Global History Seminar- Uprooted by Capital: Socialist Interpretations of Labor Migration in the Age of Empire (1870-1910)

“Uprooted by Capital: Socialist Interpretations of Labor Migration in the Age of Empire (1870-1910)”. 

Lucas Poy, Assistant Professor in Global Economic and Social History, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Commentators: 
Natalie Behrends, PhD Candidate in History, Harvard University

Yifei Zhang, PhD Candidate in History of Architecture and Landscape, Harvard School of Design. 

This paper is drawn from a broader work examining how socialists navigated the tensions between proclaimed proletarian internationalism and the nativist pressures of the first era of mass migration. Lucas Poy establishes the intellectual foundation for those divergent responses. By tracing how theoretical frameworks produced a deeply ambivalent assessment of migration—viewing it simultaneously as a progressive force of integration and a peril to the “standard of life” of organized labor—this paper discusses the theoretical roots of the contradictions that would eventually fracture the socialist response to the global color line.

This graduate-faculty research seminar is designed to bring together interested faculty and students on a continuing basis to cover topics on global history. It is part of History 2950A/B Approaches to Global History and includes both reading sessions designed for graduate students and research sessions open to the interested public during which students and faculty participants will present current research. Faculty participants will be drawn from several schools, and, most especially, from the group of fellows in global history who are spending the academic year 2025-2026 at the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Global History. Discussions will be moderated by Professor Sven Beckert.

Register here- you will receive the paper approximately one week in advance.