In this edition: the trade union world of government personnel, the report book of the Borze der Compagnons Book printers of the city of Ghent, farewell to photographer Lieve Colruyt, the archive of the non-profit organization Burgerdienst voor de Jeugd, Akte van de Hoop and our Studio Stone exhibition. 

On the sensuality of cruising

Van Oostveldt, senior lecturer at the Department of Art, Music and Theatre Studies at Ghent University, takes you into the world of gay cruising and sex in public space. What exactly is cruising? Where and how does it happen? What risks and pleasures does it entail? How does the location influence the practice? And what do history and literature tell us about the lives of homosexuals and bisexuals, past and present?

His essay tells of theatricality, parks and false nature. Of Bruges, the Minnewater and the province. Of Paris, Marcel Proust, André Gide and Julien Green. Of Georges Hérelle. Of Michel Foucault and the medicalization of sex. Of pissotières and vespasiennes. Of being caught, punishment and police checks. Of AIDS and gay bashing. Of sadness and shame. But just as much of sensuality and pleasure. It is both a historical and literary exploration and a personal reflection.

Bram VAN OOSTVELDT. On the sensuality of cruising
Ghent: Amsab-ISG, 2025, 65 pages, ill., ISBN 978946330427.
Price 10 euros

Catalog Studio Stone

During the artistic heyday of the 1920s and 1930s, photographers Cami and Sasha Stone occupy a special place in Berlin and Brussels. As their advertisements from that time make clear, Studio offers 'industrial, artistic and advertising photography'.

The Museum of Photography in Charleroi and Amsab-Institute for Social History in Ghent joined forces to present the photographic work of the Stones in a historical artistic and political study. The Amsab-ISG collection consists of 170 original photographs of the Stones, which have never been exhibited before. It is supplemented with photographs, archive documents, magazines, newspapers and historical books from numerous Belgian and German institutions.

The whole forms an exemplary corpus of Cami and Sasha Stone's diversified work. Photographs of architecture and industry, nudes, photos of shows and portraits of artistic and political celebrities have been collected and brought into dialogue with publications from the period. This research sheds new light on the work of these forgotten photographers from the interwar period and shows it in all its diversity. The catalogue contains contributions from several specialists in the fields of photography, literature, history and politics and is published on the occasion of the exhibition Studio Stone at the Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi.

Studio Stone
Musée de la Photographie en Amsab-ISG, 2025, 335 pages, ISBN: 978-2-87183-087-0
Price: 51 euros (incl. shipping)

Poster of Rik published in 1929 by the Belgian Workers' Party (BWP) for the parliamentary elections. Text: "Little Piet" So that our little Piet never knows the fears of war, promise me to vote for the socialists!

Rik Goossens (designer), JE (printer), BWP (publisher)

Size: 80 x 119cm

Young and queer since the sixties

The exhibition Young and queer since the sixties (November 18, 2024 – March 28, 2025) in Amsab-ISG highlights the history and activism of LGBTQ+ youth in Belgium. The exhibition is a collaboration between Amsab-ISG and Fund Susan Daniel, in the context of Ghent European Youth Capital 2024.

This brochure contains the full expo texts, illustrations, testimonials and information about the various youth projects in the exhibition, such as Queering the Home and the Kwier MapIt is a nice reference work for those who want to relive the exhibition or explore it further.

Bart HELLINCK. Young and queer since the sixties
Amsab-ISG, 112 pages, ISBN: 978946330410
Price: €15 (incl. shipping)

Poster issued in 1935 by the Belgian Workers' Party (BWP) and the Trade Union Committee of Belgium (SKB) for the parliamentary elections

Imprimerie Coopérative Ouvrière (printer); National Action Bureau for the Brussels Labour Plan, BWP, Trade Union Commission of Belgium 

Size: 77,5 x 48 cm, 150 grams

60 years of migration, 30 years of connection

What drove the first founders of ethnic-cultural associations, and what drives the younger generations now? In honor of sixty years of migration, this book aims to provide an insight into the association life of people with migration roots, through interviews with board members from the Bindus vzw network.

Anyone who thought that migrants, even during their early years in our country, did nothing more than work is mistaken. In the words of the Swiss writer Max Frisch:

“We asked for workers. We got people.”

However, this book does not only tell the story of this past, but also of the present and the future. Where the first generation focused on preservation, we see that the second and third generations broaden their horizons. Today, young organizations excel in the field of education, culture, sports, art and activism… you name it.

This book celebrates that journey. It provides insight into the stories of our member associations, their founders and employees. It shows how migration and diversity can enrich society as a whole with new perspectives and possibilities.

Hümeyra CETINEL. 60 years of migration, 30 years of connection.
Bindus vzw in collaboration with Amsab-ISG, Red Star Line Museum and Ecru, 123 pages, ISBN: 9789090394510
Price: 21 euros (incl. shipping)

About the night shelter the Ghent Work of the Night Shelter, disease-specific patient associations, the archive of the Ghent Fietsersbond, documents of the United States Escape Program from our collection and the exhibition Young and queer since the sixties.

Small Resistance - Bicycles in the Amsab-ISG collection
 

From June 14 to September 27, 2024, Amsab-ISG presented the exhibition Small Resistance. This exhibition used pieces from the museum's own collection to highlight the cycling heritage in all its facets - from a toy of the elite, to a means of emancipation, to a battle with and for the bicycle. The history of the bicycle in Flanders was shown, from the first cycling race in Ghent on 11 April 1869 to the current ubiquity and variety of two-wheelers.

This publication collects the visual material from the exhibition, enriched with interesting contributions on the history and impact of cycling in Flanders, including from Bieke Purnelle of RoSa vzw and Wies Callens of the Cyclists' Union.

Small Resistance - Bicycles in the Amsab-ISG collection
Amsab-ISG, 55pp.
Price: €10 (incl. shipping)

In the first years after the First World War, May 1 became a celebration of liberation. Voting rights, trade union rights, 8 hour day... "Spring has overcome the long, dull winter".

First May! Poster of Constant Dratz, published by the Belgian Workers' Party, May 1, 1923.

