"If politicians would only browse here, historians hope, they might learn from what has gone before and stop reinventing so many square wheels. They would boast less about 'new' ideas and their own 'successes' compared with the past."
Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
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Latest news
Treat TV biopics with caution
Opinion article, 8 February 2010
Steven Fielding looks at Channel 4's portrait of Mo Mowlam and explores how the recent crop of political biopics are not only historically inaccurate but potentially harmful to civic culture.
Read Steven Fielding's article, 'Recreating our political history'.
First article from the Lest we forget series in association with openDemocracy.
Feature, 26 January 2010
As Wootton Basset pays its respects to soldiers killed in the Afghanistan conflict, it stirs up memories of controversies surrounding previous acts of remembrance. Lucy Noakes explores the fraught history of war remembrance in The politics of poppy day. For more information on submissions to the Lest we forget series, please refer to the guidelines on the openSecurity website or contact daniel.macarthur-seal@opendemocracy.net.
Free training for doctoral students
Training, 16-17 February (to be repeated 25-26 May)
The successful H&P-TNA workshop, "Using archival sources to inform contemporary policymaking," will be running on Tues 16-Weds 17 February, at TNA in Kew. Thanks to AHRC-funding the course is free for history (or related) PhD students, including expenses where required, but places are limited. This is an excellent course, with lots of practical tips on getting the most out of the resources at TNA and fascinating case studies from historians whose research is at the sharp-end of current policy issues, including Pat Thane, David Edgerton and Simon Szreter. There will also be a session on influencing policymakers and the media with H&P External Relations Manager Mel Porter and Chris Bowlby of the BBC.
For further details and the full programme for February, see The National Archives website. If you are interested in attending please email the National Archives or contact Mel Porter for further information
Historical definitions of old age
Interview, 22 January 2010
H&P co-founder Pat Thane discusses the historical development of 'old age' in an interview with Chris Bowlby for BBC Radio 4's More or Less. She argues that the concept of 'old age' emerged in the 20th century alongside the development of pensions and retirement, whereas in the past, perceptions of an individual's age were based on their ability to carry on an active life.
To listen to the interview, go to the More or Less website. See also, Pat Thane's interview for the monthly H&P feature in BBC History magazine.
Latest H&P - BBC History Magazine article online
Feature, 20 January 2010
The latest article from H&P's collaborative series with BBC History Magazine is available online now. Dr Jon Lawrence warns against romanticising the spontaneity of 18th century hustings. He argues that public outrange at MP's expenses in 2009 produced scenes as tumultuous as anything in the days of the hustings Changing times: Have we lost the 'spirit of the hustings'? Other articles can be found in our BBC History section.
More Baldwin than Blair: The Conservative Party's new posters
Opinion article, 12 January 2010
Why does a huge image of David Cameron dominate the Conservative's new election poster? In this article, Christopher Burgess examines the tradition of leadership marketing in British politics.
Read Christopher Burgess's article, 'Posters in history'.
Revisiting the Osborne Judgement on its centenary
H&P paper, 18 December 2009
A new H&P paper by historian and former trade unionist James Moher revisits the Osborne Judgement ahead of its centenary on Monday 21 December. The judgement was the culmination of a long legal battle by East London railwayman, Walter Osborne, against the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, a forerunner of the RMT. The ruling banned trade unions from funding political parties until it was reversed by the 1913 Trade Union Act. Dr Moher investigates this formative period in the development of the Labour party and its relationship with trade unions, and highlights how this often forgotten episode can inform the current debate about the reform of party funding.
Read the paper: The Osborne Judgement 1909: trade union funding of political parties in historical perspective.
Read an interview with James Moher on the Waltham Forest Guardian's website.
H&P response to HEFCE consultation on REF
16 December 2009
H&P has submitted its response to the consultation by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on the new Research Excellence Framework, which will govern the assessment and funding of academic research from 2012. We support the introduction of a new strand to assess research impacts, which will incentivise historians to engage with policymakers and reward those who are actively involved in H&P. But we have concerns about the proposed criteria and methods for assessing impacts and would like to see the weighting of this strand reduced to 15 per cent of the overall assessment.
You can read H&P's submission here. [pdf file, 148KB]
You can read the HEFCE consultation on their website: HEFCE
For further information about the H&P response, contact: Mel Porter
H&P historian responds to James Hansen's interview in the Guardian
Opinion article, 16 December 2009
Jean-Francois Mouhot of the University of Birmingham explores comparisons of the abolition of slavery with climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.
Read Jean-Francois Mouhot's article, 'Slavery and climate change: lessons to be learned'.
