Speaker: Professor Jari Ojala, University of Jyväskylä

The International Labour Organization (ILO) was founded in 1919 to secure social justice and standards in the workplace as a necessary prerequisite to maintaining international peace and prosperity in the aftermath of the First World War. One of the key issues it faced was the matter of child labour. As Jari Ojala reveals in this paper, this was a particular concern within international shipping. Building on previous publications on this subject and based on previously unused ILO documents, Prof. Ojala reveals the nature and extent of the problem within the maritime world and explains the challenges faced.

About the speaker: Jari Ojala is a Professor of comparative business history and the Dean of the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He is a member of the board of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, chairman of the advisory board of the Finnish National Archives and a member of the board of the Finnish Historical Society. He is the author of over 250 academic publications covering a range of subjects from early modern to contemporary issues in economic, business and maritime history.

The King’s Maritime History Seminar is hosted by the Laughton Naval Unit and the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. It is organised by the British Commission for Maritime History in association with the Society for Nautical Research and with the support of Lloyds Register.