Size: 45cm by 70cm, 150gr

On the reproductive role of Moroccan women from Mechelen, advertising campaigns on the Flemish coast, an handbook from 1911 after the Ghent municipal elections from our collection, the initiative Platform Aid Ledeberg and a testimony of a delegate at the VRT.

Masks. Poster issued by the Belgian Workers' Party, Liège Federation, May 1, 1901.

Size: 80 x 53 cm, 150 gr

Nobel Prize winners William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw wrote a poem and a play respectively for the British flamboyant feminist Helen 'Lalla' Speyer (1870-1965). She posed for one of the most beautiful portraits of Roger Fry, a member of the Bloomsbury Group, which also included Virginia Woolf. And from 1901 to 1922 she was the wife of Emile Vandervelde, the undisputed patron of the Belgian Workers' Party. Lalla introduced Emile to feminist ideas while he initiated her into the socialist struggle. They found each other especially in the field of art, popular education, in the campaign against the atrocities of Leopold II and aid to occupied Belgium. Emile 'forgot' his first wife in his memoirs. Studies on him have too often neglected Lalla's impact on his political and personal development. But Lalla is more than Emile's wife. Her own story only started after the First World War, when she started working and living more and more independently of her husband.

Madame Lalla Vandervelde
A very exceptional woman

Martine Vermandere
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2023, 116 p., ill., soft cover

ISBN: 9789464330199

€15

Here you can also order the French version of the book

About us vegetarianism in Belgium, oral testimonies from the metal industry, the search for the meaning of a winged flag top from our collection, a exhibition about us cycling heritage and the archive of Non-profit organization Kempen Environment Action Group (FALCON).

To victory! Poster designed by Rik and published by the Belgian Workers' Party, on the occasion of the 1936 parliamentary elections.

Size: 50 by 84cm, 150gr

About us integration in Flanders, identitarian evolution in historiography, Amnesty International in Flanders, the universality of human rights and the processing the archive from vzw JONG.

This poster captures the essence of May 1 in one word: solidarity. 

Poster published by the Schweizerischer Gewerkschaftsbund, May 1, 1985. Copyright Simone Torelli, Zurich.

Size: 50 by 70cm, 150gr

William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, the two laurels of Nobel, their author, a poem, and a portrait, a piece of the theater, for the flamboyant feminist Britannique Helen “Lalla” Speyer (1870-1965). Elle a pose pour l'un plus beaux portraits de Roger Fry, membre du groupe Bloomsbury, don't hesitate to share Virginia Woolf. Et elle fut l'épouse d'Émile Vandervelde, le patron incontesté du Parti ouvrier belge, de 1901 à 1922. Tandis qu'Émile initiait Lalla à la lutte socialiste, ellelui faisait connaître la pensée féministe. This is because of the domains of the arts, the popular education, the campaigns of Léopold II and the aid of the Belgian occupation of their son. Émile a « oublié » sa première femme dans ses mémoires. The studies are carried out on the basis of the negative impact of Lalla on the evolution of politics and personnel. Mais lalla est plus que la « femme d'Émile ». After the history of the premiere of the world, the start of the journey and the life of the plus and independent of the son.

Madame Lalla Vandervelde
A very exceptional woman

Martine Vermandere
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2023, 116 p., ill., soft cover

ISBN: 9789464330205
Price: € 15
Number of pages: 114

Here you can also order the Dutch version

The earliest workers' associations presented themselves as mutual societies in order to circumvent the Le Chapelier law. That law prohibited any organization of workers. Certainly before any social legislation was introduced, mutual insurance companies played an extremely important role for workers. Together with the growth of the entire socialist movement, the centralization of smaller 'greenhouses' led to ever-increasing services. The opening of the Volkskliniek in Ghent in 1928 was a striking example of this.

People's Clinic Bond Moyson. Poster designed by Haeck and published by Bond Moyson, 1928.

size: 80 x 54 cm, 150gr

About the difficult relationship between the socialist Camille Huysmans and the banker Paul Timbal during WWII, the coup in Chile in 1973, first passenger train in Belgium and the collection migration in Amsab-ISG.

In 1958, the BSP went to the elections with Prime Minister Achiel Van Acker as its figurehead. This poster was part of the campaign. The figures in the background, with their Eastern European or Chinese-looking outfits, could be seen as hidden seducers behind the back of the Great Seducer... Elvis.

Socialist Advance. Poster issued by the Belgian Socialist Party, May 1, 1958.

Size: 50cm by 70cm, 150gr

About the role of the women's movement in the independence struggle in Aden (current Yemen), the project Last week by history students about the Ghent commons, the phenomenon of the beach donkeys and the co-creative process behind the exhibition 'We have never been the Turks'.

The story of Sanatorium De Mick

Somewhere deep in the Kempen forests, in an oasis of peace and greenery, lies the De Mick domain. It was chosen by the Antwerp socialists in 1922 as the place where they would build their sanatorium, a hospital for tuberculosis patients. Around 1900 this was a fatal disease that affected up to a fifth of the population. Dockers at the port of Antwerp were still poor people at the time and consumption caused havoc in the small houses where they lived with their families. The socialist movement of Antwerp founded the non-profit organization Heropbeuring in 1922 and raised money. The monumental building of De Mick - or Sana De Mick as many Antwerp residents remember it - still stands, now expanded with a number of modern facilities for seniors and people with non-congenital brain disorders. Follow the wonderful story of a sanatorium, clinic and care center - a story that is moving, sometimes chilling, but always heart-warming.

This book is also available in digital format. Download the PDF (4 MB):

images/pdf/mick/2022-09-01-webshop-mick.pdf

Donald Weber, From sanatorium to care center: History of De Mick, 1922-2022. Amsab-ISG/Heropbeuring, 2022, 68 p.

About the Belgian People's Houses, the experiences of a former miner Constant Malva, a publication about Lala Vandervelde, the theme migration in Amsab-ISH and the appreciation of hashtags.

Women of the working class. Poster designed by Rik and published by the Belgian Workers' Party, on the occasion of the municipal elections of 1932.