Latest H&P - BBC History Magazine article online
Feature, 11 December 2009
The latest article from H&P's collaborative series with BBC History Magazine is available online now. Colin Divall of the University of York explores the history of, and current policies for, high-speed rail in the UK Changing times: Why put the breaks on high speed rail? Other articles can be found in our BBC History section.
Three lessons from recent history to help today's policymakers tackle national debt
H&P paper, 9 December 2009
In a new H&P paper published ahead of today's pre-budget report, Dr Glen O'Hara of Oxford Brookes University analyses economic crises of the recent past to suggest solutions for policymakers today. Drawing on the experiences of the Wilson, Callaghan and Major governments, he argues that a combination of careful spending cuts, tax rises and a spirit of shared Cabinet responsibility are essential ingredients to bring down the national debt.
Read the paper: How (not) to cut government spending and reduce public sector debt.
Read the Press release [pdf file, 142KB].
H&P contributes to select committee inquiry on social care
Select committee, 3 December 2009
In evidence submitted to the House of Commons' Health Committee inquiry into social care, H&P co-founder Professor Pat Thane explains the history of financing health and social care and argues that the post-1948 separation of health from social care continues to cause problems.
Read Pat Thane's memorandum. [pdf file, 109KB]
For more information about the committee's inquiry, see the UK parliament website.
H&P historian discusses the BNP's appropriation of Churchill
Opinion article, 2 December 2009
Ivan Pregnolato of the University of Nottingham unpicks the BNP's appropriation of Winston Churchill as their talisman. He argues that it is not historically valid to project present day attitudes and beliefs onto historical figures.
Read Ivan Pregnolato's article, 'Hijacking history'.
H&P historian comments on the Guardian's coverage of sex-trafficking
Opinion article, 2 December 2009
Writing exclusively for the H&P website, Jane Berney of the Open University uses the history of the Contagious Diseases Act in Victorian Britain and Hong Kong to shed light on the contemporary debate over the scale of sex trafficking. She demonstrates that then, as now, statistics are easily manipulated whilst the voice of the prostitute is absent.
Read Jane Berney's article, More sex, lies and trafficking.
Call to reform House of Lords and elect monarchy - or risk revolution
H&P paper, 27 November 2009
In a new H&P paper published today, Professor Iain McLean of Oxford University warns politicians that the UK could be at risk of a constitutional crisis as serious as that of 1909-14 if reform is not prioritised. Ahead of the centenary on Monday of the House of Lords' rejection of David Lloyd George's 'People's Budget', Professor McLean examines the constitutional crisis that followed and the legacy it has left for Britain's unwritten constitution.
Read the paper, The 1909 budget and the destruction of the unwritten British Constitution.
Read the press release.
Remember Cable Street? Wrong battle, mate
H&P paper, 24 November 2009
David Cesarani discusses why Communities Secretary John Denham was wrong to compare recent anti-Muslim demonstrations with fascist attacks on British Jews in the 1930s. Read the paper, Remember Cable Street? Wrong battle, mate.
H&P's Network of Historians respond to the Queen's speech
Rapid response, 18 November 2009
Historians in the H&P Network offer a rapid response to the announcements in today's Queen's speech:
- Historian and former civil servant Geoffrey Rivett welcomes moves to create a National Care Service, but warns that today's proposals could be 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'.
- Dr Mark Roodhouse of the University of York warns that cutting the bureaucracy associated with police stop and search powers could be a backwards step.
- Dr John Welshman of Lancaster University evaluates the government's plans to enshrine in law its target to eradicate child poverty by 2020.
- Ann Lyon of the University of Plymouth talks of the gap in the law relating to the Constitutional Renewal Bill
You can read their responses on our opinion page.
If you are a journalist and would like to speak to a historian, please contact us.
Kids with kids
Interview, 13 November 2009
In an interview with Times Higher Education, H&P historian Dr Ofra Koffman of Goldsmiths College, University of London, shows that while teenage pregnancy is not a new phenomenon, the concept of 'teenage motherhood' has a more recent history. Dr Koffman scrutinises the perception that teenagers are not psychologically mature enough to become mothers, an idea originally promoted by psychiatrists in the 1960s, which continues to influence policy today.
Read Dr Koffmann's interview in Times Higher Education: Kids with kids: how teen mums are a relic of the 1960s.
See also Dr Koffmann's article in Society Guardian last month: Second thoughts: supporting teenage mothers.
