The Labour Transfer School (LabourTransfer) is an independent, not for profit, international initiative of global labour scholars interested in collaborations, synergies and knowledge exchange between academia and social organizations, aiming at producing emancipatory knowledge on labour and social issues. LabourTransfer gives participants a chance to exchange their research interests with academics, labour activists, artists, journalists and trade unionists from all over the world. LabourTransfer is not a traditional academic summer school or a training centre for trade unionists but a networking place for labour activism and social justice.

The learning objectives of LabourTransfer are threefold:

LabourTransfer is attracting growing enthusiasm and support in the international community of labour scholars and activists. We started in 2022 with a three-day event with 30 participants, to double this number in 2023 over a four-day school and have hosted 120 participants over five days in the third edition of the school in June 2024 (see programmes and pictures in our webpage; www.labourtransfer.org). This growth can be seen in the new themes and topics added every year to the school and in the support different university institutions and labour-oriented foundations have been granting us.

The idea of the summer school is that of conjugating knowledge exchange, research and relax. Buggerru, where the school is located, is a small lovely place by the sea in Sardinia. However, Buggerru is also symbolically important for labour history. It was a mining city where workers organised a boycott to demand better working conditions. In response, the army was sent in and three workers were killed while many others injured. That Sunday 4 September 1904 is still remembered today because The Buggerru Massacre sparked the first general strike of Italian history.