro de Pesquisa em História Social da Cultura (Cecult)/Unicamp, to digitize the labour records; the digitization was completed in 2008; these documents represent one of the most important sources of twentieth-century Brazilian social history; the reading of the labour court records enables the understanding of various topics related to the worlds of workers, such as labour relations in the workplace, experiences of workers related to the labour legislation system and their strategies to achieve rights; moreover, the labour court documents enable the analyses of the role of judges and lawyers in the labour courts, and expose all kinds of demands from the workers, including collective and individual cases; the Brazilian labour justice system, established in 1939 during the corporatist dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas, became the first recourse for workers demanding better labour conditions; in the early twentieth century, most of the labour conflicts were treated as a “police matter”; under Brazilian labour law, called Consolidação das Leis Trabalhistas (CLT), created in 1943, the Brazilian system encouraged workers to seek individual and collective solutions to their problems in public-sector courts; the system to submit labour conflicts to these courts substantially changed the labour relations between employers and employees, as well the role of the trade unions as representatives of the workers interests.

Digital copies of documents on Brazilian labour grievances treated by the Brazilian Labour Courts in the period 1940–1979; these documents are on a total of 8,000 collective and individual cases and contain 788,784 documents.

Brazilian Union Opposition Groups (Oposições Sindicais) – Collection

Period: 1962–2012

Size: 621.9 MB, 2969 files

Brazilian Union Opposition Groups (Oposições Sindicais), the so-called Union Opposition groups emerged in São Paulo city after the 1964 military coup; these groups were very active and influential in the 1970s and early 80s; Catholic, Marxist, and left-wing activists formed this opposition movement against the corporatist government-controlled trade unions; they aimed to work within the unions to win back the electoral offices held by government appointees; under the rules of the authoritarian government, these labour activists sought to work within the limited space available to mobilize workers during the trade unions electoral campaigns; they strongly criticized the Brazilian labour structure, particularly the role of the State in the collective bargaining as well as the Labour Courts; the Oposição also opposed the labour policies of the traditional left, in particular the Communist Party, which was seen as too moderate; they emphasized the need to organize the rank-and-file at the shop-floor level, favouring the creation of “comissões de fábrica” (factory commissions); in the late 1970s, the workers’ movement against the government-controlled trade unions spread in the urban and rural areas throughout the country challenging the authoritarian State; the São Paulo Metallurgical Union Opposition was one of the most important social movements during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964–1985) and it was pivotal in the struggle against the regime and their allies in the labour movement; the Oposição was also an important sector for the formation of the so-called Brazilian new unionism during the late 1970s; in addition to the metalworkers, chemical- and bank workers were among the main union opposition groups in Brazil.

The digital collection Oposições Sindicais no Brasil’ is an initiative of the Conference entitled “50 years of Union Opposition in Brazil”, held by Brazilian labour scholars in Rio de Janeiro on November 8–9, 2012; the collection was built up by the IIEP (Intercâmbio, Informações, Estudos e Pesquisas), an NGO, based in São Paulo city, dedicated to research the history of the sindical opposition groups in Brazil.

Digital copies of documents, especially photographs and posters, on the Brazilian Union Opposition Groups (Oposições Sindicais), the so-called Union Opposition groups; these groups emerged in São Paulo city after the 1964 military coup during the period of the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964–1985) 1962–2012.

Communist International Papers on Brazil - Collection

Period: 1922-1939

Size: 3.4 GB, 11 files

The former Committee of the Partido Comunista do Brazil (PCB) (Brazilian Communist Party) asked the militant families living in Moscow to reproduce documents on the PCB from the Communist International (Komintern) archives; the collection brings up a series of documents produced or collected by the Executive Committee of the PCB, such as reports, resolutions, registration forms, and others; these documents were sent to the Communist International in Moscow.

Digital copies of documents from the Partido Comunista do Brazil (PCB) (Brazilian Communist Party) and specially the activities of their Executive Committee; documents relating to the Brazilian delegations who attended conferences in Moscow, Latin American secretariats, Peasant and Workers Bloc (Bloco Operário Camponês), Communist Youth (Juventude Comunista), the Workers Confederation, International Women Secretariats, Leninist International School, and others 1922–1939; documents related to the International Brigades of the Brazilian volunteers who participated in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939.

Labour Courts in the Brazilian South Region - Collection

Period: 1935–1957

Size: 2.3 GB, 639 files

The material portrays the interference of the State in the labour conflicts between the employers and employees from the South region of Brazil, a rural area where the coal miners work were prevalent between the 1930s and 1950s.

Digital copies of about 300 labour grievances settled in the Labour Courts of São Jeronimo and Pelotas, both cities located in Rio Grande do Sul state, the south region of Brazil 1935-1957; the documents are recorded on two CD-ROMs organized by the Memorial da Justiça do Trabalho no Rio Grande do Sul.

Cuba:

Cuban Revolution - Collection

Period: 1950–2006

Size: 6.5 GB, 362 files

The Cuban Revolution resulted in the takeover by Fidel Castro (born 1926) in 1959; Castro was prime minister of Cuba from 1959 until 1976 and its president from 1976 until 2008.

Digital copies of 120 photographs of Fidel Castro during his exile, during the Liberation War and of the Cuban Revolution in general, 30 discourses of Fidel Castro in the period 1959–2006 and 55 letters of Fidel Castro in the period 1950–1960.

India:

Workers’, Political and Protest Movements in Western India. Mumbai Documents - Collection

Period: 1970–2010

Size: 4.3 GB, 81 files

The Dalits, the ‘oppressed’ were untouchable in traditional and partly also in modern India; the term Dalit also encompasses Scheduled Tribes (ST) and other historically disadvantaged communities who were traditionally excluded from society; the Mandal Commission, established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to ‘identify the socially or educationally backward’, tried to change the historical situation; it was headed by Indian parliamentarian B.P. Mandal to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness; in 1980, the commission’s report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes (known as Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST)) were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities, and recommended changes to these quotas, increasing them by 27% to 50%; the communist movement and the Dalit Panthers movement agitated against the Mandal commission and in some parts of Western India riots took place; Dalit Panthers, inspired by the Black Panther Party in the USA, was a revolutionary anti-caste organization, founded by Namdeo Dhasal and J.V. Pawar on 29 May 1972 in Mumbai; also there were anti-reservation agitations, led by students and doctors belonging to the forward castes, who claimed that the government’s proposal was discriminatory and was driven by election politics; the anti-reservation protests took place in 1990 during the anti-Mandal protests and in 2006 because of the decision of the Union Government of India, led by the Indian National Congress-headed multiparty coalition United Progressive Alliance, to implement reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

This collection of digital copies of organizational reports, periodicals and pamphlets includes a wide range of documents from communist movement and Dalit Panther’s movement to communal riots and anti-reservation agitations against the Mandal commission; besides, there are magazines on literary conferences and the progressive writers’ movement; the production of literature on and by the labouring masses and socially marginalized segments such as Dalits provides crucial insights into the workings of modern India 1970–2010.

Russia:

Occupational Safety in the USSR - Glass Sheets Collection

Period: n.d.

Size: 39 prints (possibly autochromes)

Series of glass sheets (possibly autochromes) on occupational safety and working conditions in the USSR; the images warn workers to be careful with certain machines, protect eyes and ears and to wear protective clothing; the glass sheets have paper frames and were intended to hang in the factory.

39 items (one duplicate copy) on occupational safety and working conditions in the USSR, produced and used anywhere in the period 1950-1980.