Workshop: "The French 1898 Law on Workplace Accidents and the Pricing of Bodies in Europe" - EHESS, Paris (France) - May 15, 2012

Workshop, 15th May 2012

The French 1898 Law on Workplace Accidents and the Pricing of Bodies in Europe

- Paris, EHESS, 105 boulevard Raspail, "François Furet" Amphitheater -

In recent years, scholarly studies on risks and occupational health diseases have reactivated a field of research that emerged in France between 1975 and 1985. At a moment when environmental health issues are attracting more and more historical interest, it seems important to return to the problems related to workspaces by including them in this more recent problematic. The aim of this workshop, which is devoted to the French 1898 Law on Accidents at Work in France, is to enlarge our understanding of the history of risk to a broader range of issues situated at the interface of law, economics, medicine and technology, and to replace the law in its European context.

Accueil 9 h 30

Ouverture/Introduction 9 h 45
Jean-Baptiste Fressoz (Imperial College, London), Thomas Le Roux (CRH/CNRS-EHESS, Maison Française d’Oxford)

1ère session : Assurances, patrons et Etat (10 h 15– 12 h)

Président de session : Alain Chatriot (CRH/CNRS-EHESS)

Raymond Dartevelle (Université Paris I - IDHE)
Les organisations patronales françaises d’assurances et la loi de 1898 sur les accidents du travail : opposition, compromis et prévention (années 1890-années1920)

Jonas Knetsch (Université Paris-II)
La loi du 9 avril 1898 et le spectre de l’« Etat assureur »

2ème session : La loi et son application (13 h 45 – 15 h 30)

Président de session : Nicolas Hatzfeld (Université d’Evry)

Anne-Sophie Bruno (Université Paris XIII, CRH/CNRS-EHESS), Eric Geerkens (Université de Liège) et Catherine Omnès (Université Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Printemps)
La réparation forfaitaire en matière d’accidents du travail en France et en Belgique au 20e siècle

Vincent Viet (Cermes3)
Les usages français de la loi du 9 avril 1898 pendant la Grande Guerre

Pause 15 h 30 – 15 h 45

3ème session : La loi et l’Europe (15 h 45 – 17 h 30)

Président de session : Paul-André Rosental (IEP Paris)

Julia Moses (University of Sheffield)
1898 French law and Europe : a comparative essay

Rosemary Wall (Imperial College, London)
Anthrax in London: a neglected history of risk

Organization : Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, j.fressoz@imperial.ac.uk, and Thomas Le Roux, tleroux@ehess.fr or thomas.leroux@history.ox.ac.uk
This workshop is part of the research programme “History of industrial accidents and risks, France/Great Britain, end 17th – end 19th c.” which gathers a team of researchers in order to provide a better understanding of the rise of industrial risk during the first industrialization. Il discusses its social implications at different stages: regulating policies (prevention, control, repression), security norms, geographic and urban dynamics, liabilities, refunding (insurances, allowances), first help and cure. Based at the Centre de Recherches Historiques (EHESS/CNRS), with the Groupe de Recherche en histoire environnementale (GRHEn), this research programme is funded by the City of Paris. Website : http://risks.hypotheses.org/