When Art Meets Labour Law: Venturing to Understand People’s Stories of Protests: Filip Dorssemont (ed.), On the Artistic Representation of Industrial Disputes in the Shadow of Repression in European Art. From 1870 to 1914 and Beyond (Cham: Springer, 2024), pp. 216

What lawyers may have to say about art, and labour lawyers for that matter? As Filip Dorssemont’s recent edited collection shows, there is a surprising amount of intertemporal insights. The newest addition to the “Law and Visual Jurisprudence” family, which was carefully curated by the Sarah Marusek and Anne Wagner series bringing together groundbreaking developments in the field of visual legal studies, is already its fifteenth iteration, after only four years on the academic scene, quite a feat by itself.

“On the Artistic Representation of Industrial Disputes in the Shadow of Repression in European Art From 1870 to 1914 and Beyond” brings together the papers presented during one of the panels of the 2021 remote conference of the Labour Law Research Network (LLRN), along with the virtual art gallery of the discussed artworks. With respect to the various types of industrial, agricultural and skilled labour disputes through art, the book comprises a foreword written by Tonia Noviz and an introduction written by Dorssemont, who both provide background to this unique project, which is followed by five chapters and conclusions.