Size: 84 x 55 cm, 150 grams

Keeping a diary in wartime is not self-evident. Certainly not if the writer, a young man active in the resistance, can hardly mention the resistance activities he undertakes. Keeping personal notes during wartime was also practically not easy: the occupation made everything scarce and there was embezzlement. It was undoubtedly also a mental challenge for a working-class boy to put his experiences on paper. He was only able to go to school until he was fourteen. However, André managed wonderfully to make these notes sound completely innocent. It is up to the reader to figure out what the many cinema visits and swimming parties could refer to. Since both he and his partner were resistance fighters (he officially from 1941), concealing their true activities was essential to their survival under German occupation. This created a unique testimony to an eventful period, in which the struggle for bare existence went hand in hand with that for freedom.

André De Smet wrote the diary in French in three lined notebooks with a black cover. He took notes almost every day in the period 1940-1945. This published manuscript was translated into Dutch and edited by his daughter and granddaughter. Not all of the original notes were legible, even with a magnifying glass. Where possible, the diary was supplemented with information from the 'Memories' that André wrote down at the end of his life and which are kept together with the original diary at Amsab-ISG.

20 years in 1940. André's war

Chantal De Smet (ed.)
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2021, 247 p., ill., soft cover

About the Belgian backroom politics prior to it NATO Double Decision, the political speeches of August Vermeylen and the 100-year history of it Sanatorium De Mick.

About the changing role of the pharmacist in the 1960s, a symposium about the very diverse aspects of the abortion issue, and the participatory project Schaft time of Amsab-ISH.

More than the life story of Juan Fernandez (1931-2019) – Spanish child refugee in 1937 and resigned in 1992 as chairman of the General Centrale, the largest trade union center of the ABVV – this essay sketches the shape of a trade union leader. It is a search for the complexity of the trade union as an essential pillar of a social democracy.

Juan Fernandez. The figure of a trade union leader

Herman Balthazar (ed.)
AMSAB/Algemene Centrale – ABVV/Het Syndicaal Huis Gent vzw, Ghent, 2021, 78 p., ill., soft cover

€ 10

This is the price including shipping costs. The book can also be picked up at the reception of Amsab-ISG for €5. 

About the ephemeral socialist republic of Georgia (1918-1921), the failed attempt of the socialists to First World War and the phenomenon of the bath cabin at the Belgian coast.

The book, a whopper of 200 pages, large format, goes through the history of the newspaper forward and almost 100 years of political, social and cultural current events. It is richly illustrated with newspaper pages, photos and documents and peppered with anecdotes.

In addition to the newspaper itself, a lot of attention is also paid to the eventful history of the socialist movement in Ghent. And not to forget the role of famous former employees such as the writer Louis Paul Boon, the poet Richard Minne and painter-draughtsman Frits Van den Berghe.

The publication was compiled in response to the exhibition of the same name in Amsab-ISG (22 August - 22 October 2021).

Some first reactions: 'a beautiful time document', 'what a titanic work', 'a gem, congratulations!'

Dagblad Vooruit 1884-1978
Bob Van de Voorde, Jan Van Doorslaer, Herman Balthazar

Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2021, 200 p.

€ 25

About Brussels resident Joseph Milot , socialist activist late 19th - early 20th century, Dutch historian Barbara Henkes , Lode Verbraecken, a Belgian brigadier in the Spanish trenches, digitizing construction drawings and the archive of The Wielewaal department Ghent.
 

The Rose on the Lapel

The publication is now more than 30 years old - it was published in 1990 on the occasion of the centenary of May 1. But the content is not dated: an easy-to-read history of Labor Day, in all its aspects.

Geert Van Goethem
AMSAB, Ghent, 1990, 109 p.

About the Belgian solidarity movement with the Iranian Revolution at the end of the 1970s, the fascinating life story of the 'dark red' Ghent resident Ferdinand Minnaert and the rich collection Camille Huysmans in Amsab-ISG.

Literary criticism by Richard Minne in 'Het Geestesleven' (Vooruit, 1945-1965)

The poet and journalist Richard Minne (1891-1965) wrote for many years for the culture page 'Het Geestesleven' of the Ghent socialist newspaper Vooruit. The texts offer an idiosyncratic and often ironic view of writers and literary works. Dr. In this text edition, Els van Damme presents for the first time all contributions published between 1945 and 1965 in the sections 'Panorama of letters', 'With the pencil stub' and 'Pro and con'.

Els van Damme (ed.)
Amsab-ISG/UGent, Ghent, 2016, 782 p.

About how the Belgian refugees ended up in a concentration camp in Spain during WWII, Turkish women of the first generation speaking, the wealth of information in the Belgian picture postcard, and an emotional discovery in the Amsab-ISG image collection. 

The joyful arrival of the automobile in Belgium, 1895-1940 tells how the automobile emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and slowly but surely conquered a place in the public space and in the lives of Belgians. At the end of 1895, some Belgian cyclists founded the Automobile Club de Belgique. That was the starting signal of the automotive era in our country. Between 1900 and 1914 the number of motor vehicles rose from 1000 to more than 13.000 and confrontations on public roads became increasingly grim. Motorists indulged their speed obsession on unsuitable roads, among even less adapted, traditional road users. This caused accidents and a general atmosphere of fear, outrage and violence. After World War I, the automobile made its breakthrough and motor vehicles became the dominant means of transportation on the road. The Belgian government considered motorization to be good for the economy and general prosperity, and therefore believed that it deserved support. But the challenges quickly changed: road accidents increased and became a common social problem. From the end of the 1920s, the roads were adapted to the standards of motorized traffic and equipped with new traffic devices and traffic signs. However, safety was hardly a concern, efficiency was considered the metric of a successful traffic policy. The happy arrival of the automobile in Belgium, 1895-1940 tells a broad and often anecdotal story about West Flemish steam cars at the Chinese court, the death culture of motorists and one-way traffic for pedestrians in Brussels. This work is based on original research and describes for the first time the earliest history of the automobilization of Belgian society. The objections and often heated debates of contemporaries about car-free roads, built-in speed breakers or not, public underground parking garages, etc., often sound surprisingly current. 

