Can I encourage you to attend a forthcoming event (held yearly) which provides a focus on the oral history tradition and from the perspective of labour movements.
Before I promote the event however, can I give an appropriate plug for a new book by Selina Todd (St. Hilda's College, Oxford) on the British working class from 1910-2010 which draws on oral history testimonies from a wide variety of sources.
I have to admit that one of the real personal draws of mine towards this work (as there are already many on the subject) is that Todd herself comes from a working class background and the drive to write the book comes from an urgent desire to fill a vacuum in British social history. "I looked in vain for my family's story when I went to university to read history," relates Todd "and continued to search for it fruitlessly throughout the next decade.
Eventually I realised that I would have to write this history myself."
Selina will be at Ruskin College on 13th June (6.30pm) for a talk about her new book as part of the College's events linked to the 30th anniversary of the miners' strike - all are welcome.
So, to the oral labour histories event in London 17th May. The details are below and you can contact Linda Clarke at the University of Westminster to book a place: L.M.Clarke@westminster.ac.uk
Britain
at Work (B@W) in association with:
British
Universities Industrial Relations (BUIRA) IR History Group and
Oral
History Society (OHS)
SYMPOSIUM:
Saturday 17 May 2014
Click
on this hyperlink for full location details:
Britain
at Work (B@W) is an initiative to capture the memories of people at work
between 1945-1995. Working life as experienced during the half-century
1945-1995 was marked by extreme diversity and change and by the growth of trade
union organisation and influence to a high point in the mid-1970s. The trade
union movement injected a strong democratic current into British workplaces, to
which management responded in different ways, as evident from the significant
conflicts between unions and employers, associated with the problems of
technological change, de-industrialisation and new union legislation.
One
again (B@W) is organising an Oral Labour History Day at the Bishopsgate
Institute in London, this time on Saturday 17 May. It will be similar to those
organised over the last two years, but with an afternoon theme focusing on
occupations and social protest in the UK. The day will begin with an opening
address by Anna Davin, followed by round table introductions on projects in
which symposium participants are involved and their interest in oral labour
history, and – after lunch – our afternoon focus on occupations and social
protest.
All those engaged in or with an interest in oral labour history are
welcome to participate. If you would like to attend, please contact Michael
Gold (m.gold@rhul.ac.uk) or
Linda Clarke (clarkel@wmin.ac.uk)
Programme
Coffee/
tea 10.30am
11.00am: Welcome and
introduction:
Stefan Dickers, Bishopsgate Institute
11.15
– 11.45 Opening address:
·
Historians, Work and Memory – Anna
Davin
11.45
– 12.00 Michael
Gold – Oral Labour History – followed by:
12.00
– 1.00pm B@W updates: Round table introductions:
Five
minutes from everyone (if they wish), saying who they are, the project(s) they
are involved in and their interest in oral labour history
1.00
– 1.45pm lunch
Presentations
and panel discussions (in plenaries)
·
1.45 –
2.30 “I often
thought they were in wi’ the management behind wur backs”: female factory
occupations and the labour movement in early 1980s . Andy Clark, University of Strathclyde
·
2.30 –
3.15 The
work-in at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital: mobilising resistance to
NHS restructuring. lan Tuckman, one of the founders of www.workerscontrol.net
3.15
– 3.30 Break
·
3.30 –
4.15 The
unknown achievements of the 15 February 2003 anti-Iraq War march – Ian
Sinclair, author of ‘The March that Shook Blair’, published by Peace News Press
4.15
– 4.30 Conclusions
4.30
Close
Speakers:
Anna Davin:
Anna
is a feminist and socialist, and a founding member of the History Workshop
Journal editorial collective. Her publications include Growing Up Poor:
Home, School and Street in London, 1870-1914 (1996) and articles exploring
class, gender, age and national identity, in London and New Zealand.
Andy Clark:
Andy Clark:
Andy
is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Strathclyde, working with
the Scottish Oral History Centre. He has an MA from Central Michigan
University.
Alan Tuckman:
Alan
is currently Visiting Fellow at University of Loughborough and Honorary Fellow
at the Centre of Industrial Relations at Keele University, and has researched
widely on industrial relations.
Ian Sinclair:
Ian
is a freelance writer based in London and the author of The March
That Shook Blair: An Oral History of 15 February 2003, published by Peace
News Press.
In Solidarity
Ian
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