Coal Heavers’ Strike of 1910 in the Ottoman Capital: Labor Activism and Socialist Politics

What is it about?

In the autumn of 1910, coal heavers in Istanbul, more than a thousand men, predominantly Kurdish, went on strike. Disrupting sea transportation in the capital and leading to the unlawful police detainment of ringleaders, the strike turned into a major incident that elicited a variety of political responses. Focusing on this strike as a case study, this presentation examines the political sphere in general and the politics of labor activism in particular as they existed after the Constitutional Revolution of 1908 in the Ottoman Empire.

Featured Image