Local strikes, general strike

This research project offers a fresh perspective on the visual archives of the French labor movement between 1890 and 1914, drawing on the labor disputes that occurred during that period in what is now the Hauts-de-France region. 

While the strikes that punctuated the “Belle Époque” have been well documented, little attention has been paid to the diversity of visual practices during these uprisings. Though rich in meaning, the iconography preserved in the archives sometimes reveals only part of the actions taken by the rebellious crowds. This research aims to document and analyze the diversity of these practices and imaginaries, as well as their interplay with photography and press illustrations.

At the heart of this project lies the central idea of revolutionary syndicalism at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: the general strike. It must be understood in the exact terms in which it was debated in revolutionary circles: as a myth shaped by the daily experience of labor and struggle. The aim here is to consider the mythical images of the strike as one visual corpus among others, on par with press imagery or that disseminated through union channels. Incidentally, the goal is also to consider its repercussions all the way to the aesthetics of contemporary social movements: wherever the ideals and practices of direct-action unionism continue and are being reinvented today.