• Date: May 14th, Thursday, 2026, 13:30 – 15:30
• Location: Room 423, Bldg. 14

Presenter: Beatriz Valverde Contreras (Associated Researcher, Centre for the History of Society and Culture, University of Coimbra, Portugal)

The period from the outbreak of the First World War to the end of the Second World War was marked by the intersection of war, imperialism, and colonial rule, during which large-scale forced labor and wartime internment took shape in various forms. In particular, the experiences of prisoners of war, colonial laborers, and forcibly mobilized workers have drawn attention as significant historical cases that reveal the operations of state power and violence, labor control, and imperial order. This dialogue has been organized to comparatively examine the experiences of internment and forced labor under wartime and colonial systems, while offering a multidimensional perspective on the structures of power, labor, and violence that emerged across Europe and colonial spaces between 1914 and 1945. Focusing especially on cases involving the Spanish and Portuguese empires and German wartime camps, the discussion explores how war and colonialism shaped individuals’ lives, mobility, and labor. In addition, the event seeks to create a forum for academic exchange in which researchers and students from diverse fields—including history, international relations, and area studies—can engage in interdisciplinary discussions on issues of war, empire, human rights, and labor.