Donald Weber
The joyful arrival of the automobile in Belgium, 1895-1940
Ghent: Academia Press/Amsab-ISG, 2010, 294 p., ill., soft cover

125 years of the socialist party

A new view on the history of the socialist party. And a critical analysis of the recent past of this party. Those are the ingredients of this book. Smoothly written and amply illustrated, it is a fascinating journey through 125 years of social and political history.

Geert Van Goethem & Walter Pauli
Amsab-ISG/Tijdsbeeld & PièceMontee, 2010, 160 p., ill., softcover

About us Jules Ruhl, the 'apostle of the Belgian animal protection movement', the experiences of two master students with an oral history project on male and transgender sex work in Antwerp, the class contradictions on the steamships from Antwerp to America at the end of the 19th century, and some important acquisitions from it Fund Susan Daniel.

About the role of the International of War Opponents in the Flemish peace movement, the development of the Flemish protest against genetically modified organisms, a fiery essay by Gramsci, the archive of the Ecuador center Esmeraldas, gouaches to promote edifying youth literature...

Prospects for the trade union in motion

A book published on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the Algemene Centrale. The various contributions encourage reflection on the future of the trade union movement. They offer perspectives and sometimes provide concrete paths. The authors come from the academic world and from the trade union movement.

Carl Devos, Kurt Vandaele, Jean Faniet, Corinne Gobin (eds.)
Algemeen Centrale/ASP Publishers/Amsab-ISG, Brussels/Ghent, 2009, 318 p., softcover

The Belgian health insurance funds during the Second World War

The operation of the Belgian health insurance funds was thoroughly disrupted by the invasion of the German army on May 10, 1940. Not without some difficulty, most of them managed to continue their services during the war. However, there was much more at stake: the military government wanted health insurance to be brought into line with the German model, and could count on the cooperation of a number of officials from Belgian circles. Others, however, resisted. This book is a chronicle of the battle for Belgian health insurance that was waged by the various parties involved and tells how this led to new impulses and a new direction in December 1944.

Karel Van Acker
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2010, 176 p., ill., softcover

About the political interference of Union Minière in Congolese independence, the sexual revolution as a flexible historical concept, 'good' and 'bad' historians about Belgian Congo, the Wilchar collection in Amsab-ISG and about books. 

About the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920, the genesis of the United Nations in 1945, the whistleblowers who exposed the raw reality of Belgian colonial policy, the 'iconoclasm' on the Belgian colonial heritage, Leopold II and the coast, how making old digital carriers readable again, and archives as the memory of society.

Doctors and health insurance companies during the interwar period: the Antwerp example

To understand our current health insurance and its problems, it is important to know what came before it. A crucial period for the two protagonists in the story, namely the doctors and the health insurance companies, was the interwar period. The evolution in the organization of both groups and the mutual conflicts during that period were strongly influenced by the often turbulent political context in which the first legislation on health insurance was introduced. The never-before-described attempts by activists to set up its own health insurance system in Flanders during the First World War are also discussed in this book.

Karel Van Ackter in collaboration with Jo Deferme and Luc Vandeweyer
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2005, 224 p., ill., soft cover

About the citizen movement of the 'Recovery of Historical Memory' in Spain, the secret contacts between Belgian socialists and State Security in London, a new Social Pact, cholera and corona, the significance of August Vermeylen today, the archives of the Medical House Merelbeke and Arthur De Decker, the photos of Walter De Mulder, websites as a new source for the history of tomorrow ...

100 years of the Federation of Socialist Mutualities of Brabant

At the end of the nineteenth century, the socialist labor movement created a number of organizations with which it could establish and expand its influence among the working class: the sick association, the cooperative, the trade union and, in 1885, the Belgian Workers' Party. (BWP). The socialists' relentless struggle resulted in a whole series of initiatives aimed at improving and protecting the living conditions of the working class. This is how the first laws on health insurance funds were passed, which in 1909 would lead to the establishment of what would become the Federation of Socialist Mutualities of Brabant (FSMB). This initially modest initiative was intended to offer sick members material assistance based on the basic principle of the mutual fund: solidarity. This book describes how, one hundred years after the founding of the FSMB, that essential principle of solidarity is still the basis for the development and maintenance of decent healthcare.

Hendrik Ollivoer & Luc Peiren
Amsab-ISG/Tijdsbeeld & PièceMontee/FSMB, Ghent/Brussels, 2009, 112 p., ill., softcover

About us Frans Masereel as an inspiration to the first graphic novelists, the Märzfeier  at the Friedhof der Märzgefallenen in Berlin as a popular protest in a context of war and revolution, the photo collection of Variety in Amsab-ISG, the strike of the Antwerp employees Grand Bazaar in 1936…

Jeune étudiant à l'Universitié libre de Bruxelles Jo Boute adhéra au communism. Engagement politique qui ne devint jamais excessiveif. Sa pensée scientifique de l'esprit du libre examen l'en ont empêché. The atmosphere in which the environment is shaped and the characteristics of the body are shaped by the nature of the Union Society, which is also the basis for examining the new ideas of innovation in the practice of gynécology. With the help of Willy Peers, the prime minister in Belgium, we introduced the practice of accommodating people. Son engages socially with tradition and continues to investigate new techniques. A continuation of care for the health of the child and the continued care of the son is a permanent source of action therapy. It is important to consider the partisan orientation of the liberalization of contraception and the independence of the law. Deux espaces où il a joué a role de pionnier, souvent dan les coulisses, parfois dans l'ombre de Peers.

Rik Hemmerijckx
Amsab-IHS, Gand, 2004, 92 p., ill, soft cover

Dutch Version: Jo Boute. A life in the service of women

As a young medical student at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Jo Boute fell under the spell of communism, but he never became a hardliner communist. He was too much of a scientist for that, possessed of the spirit of free inquiry. The Cold War atmosphere that condemned everything that came from the Soviet Union will not, however, prevent him from finding the impetus for a number of innovations in gynecology precisely in the Soviet Union. Together with Dr. Willy Peers, he was one of the first in Belgium to introduce the practice of painless childbirth. His social commitment and his constant search for innovations, his permanent concern for the well-being of mother and child, will remain central in Jo Boute's further medical career. It was in this perspective that he also became an advocate of the liberalization of abortion. Two points of contention in which he has often played a pioneering role behind the scenes, and sometimes in the shadow of Peers.

