Events

The Story of Work: a new history of humankind

Hosted by the Department of Economic History

Online public event

Speakers

Dr Jan Lucassen

Dr Jan Lucassen

Professor Sara Horrell

Professor Sara Horrell

Discussant

Chair

Professor Patrick Wallis

Professor Patrick Wallis

Join us for this talk by Jan Lucassen who will discuss his new book, The Story of Work.

We work because we have to, but also because we like it: from hunting-gathering more than 700,000 years ago to the present era of zoom meetings, humans have always worked to make the world around them suit their needs.

Jan Lucassen provides an inclusive history of humanity’s busy labour throughout the ages. Spanning China, India, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, Lucassen looks at the ways in which humanity organises work: in the household, the tribe, the city, and the state. He examines how labor is split between men, women, and children; the watershed moment of the invention of money; the collective action of workers; and at the impact of migration, slavery, and the idea of leisure.

Meet our speaker and chair

Jan Lucassen is an honorary fellow at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam where is founded the IISH Research Department. He is the author of numerous books including Globalising Migration History: The Eurasian Experience and Global Labour History.

Sara Horrell is Professor of Economic History at LSE.  Her research explores labour market participation with an emphasis on women and children’s work and welfare.

Patrick Wallis (@phwallis) is Professor of Economic History at LSE. His research explores the economic, social and medical history of Britain and Europe from the 16th to 18th century.

More about this event

The Department of Economic History (@LSEEcHist) iis one of the world’s leading centres for research and teaching in economic history. It is home to a huge breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise ranging for the medieval period to the current century.

You can order the book The Story of Work: a new history of humankind (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEEcHistWork

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from The Story of Work: a new history of humankind.

A video of this event is available to watch at The Story of Work: a new history of humankind.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

Social Media

Follow LSE public events on Twitter for notification on the availability of an event podcast, the posting of transcripts and videos, the announcement of new events and other important event updates. Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE can be found on the LSE's Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram. For live webcasts and archive video of lectures, follow us on YouTube

LSE in Pictures is a selection of images taken by the school photographer.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.