Deindustrialisation is one of the most fundamental global mechanisms of change in our contemporary societies. In Western Europe, “old” industries such as coal mines, steelworks, textile factories and shipyards have had to close since the 1960s. The decline which was to follow in the industrial sector was associated with a “social change of revolutionary quality” (Lutz Raphael). This led to mass unemployment, increasing social inequality and the precariousness of living and working conditions. Depoliticisation and the rise of right-wing extremism have since shaped many regions affected by deindustrialisation.

The international joint project DesinEE is investigating the question of how deindustrialization affected the communautés ouvrières in different industrial areas in France, West and East Germany and Luxemburg from a transnational perspective in five coordinated sub-studies. Deindustrialisation is examined as an ensemble of localised economic, socio-political and cultural experiences that are to be seen in emotional communities of workers from the early 1960s to the present.

This project has its own photographic expression. It involves portraying these places of past industrialisation today, as well as some of the people involved, as witnesses to the changes brought about by deindustrialisation. 

By the end of 2027, this work should culminate in a traveling exhibition and a possible publication.