Social History Society
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| Social History Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Social History Society |
| Formation | 1976 |
| Type | Learned society |
| Headquarters | London |
| Region served | United Kingdom |
| Membership | Academics, independent scholars, postgraduate students |
| Leader title | President |
Social History Society is a learned society based in the United Kingdom that promotes the study of social history through research, publication, and events. Founded by scholars active in postwar historiographical debates, the Society connects historians working on topics from industrial communities to gender history and from migration to welfare institutions. It fosters interchange among members associated with universities such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, London School of Economics, and regional centres like University of Glasgow and University of Leeds.
History
The Society emerged in the mid-1970s amid debates shaped by the legacy of figures linked to E. P. Thompson, the British History Workshop, and the wider network of scholars reacting to postwar labour disputes like the Winter of Discontent. Early supporters included historians affiliated with institutions such as Queen Mary University of London and University College London, and intellectual currents from the New Left and the Fabian Society influenced its formation. Its first conferences engaged topics resonant with the historiography of the Industrial Revolution, the study of the Chartist movement, and comparative work involving cities like Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham. Over subsequent decades the Society responded to scholarly shifts exemplified by the rise of gender history tied to scholars connected to Women's History Network and transnational approaches inspired by projects at Institute of Historical Research and collaborations with archives like the Mass Observation Archive.
Mission and Objectives
The Society's stated aims emphasize supporting rigorous scholarship on communities, labour, family life, migration, and everyday experience across temporal and geographical scales. It seeks to facilitate exchanges among researchers working on cases from the Victorian era to the postwar period and to encourage interdisciplinary links with centres such as the Economic History Society, the Oral History Society, and regional heritage bodies including the National Trust and English Heritage. Objectives include promoting publication outlets, maintaining networks among postgraduate researchers at institutions like University of Exeter and University of York, and advocating for archival access at repositories such as the National Archives (United Kingdom) and county record offices in Lancashire and Sussex.
Membership and Governance
Membership comprises academics, independent historians, postgraduate students, and public historians drawn from universities and museums such as the British Museum and the Museum of London. Governance typically involves an executive committee with roles analogous to those at the Royal Historical Society and collaboration with editorial boards similar to arrangements at the Economic History Review. Elected officers have included scholars with affiliations to University of Warwick, University of Bristol, University of Durham, and other centres. Annual general meetings are held in rotation at host institutions including King's College London, University of Birmingham, and provincial universities to maintain geographic balance.
Publications and Research
The Society supports a peer-reviewed journal and monograph series that situate microhistorical studies alongside comparative syntheses; contributors have published case studies on topics related to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, the history of the Labour Party, and urban riots such as the Notting Hill riots. Its publication outlets have featured work drawing on archives from the London School of Economics library, oral collections associated with the Mass Observation Archive, and municipal records from cities like Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne. Collaborative research projects have been undertaken with bodies such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council and cross-listed with series at the Cambridge University Press and Routledge. The Society also issues newsletters and occasional thematic pamphlets on subjects ranging from industrial relations exemplified by Matchgirls strike studies to migration histories involving ports like Liverpool and Hull.
Events and Conferences
Annual conferences provide platforms for panels on labour history, gender history, migration, and comparative social processes, often hosted at universities including University of Southampton, University of Leicester, and University of Nottingham. Thematic workshops have addressed methodologies such as oral history practice informed by the Oral History Society and digital history techniques used in projects at the British Library and Wellcome Trust. The Society has sponsored joint conferences with organizations like the Social History Society of Canada-style bodies and sessions at larger gatherings such as meetings of the Economic History Society and the Royal Historical Society. Public-facing events have taken place in partnership with local museums such as the People's History Museum and civic archives in cities like Bristol.
Impact and Criticism
The Society has been credited with sustaining networks that advanced research on working-class cultures, feminist history, and migration studies, influencing syllabi at universities such as Goldsmiths, University of London and informing heritage projects at institutions like Imperial War Museums. Critics have argued that its origins in particular political milieux risked privileging certain narratives over others, echoing debates involving the New Left Review and disputes around periodization exemplified in controversies over the interpretation of the Industrial Revolution. Others have noted challenges in diversifying membership to include non-academic public historians and community researchers working with organizations such as Community Archives Wales. In response, the Society has expanded outreach, revised grant schemes, and encouraged collaborative projects with museums and archives to broaden participation.