Rik Hemmerijckx
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2004, 92 p., ill, soft cover

Also available in French: Jo Boute. Une vie au service de la femme

The Syndicat des Employés, Techniciens et Cadres (SETCa) after 125 years of history, which describes the basis for the foundation of the premier syndicate of socialist workers in 1891 in Brussels and the development of a modern syndicalism employed socialist, in passing During the period following the Première Guerre global – depending on the authoritative nature of the employees, it is necessary to ensure social protection. With the croissance and the féminisation of the services sector, the SETCa evolves and an intersectoral syndicate present in the private sectors. The first step is to test the basic agreement of the Centrale Générale portant sur le principle d'une centrale secteur et ce, pour 47 commissions paritaires. It is very easy to collaborate with other syndicates, so you can follow the FGTB. Anyway, the particularities of SETC are the basis of a major female syndicate.
Pour reconstruction of the evolution of the passion of SETC, the authors are the authors of the archives of the past and recent years, the composition of the faits, the chiffres and the records. The packaging companies, the warehouses and the employees who employ the various profiles of the small and large enterprises and institutions, are the basis of the history of the company and their favorability, which is the basis of the place on which it is located échelle social.
The live of your life is your own.

Dutch version: 125 years of BBTK

Camille Baillargeon & Luc Peiren
Amsab-IHS/SETCa/IHOES/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Gand/Bruxelles/Seraing, 319 p., ill., softcover

The Association of Employees, Technicians and Executives (BBTK) has a history of more than 125 years. This is described in this book, from the founding of the first socialist white-collar union in Brussels in 1891 through the period after the First World War - when the government believed that white-collar workers did not need social protection - to the development of a modern socialist white-collar syndicalism. With the growth and feminization of the service sector, the BBTK developed into an intersectoral trade union that is present in all possible private sectors. He is innovative, which is evident from the important agreement with the General Central on the principle of one central per sector, for 47 joint committees. He is also open to cooperation with other unions, within and outside the ABVV. Finally, one of the special features of the BBTK is that it is a trade union with predominantly female members.
To reconstruct the fascinating evolution of the BBTK, the authors delved into old and recent archives, collected facts, figures and reports. From the packers, shop assistants and clerks of yesteryear to employees with various profiles in small and large companies and institutions, it is the history of the same struggle on behalf of everyone, regardless of their position on the social ladder.
This book is dedicated to them.

There is also a French version: 125 ans SETCA

Camille Baillargeon & Luc Peiren
Amsab-ISG/BBTK/IHOES/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Ghent/Brussels/Seraing, 319 p., ill., softcover

The textile industry was and is an extremely important industrial sector for Belgium, not least because of the many thousands of people who earned and earn their daily bread there. This work examines those employers and employees and their respective organizations. Who were these textile masters anyway? When and why did they organize? How did the work of the textile worker evolve? Why did different textile worker organizations emerge?
A lot of attention is also paid to the relationship between workers and employers. That relationship changed profoundly in the course of our country's industrial development. Over the long period from 1800 to 1975, it is examined how these relationships evolved in the corporate, sectoral and interprofessional areas.
Based on testimonies, literary, trade union and employer sources, a picture is painted of the mechanisms that led to social achievements such as reduction of working hours, paid leave, paid holidays or the abolition of child labor. In addition to the traditional elements – strikes, collective labor agreements, joint committees or works councils – workers' badges, company celebrations, buildings and infrastructure, labor pressure, hygiene facilities, etc. are also taken into account, creating a new, broad view of the social and labor history of Belgium .

Bart De Wilde
Ludion/AMSAB/Profortex, Ghent/Brussels, 1997, 403 p., ill., hardcover

100 years of the General Central ABVV. 200 years of trade union history

In 1909, several socialist trade unions of construction workers united in the Centrale Vereeniging van Bouwwerkers, the very first socialist trade union center in our country. Over the years, workers' unions from many other sectors joined the grouping of forces that we know today as the General Central. But the roots of its existence go back to the French Revolution, when the first workers united despite the prevailing laws to break free from the yoke of capital and the disastrous consequences of the industrial revolution. They are the hairdressers and cigar makers, the marble workers, stone cutters, brick makers and cobblestone layers, the workers from the petrochemical and petroleum industries, the woodworkers, glassblowers and miners, the cleaning staff, the graphic workers and the painters, the workers from the leather and sheet industry. or – more recently – the temporary workers or those who work for service vouchers or in sheltered workshops, who together have made the General Centrale great.
This book is about them, about their struggles and their victories, about their actions and achievements, their decisiveness and solidarity.

Luc Peiren
Amsab-ISG/Algemene Centrale/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Ghent/Brussels, 2008, 191 p., ill., softcover

From the front row 
From multiculture to super diversity: thirty years of living together through the eyes of VOEM

The Association for Development and Emancipation of Muslims (VOEM) has existed for 30 years (1989-2019). For that occasion, VOEM asked historian Tina De Gendt to write a book together with Amsab-ISG. A book about the experiences of the pioneers and volunteers in the setting of important events and trends that colored and changed the world in recent decades. And so VOEM is the first self-organization in Flanders to have its own history written. 
From its founding in 1989 to the present day, there has never been peace around the themes of migration, integration and Islam. This story gives the reader a unique insight into the super-diverse world of Muslims and its commitment to a harmonious, pluralistic and inclusive Flanders. 

Tina De Gendt in collaboration with Piet Creve
Amsab-ISG/VOEM., Ghent, 2019, 170 p., ill., soft cover 

The covers of the couverts of the tatouages, the solid dockers, the armoires with a glossy finish: the cliché of the voudrait of the industry of transport, so the affair of the costs is dissatisfied. You can enjoy the rest of your life with a suite of moments fort, the moments of harassment, many dangers and the rarest of payees. In addition, during the journey of the first year, the choice was made to change rapidly and also quickly during the transportation world: the bateaux, the ports, the routes, the vehicles, etc. And the transporters were subject to the contraints of the adapter. Les photos les plus anciennes sont particulièrement marquantes: de pauvres hères tyrant un bateau depuis le chemin de halage, une femme de batelier au gouvernail avec son enfant à ses côtés au bout d'une corde, des dockers employant sous des sacs de céréales de septante kilos old date. The contrast between the clichés of the house is enormous.
This is the relationship between the face of the eyes of the people, the ages, the eyes and the eyes of the world during which the transport was radically transformed between 1913 and 2013.

