International Industrial Relations Institute (IRI) was an international organisation that existed from 1925 to 1947.
Contents
- First Congress Vlissingen 1926
- Second Congress Cambridge 1928
- Third Congress
- Prominent members
- References
The first proposal to establish an organisation for the "study and improvement of human conditions in industry" arose in the First International Conference on Industrial Welfare at the Chateau d' Argeronne, Argonne, France in 1922.
The institute was led by Mary van Kleeck, an American social reformer, and Mary Fleddérus, a Dutch activist, and approached scientific management from a particular perspective: what they termed the human factor. From the outset it had close links with women's organisations such as the World YWCA and the Women's Trade Union League.
It was founded by four distinct groups of activists:
- State employed women factory inspectors
- YWCA activists involved in industrial reform
- women employed by industrial welfare units
- enlightened industrialists employing large numbers of women
First Congress, Vlissingen 1926
The first congress was held in Vlissingen in 1926.
Second Congress, Cambridge 1928
The Second Congress was held in Girton College Cambridge, 27 June - 2 July.
Third Congress
The organisation sponsored Otto Neurath's presentation "Das gegenwärtige Wachstum der Produktionskapazität der Welt" at the Amsterdam conference of 1931. Van Kleeck was the institute's associate director from 1928–1946.