International engagement in the 1960s: The establishment of the International Solidarity Committee of the Norwegian Labour Movement

Abstract

This thesis addresses the scarcely covered topic of the Norwegian labour movement’s international engagement in the 1960s. Specifically, it examines why the International Solidarity Committee of the Norwegian Labour Movement was established. The thesis has found that the committee was established in 1969 as an ideological tool to support individuals, organisations and movements who were struggling for democracy and freedom. It was established by members of the leadership of the Norwegian Labour Party and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. These leading figures and their political orientations were not new. However, in the 1960s, the international engagement of the labour movement acquired a more global ambition and critical character in response to internal pressure and international developments. The committee was established as a measure of this radicalised international engagement. The committee can, moreover, be understood as an organisational tool to respond to political and organisational issues. The thesis thus asserts that the establishment of the committee was part of the changing Norwegian international engagement in the 1960s, although it was marked by a certain degree of continuity. It also highlights the role of both the leadership and the base of the labour movement in this development. Moreover, concurrently with the radicalisation of the Norwegian labour movement and the establishment of the committee, there existed global trends of activism and solidarity efforts. The thesis argues that these trends provide important contexts to understand the pressures and challenges facing the labour movement and are thus essential contexts to understand the establishment of the committee. They also illustrate that the committee was part of a broader pattern of international engagement and solidarity efforts globally. This means that the thesis points to the significance of both domestic and international factors for the international engagement of the labour movement. In this way, the thesis provides insights on the international engagement of the labour movement for the historiographies of the Norwegian labour movement and Norwegian international engagement.