Dutch version: Living and working in the Belgian transport industry, 1913-2013

Donald Weber
UBOT/Amsab-IHS/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Anvers/Gand, 2013, 239 p., ill., softcover

Histoire du syndicat socialiste

Avec un taux de 68%, la Belgique se situe parmi les pays les plus syndicales. The FGTB assembles more than a million people and even more. During the economic years, it is very important to be part of an incontournable part of the socio-economic concertation. Son histoire tout comme son rôle social restent toutefois peu connus. The presentation looks at the combination of the lacuna and the different facets of the socialist syndicalism in Belgium.
A premiere part of the chronological retracement of the history of the movement, the constitution of the Commission Syndicale in 1898 and the evolution of the day. A second part about the angle of the role of the FGTB in the society, notation and social concertation. Premiere synthesis of the history of the FGTB, illustrating the nombreux documents in the design of the syndicate of the amateurs of the social history

There is also a Dutch version: A century of solidarity

Luc Peiren & Jean-Jacques Missiaen
FGTB/Ludion/AMSAB/IEV, Bruxelles/Gand, 1997, 212 p., ill., softcover

Secret press during World War II

In contrast to the history of collaboration, historical research into the resistance in Flanders is still largely unexplored territory. Today, the secret press is a particularly important source for the study of the resistance during the Second World War. The book contains general contributions about the how and why of the clandestine press, the circumstances in which it was created and its creators; in a second part the specific situation in Antwerp is discussed.

With contributions from Bert Boeckx, Bruno De Wever, Gert De Prins, Jan Laplasse, Fabrice Maerten, Ann Renard, Lieven Saerens, Karolien Steen, Roel Vande Winkel and Martine Vermandere

Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2004, 173 p., ill., softcover 

Romain 100 (1915-1994)

Romain Deconinck (1915-1994) was for a long time the icon of Ghent's popular theater. Based on a number of oral testimonies, Björn Rzoska sketches a fascinating portrait of this actor, theater maker and author, who inspired many people for decades.
Jaak Van Schoor searches for Deconinck's place in the theater landscape in Flanders and provides a very complete overview of his entire theater oeuvre.
The role of Romain Deconinck in the film and television world, where, compared to his theater activities, he only 'wandered around' at first glance, but through which he achieved great fame in Belgium and the Netherlands, is highlighted by Roel Vande Winkel.
In his contribution, Johan Taeldeman pays attention to the importance of Romain Deconinck for the maintenance of the Ghent dialect and his impact on its evolution.
After the death of Romain Deconinck, the torch has been taken over by a younger generation over the past 20 years. Karel Van Keymeulen, journalist and expert on Ghent cultural life, uses a series of interviews to describe how this worked and how the rich, but at the same time difficult legacy of Romain's repertoire was dealt with.

Björn Rzoska, Jaak Van Schoor, Roel Vande Winkel, Johan Taeldeman, Karel Van Keymeulen
Publisher Snoeck/Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2005, 167 pp., ill., soft cover

The adventures of an intellectual in the labor movement

A nuanced biography of a historical figure who was long elevated to an icon in the socialist movement and who still has a certain charisma today.
Written by what Prof. Herman Balthazar calls in his foreword 'the master hand' of the author.

Guy Vanschoenbeek
AMSAB, Ghent, 1988, 86 p., ill., softcover

Rough sailors, tough dock workers, hardened truckers: the cliché goes that working in the transport industry is only for the 'heavy men'. Their lives are fodder for tall tales, always dangerous and rarely well paid. Yet nothing has changed so quickly and so visibly over the past 100 years as transport: the ships, the ports, the roads, the cars. And the worker, he adapted. Early photos defy all imagination: a poor family pulls a boat from a towpath along the canals, a skipper's wife holds her child on board on a leash, men in the harbor drag sacks of grain weighing 70 kilos or more. The contrast with today's photos is immense. This book tells in a particularly visual way the life story of the workers, their wives, children and friends, in the spectacularly rapidly changing world of transport, from 1913 to 2013.

Donald Weber
BTB/Amsab-ISG/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Antwerp/Ghent:, 2013, 239 p., ill., soft cover

There is also a French version: Vivre et travailler dans l'industrie du transport en Belgique, 1913-2013

Ten refugee children from the Spanish Civil War tell the story

'I didn't know that lady who came to see me from Spain after the Civil War. My mother. I wanted to go to my mom, as I always continued to call my foster mother.' That's what Carlos Pascual Madorran says. He was four when he came to Belgium and stayed here.
During the Spanish Civil War, 32.000 children were evacuated abroad. Of these, five thousand ended up in Belgium. Preschoolers and primary school children. They lived with foster families in Ghent, Mechelen, Brussels and Liège. How did they fare later? What impact did the war have? The war children, ninõs de la guerra, tell.

Hilde Pauwels
Uitgeverij EPO vzw, 2007, 73 p., ill, softcover

Memories of a youth in Ghent (1930-1958)

My Truth is the story of Denise De Weerdt from her toddler years in the 1930s to the end of the 1950s. Denise comes from a socialist working-class background in Ghent and was raised in the working-class Bloemekens district by her mother's older sister who had a sweet shop. . When WWII broke out, she had to move to her parents' café. One of the regulars sets himself up as her mentor and insists that she go to the girls' high school. After the war, Denise enrolls at university. She chooses history because she wants to explore the life and struggles of the working class. There she meets her future husband. The two young people could not be more different: he is the son of an emigrated Belarusian nobleman, Protestant, a progressive poet with bourgeois views on the role of the wife. Disaster strikes at home, father is a severe alcoholic, mother dies in the month that Denise took her last exam...
In a smooth, often humorous style, the book presents a documented piece of history of the life and environment of a Ghent working-class girl who will eventually make it.

