Event

Who made May Day? Early research into the Globalization of the First of May

  • Location

    C²DH Open Space, 4th floor Maison des Sciences humaines

    11, Porte des Sciences

    4366, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

  • Topic(s)
    Humanities
  • Type(s)
    Free of charge, In-person event, Lectures and seminars

Research seminar with Andrew Pfannkuche.

There are countless days every year with internationalist and universal pretentions, what sets May Day apart is its success. May Day’s global impact and cross-cultural participation, often in spite of local elites, sets it further apart from its would-be competitors. It has been—and still is—celebrated by Anarchists in Tunisia, Socialists in Argentina, and Communists in India because these groups, despite all their differences, share a common international and socialist culture. May Day’s importance in this culture makes the question of who “made” it so relevant; who is responsible for this shared socialist symbol? Based on early research into the spread of May Day, this presentation sets the stakes of the debate over the origins and spread of May Day and traces the competing global and national narratives of the day’s early history. Tracing these narratives alongside the spread of May Day across the globe shows how interwoven the cultural worlds of international socialists are and explains why the day has succeeded in becoming one the great symbols of the struggle for social justice.

Andrew Pfannkuche is a doctoral researcher at the C²DH.