Centre de recherche en histoire sociale

Centre de recherche en histoire sociale
Name	Centre de recherche en histoire sociale
Established	1970s
Type	Research institute
Location	Montréal, Québec, Canada
Affiliations	Université de Montréal; Université du Québec à Montréal

Centre de recherche en histoire sociale is a Montreal-based research institute devoted to the study of social history with an emphasis on labour, class, gender, migration, and urban life in Canada and internationally. The centre connects scholars, students, archivists, and activists through projects that engage with primary sources, oral histories, and comparative studies of cities, provinces, and transnational movements. It situates local case studies in broader contexts such as industrialization, decolonization, and welfare state formation to inform debates in contemporary policy and public history.

History

The centre emerged in the milieu shaped by figures and institutions such as Jacques Rousseau, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Jean Lesage, René Lévesque, Paul-Émile Borduas, and provincial initiatives in Québec during the Quiet Revolution alongside university reforms at Université de Montréal and Université du Québec à Montréal. Its founding drew on methodological innovations associated with scholars influenced by the Annales School, E. P. Thompson, Fernand Braudel, and comparative networks involving Labour Party (UK), Socialist Party of France, Italian Communist Party, and North American labor historians linked to Cornell University, Harvard University, and York University. Early projects intersected with archives from events including the October Crisis, the Great Depression, and postwar industrial disputes such as the 1937 United Auto Workers strike and the Asbestos strike of 1949. Over decades the centre has negotiated funding cycles from bodies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and provincial agencies, while responding to global trends marked by the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the 2008 financial crisis.

Mission and Research Themes

The centre’s mission foregrounds research on labor movements, gender relations, migration, and urban transformations, engaging with case studies tied to places like Montréal, Québec City, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal Tramways Company, and industries such as textile, mining, and shipbuilding linked to sites like Don Valley, Sainte-Catherine Street, Saint-Hyacinthe, and Val-d'Or. Research themes align with comparative studies involving the Industrial Revolution, Second World War, Decolonization of Algeria, Mexican Revolution, and postcolonial transitions in regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. Thematic clusters intersect with scholars working on archival collections related to the Canadian Labour Congress, Confédération des syndicats nationaux, United Auto Workers, Amalgamated Transit Union, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and community organizations like Métis National Council and Native Women's Association of Canada.

Organization and Governance

The centre is structured with an executive board composed of faculty from partner institutions including Université de Montréal, Université Laval, McGill University, Concordia University, Université du Québec à Rimouski, and research chairs tied to programs like the Canada Research Chairs and the Killam Prize network. Governance practices have been modeled on consortia such as Canadian Studies Network and international centres like the International Institute of Social History and Institute of Historical Research. Advisory members have included historians who have worked on topics related to Labour history, Women's suffrage, Indigenous rights movement, and urban policy linked to municipal archives of Montreal, provincial ministries such as Ministère de la Culture et des Communications (Québec), and national institutions like Library and Archives Canada.

Academic Programs and Training

The centre offers graduate seminars, postdoctoral fellowships, and summer schools that draw doctoral candidates from programs at Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, McMaster University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and international visitors from Sorbonne University, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley, and Australian National University. Training emphasizes methods inspired by historians associated with E. P. Thompson, Orlando Figes, Carole Pateman, and archives practice comparable to the Society of American Archivists. Students undertake fieldwork in locales such as Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Saint-Laurent (Montreal), and archives tied to events like the Expo 67 cultural programs.

Publications and Projects

The centre publishes monographs, edited volumes, and working papers, often in collaboration with presses such as Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, McGill-Queen's University Press, University of Toronto Press, Routledge, Cambridge University Press, and journals including Labour/Le Travail, Canadian Historical Review, Histoire sociale / Social History, Journal of Urban History, and Journal of Canadian Studies. Major projects have examined the Asbestos strike of 1949, the history of public housing in Montreal, transnational migration linked to the Saint Lawrence River, and digitization initiatives comparable to the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure Project and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The centre maintains partnerships with archives, museums, unions, and NGOs including Library and Archives Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, McCord Museum, Musée d'histoire de Montréal, Canadian Labour Congress, Confédération des syndicats nationaux, Carrefour communautaire, and international partners like International Labour Organization, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, European University Institute, and the Wellcome Trust. Collaborative initiatives have linked with municipal projects involving Ville de Montréal, provincial cultural agencies such as Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and networks including the Consortium on European Labour History.

Archives and Collections

Collections held or accessed by the centre include personal papers, union records, oral histories, photographs, and ephemera connected to figures and entities like Maurice Duplessis, Pauline Marois, Camille Laurin, Jean-Baptiste Meilleur, Nellie McClung, Theresa Spence, Michel Chartrand, Tommy Douglas, Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine, and institutions such as the Canadian Labour Congress, Confédération des syndicats nationaux, and various cooperative housing associations. The centre collaborates on digitization with Library and Archives Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, and international repositories like the British Library and National Archives (UK) to preserve records related to strikes, suffrage campaigns, migration waves, and municipal planning archives from the era of Haussmann-inspired urban renewal.

Category:Research institutes in Quebec