Denise De Weerdt
Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2007, 190 p., ill., softcover

The history of the Flemish metal industry

This book has two storylines. First, attention is paid to the evolution of the Flemish metal industry over roughly the past 250 years, then it is examined how the (socialist) metal workers organized themselves all that time to defend their interests. That was not an easy job. After all, the Flemish metal industry and the socialist metalworkers' syndicalism in Flanders were long dominated by the Walloon steel industry and the less fervent syndicalism of the steel workers below the steel border. This created the monolithic image of a Belgian metal industry dominated by the steel industry and machine production, and a Belgian metalworkers' syndicalism colored by Walloon voluntarism.

However, research into the Flemish metal industry and socialist metalworkers' syndicalism above the language border shows a completely different picture. Although the Flemish metal industry also had its roots in mechanical engineering (textile industry) in Ghent, the sector quickly grew into a diverse, highly industrial branch with an important electrical engineering industry (Bell, ATEA, Philips, Barco, etc.), non-ferrous industry. (Nyrstar ...), automotive construction (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Renault, Volvo but also Peugeot, Mercedes, Triumph, Saab, Bogward, etc.) and ultimately its own steel industry (Sidmar, Aperam ...). This diversity means that the socialist metal union ABVV-Metaal still represents the interests of a broad group of metal workers in Flanders today. And although Flemish metalworkers' syndicalism has also been forced onto the defensive since the economic crisis of 1974, it is not a passive trade union movement. On the contrary, IJzersterk shows that the Flemish metalworkers were just as likely to experience revolutionary upheavals as their colleagues in the south of the country. Although preference was always given to consultation. The contradictions between Flemish and Walloon syndicalism tout court were perhaps most pronounced in the old federal Centrale der Metaalbewerkers of Belgium. It is therefore not surprising that the Flemish and Walloon/Brussels metalworkers gradually sought their own path. Since 2006, ABVV-Metaal has been an autonomous Flemish metalworkers' union within the ABVV. 

Luc Peiren
ABVV-Metaal/Amsab-ISG, Brussels/Ghent, 2018, 353 pp., ill., hardcover

Jewish revolutionaries in Belgium 1925-1940

After the First World War, thousands of Jews fled anti-Semitism and misery from Eastern and Central Europe to Belgium. Among them were both nationalists - who worked for a Jewish state in Palestine - and revolutionaries, who were impressed by the October Revolution of 1917. The author follows the Jewish communist migrants from the 1920s onwards. He talked to leaders and militants and came thus to a kind of history of mentality. This shows that the old world of 'Ashkenazi' Judaism – based on religion, family and tradition – was never far away despite the revolutionary ideas. In fact, a conservative reflex sought to connect with the utopian world of authoritarian communism. For them, that ideology was a conservative dam against the social and cultural disintegration caused by capitalist industrial progress.

Rudi Van Doorslaer
Hadewijch/AMSAB, Antwerp/Ghent, 1996, 253 p., ill., softcover

Half a century of migration and integration

There are approximately 15 million Greeks. Almost half live outside the borders of Greece. The Greek community in Belgium numbers 25.000 people. Fleeing great poverty and political instability, they came here as 'guest workers' in the 1950s and 1960s. They went to work in the Limburg coal mines, among other things. Today they are well integrated, with children and grandchildren. Three generations, each with their own story about the tension between Greek roots and being Belgian.
Maria Dermitzaki has a special way of telling those stories. She uses two working instruments: the eye and the pen. With photos and texts she pours intangible heritage and oral tradition into one poetic mix.

Maria Dermitzaki
Uitgeverij EPO vzw, Antwerp, 2010, 271 p., ill., soft cover

Rebel between dream and deed (1923-1995)

The Belgian economist Ernest Mandel (1923-1995) was an undogmatic Marxist thinker and a radical politician. Internationally, he exerted a great influence on the generation of '68. His writings appeared in more than forty languages. In addition to his political-theoretical work, he wrote, among other things, Select Murders, a study of the crime novel. He enjoyed international recognition as an author and scholar and was feared by governments and their secret services in East and West.
Jan Willem Stutje was the first to gain access to Mandel's archive. He has unearthed a wealth of information and spoken to many key players. He discovered special, sometimes shocking facts. This biography thus offers an exciting glimpse into the workshop of Mandel, whose encounters with philosophers such as Sartre, Ernst Bloch and Lucien Goldmann, and with scholars such as Roman Rosdolsky and Perry Anderson, are closely followed. We also see Mandel on the barricades. In the often exciting story, fellow fighters such as Rudi Dutschke, Tariq Ali and Alain Krivine come to life. The attention paid to the tragedy in Mandel's existence is surprising. The author has succeeded in penetrating its more intimate spheres.
In a search for the connection between public and private life, the book sketches a complete and in-depth picture of Ernest Mandel.

Jan Willem Stutje
Houtekiet/Amsab-ISG, Antwerp/Ghent, 2007, 475 p., ill., hardcover

100 years of ABVV Horval

In 1908, the National Federation of Food Workers was founded by the Federation of Chocolate Workers and Confectioners on the one hand and the National Federation of Bakers' Guests on the other. In 1930, the catering staff joined these two trade unions. In the three fascinating chapters of this book, first the chocolate workers and the confectioners play the leading role, then the bakers and finally the catering staff. The author studies their living environment and their situation in the workplace to determine why they created trade unions, and then examines their trade unions. However, none of these people would have had a job if there was no demand for the product they produced or the services they provided. Chocolate and bread, cafés, restaurants and hotels therefore play an important role in the story of these workers, because they each shaped the history and creation of the Nutrition Center and - therefore also - the development of the Belgian trade union movement.

