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THE YEAR 2014 marked the 150th anniversary of the creation in London of the International Workingmen's Association (IWMA), the so-called First International (1864–1872). Marked by several commemorative events, gatherings, and contributions, including one by the author of this review, the sesquicentennial of the founding of the first independent international workers' association offered the opportunity to revisit its short history in light of the current developments and new approaches in labour studies as well as in cognate fields. The book under review here grew out of such a conference in 2014, convened by the co-editors and held at the Maison de la Recherche of the Université Paris-Sorbonne in Paris. Fifty years earlier in the same capital, as social history was budding as a new subfield of historical research, the Centenary conference of the First International had undertaken a decisive shift in the study of the IWMA from congress-history to movement-history, putting its rank-and-files back at the centre of the story. This volume builds on and continues that research trajectory by extending it in new directions, including transnational history, intellectual history, and cultural history, and by shedding light on omitted or forgotten themes, such as the place of women and former colonial subjects. I cannot adequately respond and do justice to each of the rich and diverse contributions to this collection, resigning myself instead to only highlight those that are particularly insightful or most original.
The volume is divided into three parts. The first, "Organisations and Debates," contains six essays about the context of emergence and the organizational nature...