In the 21st century, the theme of trade associations, which had an important place in the European historiography of the late nineteenth century and much of the twentieth century, is experiencing a new lease of life. Rather than presenting itself as a historical question that has been exhaustively explored, the question of the role of professional unions in the economies and societies of medieval and modern Europe, in fact, demonstrates considerable vitality, attracting the attention of scholars from different backgrounds and interests and fuelling a lively debate, focused above all on corporations (Horn 2015; Prak et al. 2020; Ogilvie 2021). The wide dissemination of trade associations throughout pre-industrial Europe and the multiple functions they assumed in different periods and contexts also make them a particularly suitable subject for a comparative and diachronic discussion, a subject that has never been directly addressed in the Datini Weeks, although it has sometimes emerged in meetings dedicated to other topics.
The analysis that is intended to be developed in the LVII Week does not have as its object a dominant model or type: on the contrary, its primary objective is to document the different forms and local and regional variants of professional-based associationism: not everywhere, in fact, did the existence of trade groups result (or initially result) in the formation of corporations, understood as essentially autonomous structures for the management of the interests of trade groups recognised by the public power. Between “free” work and “corporate” work there were large intermediate spaces where both recognised non-corporate associations moved, such as trade fraternities, in which the professional dimension was intertwined with the religious and solidarity dimensions, and informal and semi-legal groups but which in the eyes of the local authorities presented “the same advantages as official trade organisations, guaranteeing the regularity of production and employment practices, limiting disputes and allowing representative interlocutors in case of conflict” (Kaplan-Minard 2004).
The reports proposed for the Datini Week must touch on one or more of the following topics:
1. Definitions and typologies
- Given that in pre-industrial Europe there were different types of trade associations, is it possible, within specific spatial and chronological coordinates, to identify common characteristics and differences? Is it also possible to capture organisational changes over time?
- What were the conditions that guided or determined the choice in favour of a certain form of association?
- How were the associates internally structured? Who governed them and how? How did they operate from an economic point of view?
- What forms did relations with public authorities take?
- In what cases, and for what reasons, did the authorities not grant authorisation for the formation of professional associations? In what cases and for what reasons did they decree its suppression?
2. Representation and defence of interests
- Of which professional category(ies) did the association represent the interests?
- The setting of the conditions for entry into the trade group: protection of members from competition, mechanism for balancing demand and supply of work or lobbying privilege?
- Organised trades and working monopoly: an effective privilege?
- To what extent were professional associations able to mediate internal conflicts between individuals and groups (between locals and foreigners, between different specialisations, between members of different status) and to manage disputes with other trade organisations?
- The fight for the recognition of new associations by the public authority: could the conflict itself be a form of defence of interests?
- What was the space in which the authority of this or that type of professional group was exercised: a city? A city and its county? A kingdom?
- What was the role of the companions?
3. Trade associations and gender
- Corporations, trade fraternities, other professional communities: what differences existed in the reception of women?
- Exclusion: what were the determining factors?
- Inclusion: of whom, under what conditions and with what prerogatives?
- Was there a female self-exclusion strategy? For what reasons?
4. Human capital formation
- If it is true that there is a positive correlation between training, qualitative improvement of human capital and economic development, what actual role have organised trades played in the selection and qualification of new masters?
- Were there alternatives to corporate apprenticeships?
- How much did the need to use apprentices as labour interfere with the completeness of the training course?
- How widespread were the learning verification systems and what did they consist of?
5. Trade and market associations
- What were the main tools through which the trade organisations kept the prices of the products made and sold high?
- What means were used to lower the cost of labour and raw materials used?
- Is it possible to demonstrate that organised trades exploited their position of privilege or monopoly not to regulate, but rather to adapt the mechanisms of supply and demand to their advantage?
6. Quality protection
- What were the real drivers of regulation in this area? The exclusion of competitors' goods that could reduce associates' profits? A genuine interest in the quality of the items produced and marketed? The willingness to fight against fraud that damaged the group's reputation, undermined consumer trust and narrowed the market?
- Did the issuance and reiteration of standards to protect the quality of raw materials used, work processes and finished products, as well as all goods offered for sale, have a real impact on quality standards? Or was it first and foremost a way to continually reaffirm the potestas statuendi of the group?
- Were brands and quality certifications sufficient guarantees for consumers? And did they really protect producers and sellers from imitations and falsifications?
- How important were the control systems based on the inspection of production and sales sites, the existence of whistleblowers and spies and the threat of severe sanctions?
7. Trades, innovations and technical progress
- At least as far as corporations are concerned, the relationship with innovations has often been reduced from historiography to the alternative between opposition and stimulus. Beyond the foreseeable variety of responses in different contexts, can a different attitude be identified depending on the type of trade organisations, for example between commercial associations or with the dominant participation of merchants-entrepreneurs (such as those of the textile industry) and organisations formed by artisans and retailers?
- Faced with the granting of privileges and licences to specialists and “inventors” by public authorities, what space for speech, negotiation, and intervention was reserved for trade groups?
- The “trade secrets” or the “tricks of the trade”, in all types of trade communities represented a form of consolidated knowledge to be carefully protected so as not to give competitors the possibility of improving. Was repression towards those who disseminated such information, perhaps moving them directly to other places, always the norm? Or were there, over time, attitudes of greater flexibility?
8. Trade associations on the market
- What was the role of trade associations as buyers of properties?
- What is their contribution to the commissioning and the art market?
The selected papers will be presented and discussed at Prato in the course of the Study Week 2026. After the discussion at the Settimana sessions, scholars should complete and revise their texts by 30 June 2026. All contributions received by the Institute will be subject to anonymous adjudication before publication.
Scholars are invited to send their proposal by compiling an abstract that will be reviewed by the Executive Committee. The paper should represent an original contribution and be either generally comparative or a specific case-study that speaks to the larger questions set out here. Participants who are pursuing a PhD, should have completed it before the start of the conference. Papers proposed by projects or collaborative groups that link scholars from different countries and institutions will be assessed with particular interest if they offer a comparative analysis in geographical or diachronic terms across two or more related research themes. We will also consider innovative session formats for these type of proposals.
The completed format must be received at the following address by 31 December 2024:
Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini”
Via Ser Lapo Mazzei 37, I 59100 Prato, ITALY
e-mail: datiniistitutodatiniit
All submitted contributions must be original and not previously published or translated from previous publications.