Annelies Tollet
Amsab-ISG/Horval/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Brussels/Ghent, 2008, 208 p., ill., softcover

There is also a French version: Ensemble at the table

Lesson 100 ans de la FGTB Horval

In 1908, the Fédération nationale des Boulangers et la Fédératrion des Confiseurs-Chocolatiers décident de créer conjointement la Fédération nationale des Ouvriers de l'Industrie alimentaire. In 1930, the catering staff rejoined the professional federations.
Three chapitres palpitants de cet ouvrage donnent le premier roles aux chocolatiers et aux sucriers, aux boulangers and finally au personnel catering. The author's study of the course of action and the course of his work for the study of the trade unions, in advance of analyzing his history and the structure of professional organizations. It is important to know that they are ready to be used and that they are available for the demand for the products that are manufactured or the services that are available. The chocolate and the pain, the cafés, the restaurants and the hotels are part of the central role of the history of the production process, which are part of the ensemble, which contribute to the central part of the food supply and also the food supply , à l'évolution du syndical mouvement en Belgique.

Dutch version: Together at the table.

Annelies Tollet
Amsab-IHS/Horval/Tijdsbeeld & Pièce Montée, Gand/Bruxelles, 2008, 48 p., ill., soft cover

History of the graphic trade union movement in Belgium before 1975

The book covers the history of the graphic trade movement over the past two centuries. The author puts an end to the many prejudices that the graphic trade union movement had to deal with in the past and presents an honest picture of the graphic artists, their syndicates and their contribution to the origins and development of the Belgian trade union movement. This publication is a revised version of his PhD.

Luc Peiren
VUBPRESS/Amsab-ISG, Brussels/Ghent, 2006, 431 p., softcover

A romantic revolutionary

Few politicians have captured the imagination in the Netherlands and Belgium as much as Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis. Workers saw him as a savior, a hero who renounced the high society to which he belonged. Everywhere he spoke, the halls were full. He was the founder of the magazine Recht voor Allen, and the Social Democratic Union grew into a national party under his leadership. His books and brochures were translated into many languages. The elite did not spare him. Domela was imprisoned for lese majeste, and Belgium and Germany banned him from entering. International secret services were hunting him.
Jan Willem Stutje discusses Domela's charisma in detail. He presents him as an international celebrity without whom socialism and anarchism would have acquired a less utopian appearance. Domela started from the emancipating power of knowledge and education. But he was also a romantic revolutionary driven by the need to restore unity and community. Fellow fighters and rivals such as Multatuli, Pieter Jelles Toelstra, Wilhelm Liebknecht, Cesar De Paepe and Edward Anseele come to life in this book. The tragedy of Domela's private life is also not left undiscussed: the man lost three wives and five children.
 

Jan Willem Stutje
Houtekiet/Amsab-ISG/Atlas Contact, Antwerp/Ghent/Amsterdam, 2012, 551 p., ill., hardcover

History of the socialist trade union movement

Belgium is one of the countries with the highest level of trade unionization in the world. Six in every ten workers belong to a union (including job seekers and retirees). With its one and a half million members, the General Belgian Trade Union Confederation has an exceptionally large impact on social and socio-economic events in our country. This book delves deeper into the history and current social role of the union.
The first, chronologically conceived part deals with the establishment of a unified socialist trade union in 1897, and traces its evolution to the present day. In the second, thematic part, the significance of the ABVV in contemporary society is reconstructed from a historical point of view, and particular emphasis is placed on the role of the socialist trade union in social dialogue, including attention to its influence on social security. . This work is the first global study of the history of the socialist trade union. It was published on the occasion of the centenary of the ABVV.

There is also a French version: A lifetime of solidarity

Luc Peiren & Jean-Jacques Missiaen
ABVV/Ludion/AMSAB/IEV, Brussels/Ghent, 1997, 212 p., ill., softcover

Building blocks for a cultural workers' history (1800-1940)

"Does there exist a working-class culture?" Nine authors answer this question from their own perspective. In this way they arrive at a number of 'building blocks' for the reconstruction of working-class culture.
In addition to theoretical considerations on working-class culture, the book contains contributions on the working-class movement as an organizer of cultural and recreational activities. A range of options were available to workers. Sports clubs, film clubs, music and theater clubs, choir life or studies at the Arbeidershogeschool ..., they are widely discussed. With contributions from Jan Art, Jan De Maeyer, Bert De Munck, Maarten De Gendt, Bart De Nil, Roel Devriendt, Tanguy Eeckhout, Marc Jacobs, Hans Mortelmans, Roland Renson

Jan Art, Bart De Nil, Marc Jacobs (eds.)
Amsab-ISG/Provincie O.-Vl., Ghent, 2005, 304 pp., ill., hard cover

Labor relations in the port of Antwerp 1880-1972

A flexible labor organization is one of the spearheads that port companies and port authorities put forward to demonstrate their performance. High labor productivity, continuous service and trained personnel should convince large shipping companies to call at their own main port. An efficient labor organization is therefore an essential and vital part of a port's competitiveness. In Antwerp, joint consultation between employers and trade unions has been the cornerstone of labor organization since 1919. It must also guarantee a constructive atmosphere and mutual respect.
In this book, Stephan Vanfraechem reconstructs a century of social consultation at the port of Antwerp. The green felt of the negotiating table forms the backdrop in which attention is paid to the moments of rupture, the motives of the various players and the successive phases of social peace and unrest. Starting from the first trade unions in 1880 and ending with the introduction of the Major Law in 1972, the book spans almost 100 years of social history of the port of Antwerp.

Stephan Vanfraechem
Academia Press/Amsab-ISG, Ghent, 2005, 553 p., softcover

100 years of the General Diamond Workers' Union of Belgium

The book discusses the history of the General Diamond Workers' Union and how it managed to unite all sections of diamond workers. The diamond industry in Belgium had a very special structure and was not easy to divide into workers and employers. There were merchant-manufacturers, owners of workhouses, entrepreneurs who employed workers but were often diamond workers themselves, self-employed makers, counter workers, workers with very different education and prestige, and apprentices. There were many variants in between
We follow the evolution of the ADB until 1995. And how the diamond industry changed drastically over the years 1970-1980 from a rather anachronistic proto-industry to a hypermodern sector.

Martine Vermandere
AMSAB/ABVV-Textiel, Clothing and Diamonds, Ghent/Antwerp, 1995, 142 p., ill., hardcover