Italian Lives, Belgian Coal: An Environmental History of Labor and Migration

On June 23, 1946, Italy and Belgium signed the “men in exchange for coal” agreement, in which Italy committed to sending fifty thousand workers each year to the Belgian coal mines, and Belgium pledged to supply a few thousand tons of coal to Italy each month. The first treaty of its kind, the agreement paved the way for the European Coal and Steel Community, a precursor of the European Union. In Italian Lives, Belgian Coal, Daniele Valisena explores the relationship between labor migration,...