Epistemic Inequalities and their Consequences: The International Labour Organization and its Treatment of Colonial Workers after 1919

The lecture will first address the significance of epistemic inequalities in the Global South and work out why these are often prerequisites for the persistence of durable social inequalities. It will then analyse the International Labour Organization (ILO) and its treatment of colonial, non-white workers in the 1920s as an example of the consequences of epistemic inequalities. The ILO, founded in 1919, deliberately excluded black experts from its discussions of ‘native labour’, relying instead on European experts with long imperial careers. These experts were generally influenced by racist prejudices against indigenous workers. They greatly affected the ILO's policies on colonial and forced labour before the Second World War. Ulrike Lindner is Professor of Modern History at the University of Cologne. Her research interests lie in colonial and global history. She has worked on the comparative history of European empires, postcolonial questions, gender and empire, and issues of colonial and indentured labour. Recent publications include a special issue on The Production and Reproduction of Social Inequalities: Perspectives from the Global South (co-edited with Michaela Pelican and M. Eresso) in ZANJ, 8 (2025).