Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Bowen Ran (Rotterdam) on E. P. Thompson and the formation of The Making of the English Working Class

It is one thing to read E. P. Thompson’s published, polished texts; it is quite another to handle the papers he once worked on, to see the rust left by paper clips, the gum pressed between pages, the coffee stains on letterheads, and the quirky cat he drew (surely the same cat he invoked in The Poverty of Theory, where he wrote with characteristic scorn, … Continue reading Bowen Ran (Rotterdam) on E. P. Thompson and the formation of The Making of the English Working Class

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Events

The Chartist Revolution: a challenge to liberalism and market capitalism

Liberal interpretations of the Chartist movement continue to dominate the views of historians and of general society, Professor Peter Gurney argued in delivering the Society’s fourth annual John Halstead Memorial Lecture at the John Rylands Library in Manchester in June. Setting out to challenge the dominance of liberal readings which commonly argued that those Chartist demands which had proved feasible had eventually found their way … Continue reading The Chartist Revolution: a challenge to liberalism and market capitalism

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Commentary

Co-operative Party campaigning in the constituencies at the 1945 election

The 1945 general election saw the Co-operative Party return a record twenty-three MPs in alliance with the Labour Party. Here, Ellie Townsend introduces research that shows how candidates tailored their electoral message about co-operation to suit local circumstances. The Co-operative Party, set up in 1917, was an attempt to protect the interests of the consumer co-operative movement in parliament.1 From its outset, the Co-operative Party … Continue reading Co-operative Party campaigning in the constituencies at the 1945 election

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Events

Remembering Coal: Legacy, Memories, Heritage

The University of Birmingham is hosting a one-day event titled Remembering Coal: Legacy, Memories, Heritage to mark its links with the mining industry. The event takes place on Monday 16 June,  from 10 am to 6.30 pm at the Arts Building (Level 1, LR1), Edgbaston campus. The event is free to attend and can be viewed online subject to registration. Download the full conference programme … Continue reading Remembering Coal: Legacy, Memories, Heritage

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Ben Howarth (LJMU) on anti-fascist mobilisation in 1930s Merseyside

My MA dissertation focuses on the ways in which anti-fascism manifested in 1930s Merseyside, a topic that has received little attention in existing scholarship. I am particularly interested in identifying the key individuals and organisations active in the region, and in exploring how class, religion, and ethnicity intersected in shaping local anti-fascist responses. I am also examining what made Merseyside a significant battleground for fascist … Continue reading Ben Howarth (LJMU) on anti-fascist mobilisation in 1930s Merseyside

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Documents & objects

‘Mr Attlee is confident’: a Limehouse declaration

Towards the end of October 1945, Prime Minister Clement Attlee was back in his Limehouse constituency for a victory rally. It had been less than six months since the end of the war in Europe, and just weeks later in the UK a Labour government had been swept to power. A world reshaped by conflict was being remade once again in a new era of … Continue reading ‘Mr Attlee is confident’: a Limehouse declaration

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Graham Skeate (KU Leuven & Edinburgh) on the life, labour and spaces of Glasgow Showpeople

This report outlines my research on the spatial practices of Glasgow’s Showpeople, focusing on the domestic yards where they live between periods of travelling fairground work. These yards—often built into the city’s post-industrial landscape—are not simply resting places but complex working environments. They are shaped by Showpeople’s cultural knowledge, and wider urban pressures. My research details how these spaces are designed, maintained, and defended—what they … Continue reading Graham Skeate (KU Leuven & Edinburgh) on the life, labour and spaces of Glasgow Showpeople

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Emily Thorpe (Durham) on photographic representations of coalfield women in the 1984-85 miners’ strike

My dissertation investigates how professional photography both presented and produced the figure of the coalfield woman during and after the 1984-85 miners’ strike across Yorkshire and County Durham. After attending the inspiring third annual John L. Halstead Memorial Lecture delivered by Natalie Thomlinson in November 2024, I became interested in understanding how photographic material and practices helped to construct and consolidate the ‘heroic narrative’ of … Continue reading Emily Thorpe (Durham) on photographic representations of coalfield women in the 1984-85 miners’ strike

Unknown's avatarEditorMC
Events

CFP: Precarity and Scale in the History of Colonial Labour

Labour and Empire Working Group, ELHN Conference 2026: Precarity and Scale in the History of Colonial Labour. University of Barcelona, 16-19 June 2026. Call for papers deadline 30 June 2025 Following up on a long-term project on working-class anti-imperialism, explored in publications (Beliard, Kirk 2021) and at conferences (most recently in Bristol 2023 and Uppsala), the European Labour History Network’s Labour & Empire Working Group … Continue reading CFP: Precarity and Scale in the History of Colonial Labour

Unknown's avatarEditorMC