People’s History? Radical Historiography and the Left in the Twentieth Century
History has always played a crucial role in the making of the modern left, both in Britain and around the world, providing a vital tool for theoretical rationale, social critique and direct action. Whilst offering an important source of intellectual stimulus, it has equally been the cause of hot debate, controversy and division, never more so than during the twentieth century. Over the course of those ten tumultuous decades, history became the ground upon which the left struggled to define and redefine itself in response to dramatically changing times. Critique was, and continues to be, all-encompassing, from debates on historical interpretation, method, pedagogy and application, to questions addressing the very nature – or possibility – of historical knowledge itself.
This conference seeks to explore all aspects of the status and uses of history in modern left imagination.
We are seeking papers of 5000 to 10000 words to be presented at the conference. Conference themes may include, but are not limited to:
- History, Marxism and international socialism
- History, class and class consciousness
- History, philosophy and critical theory
- History, gender, race, sexuality
- History and (post)colonialism
- History and/as activism
- History, pedagogy and empowerment
- National and international histories
- Party histories
- History and the role of the historian as public intellectual