Divided memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall
Opinion, 10 November 2009
In a new H&P opinion article, Dr James Mark of the University of Exeter argues that events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall fail to do justice to the differing perceptions of the collapse of Communism in East and West Europe.
Read Dr Mark's article: 1989: Divided memories, East and West.
If tax avoidance is as old as tax itself, why are tax havens a modern phenomenon?
H&P paper, 10 November 2009
Ronen Palan examines the history and development of tax havens, arguing for greater transparency in order to regain public confidence. Read the paper, The history of tax havens.
Read the press release [pdf file, 164KB]
Award for H&P founder Simon Szreter
10 November 2009
History & Policy co-founder Simon Szreter is today being awarded the Viseltear Prize at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Philadelphia, for his outstanding contributions to the history of public health. On Thursday 12 November he will deliver the Isidore I. Benrubi annual lecture on: "Public Health and Social Security: The Keys to Unlocking Economic Growth in England?".
This is a public event at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in New York, details are available on the Columbia University website.
H&P historian comments on British National Party's version of history
Opinion article, 4 November 2009
Writing exclusively for the H&P website, historian and far-right expert Matthew Feldman of Northampton University explores the way British National Party leader Nick Griffin twisted history during his appearance on the BBC's Question Time.
Read Dr Feldman's article, Pinstriped fascism.
Latest H&P - BBC History Magazine article online
Feature, 2 November 2009
The latest article from H&P's collaborative series with BBC History Magazine is available online now. Pat Thane challenges the perception of a golden age of retirement in Changing times: Was there ever a golden age of retirement? Other articles can be found in our BBC History section.
The case for historical advisers in government
Opinion article, 29 October 2009
Writing exclusively for History & Policy, Yoav J. Tenembaum of Tel Aviv University argues the case for Presidents and Prime Ministers to appoint historical advisers. He argues that historians have a unique perspective to bring to the business of governing democratic states and could help overcome politicians' historical illiteracy.
Read Dr Tenembaum's article, The case for historical advisers in government.
Adoption book launch
Seminar and book launch, 28 October 2009, Institute of Historical Research
A seminar to mark the launch of A Child For Keeps: The History of Adoption in England, 1918-45, by Jenny Keating, published by Palgrave Macmillan. This is part of the Centre for Contemporary British History's seminar series, and is organised with History & Policy. The event will start at 5pm on Wednesday, 28 October, in the Wolfson Room at the Institute of Historical Research, London, and a reception will follow. Dr Keating's book will be available at a 50% discount. For further details please see the seminar webpage or contact mel.porter@sas.ac.uk.
H&P launches Bad History with Times Higher Education
14 October 2009
A new Bad History series launched today will dismantle the historical myths that abound in contemporary debate and expose the spinning of history for political and PR purposes. Bursting the bubble of vacuous historical claims made by politicians, Royals and commentators alike, the first seven 'Bad History' comments appear in an article in Times Higher Education magazine (the Bad History case studies are towards the end of the feature).
Bad History is written by members of the History & Policy Network and will become a regular feature on the History & Policy website. If you are a historian with a story for Bad History, please contact the H&P office.
Read the press release [pdf file, 118KB].
Read press coverage in the Telegraph: History being 'distorted' by politicians.
Prime Minister should have second thoughts on teenage mothers
Opinion article, 7 October 2009
Gordon Brown's proposal to house teenage parents in supervised homes could be a step back into a shameful past, warns H&P Historian Ofra Koffman of Goldsmiths, University of London. Writing in Society Guardian, Dr Koffman argues that government policy has always oscillated between punishing and protecting young mothers and the Prime Minister's rhetoric raises the ghost of early 20th century mother and baby homes.
Read Dr Koffman's article in Society Guardian: Second thoughts: supporting teenage mothers.
New history of MI5
Interview, 5 October 2009
To coincide with the centenary of MI5, Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew has written an authorised history of the security service. He was interviewed about the book on the Today programme.
Read Professor Andrew's H&P paper: Intelligence analysis needs to look backwards before looking forward.
Broadband terrorism: A new face of fascism
Opinion article, 22 September 2009
Recent demonstrations by the English Defence League and the trial of far-right bomber Neil Lewington, has sparked fears of a neo-fascist resurgence. Matthew Feldman, a historian of fascist movements, considers these new developments and argues that policies for dealing with fascists should be brought up to date.
Read Dr Matthew Feldman's article: Broadband Terrorism: A new face of fascism.
Dr Feldman contributed to a File on 4 investigation of far-right violence. The programme will be broadcast on Tuesday 22 September, at 8pm.
He was also interviewed on The World Tonight (37 minutes in).