Slow Memory: Remembering Deindustrialization
The concept of solidarity occupies a central yet contested place in the history of Europe’s labor movements. Frequently invoked by trade unionists across ideological traditions, its meanings have never been singular or fixed. Drawing on life story interviews with retired union activists from several European countries, the podcast episode below – hosted by Joanna Wawrzyniak and Natalie Braber — explores how solidarity is remembered as a lived, evolving practice shaped by the experience of industrial reorganizations. Both hosts bring insights from their collaboration in a broader oral history project on trade union memory in Europe, as part of Working Group 1 of Slow Memory Action Transformation of Work. It features elements of interviews with retired trade union leader, former political prisoner and exile, and activist Carles Vallejo. The in-depth life story interviews were conducted by myself and Universitat de Barcelona historian Javier Tébar.
A condensed video of the interview, subtitled in English, is posted below. A full transcript of the interview is available in English and Spanish upon request. All transcripts will be archived by the University of Warsaw, and we will continue to collaborate on publications related to the slow memory of deindustrialization and its relation to debates around industrial heritage and memory politics.
More information on the COST Action can be found here.