The Centre for Modern and Contemporary History

June 2023

Nick White completed his Visiting Professorship at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjong Malim, Malaysia.

July 2023

Lucie Matthews-Jones was awarded £64,000 on internal funding to setup a Disability Researchers Network at LJMU.

August 2023

James Crossland completed his Everett Helm Visiting Fellowship at Indiana University in Bloomington as part of research for his next book, Rogue Agent: The Troubled Life and Dangerous Times of Robert Bruce Lockhart.

September 2023

Andrea Livesey was awarded a British Academy SHAPE Involve and Engage grant for the project: "From Slavery to Roe v. Wade: Using Theatre to Explore Black Diasporic Understandings of Reproductive Health and Justice", in partnership with Liverpool's International Slavery Museum. Details available here.

October 2023

Gillian O'Brien was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council Project Grant worth £500,000 for the 3 year project: "Sharing Lands: Reconciliation, Recognition and Reciprocity between the Chochtaw and the Irish", in partnership with Goldsmiths University and the University of Georgia.

December 2023

Nick Ridley's book, Carlo di Rudio and the Age of Revolution was published by Routledge. Details available here.

CENTRE DIRECTORS
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Prof James Crossland (History of terrorism, intelligence, laws of armed conflict)

Dr Chris Vaughan (East African history, decolonisation)

MEMBERS
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Dr Kate Ballantyne (American Civil Rights movement, youth activism)

Dr Tom Beaumont (French history, labour history)

Dr Mike Benbough-Jackson (Welsh history, regional identities)

Dr David Clampin (Britain in WWII, propaganda and advertising)

Dr Malcom Craig (Cold War history, culture in the nuclear age)

Dr Emily Cumming (Victorian literature and culture)

Dr Dan Feather (South African history)

Dr Ailsa Fidler (Education history)

Prof Susan Grant (Soviet history, nursing and aged care)

Mr. Lukasz Grzymski (PhD Candidate, history of British intelligence) 

Dr Katherine Harbord (Middle East history, anti-Semitism)

Dr Andre Kiel (German history, state responses to emergencies)

Dr Andrea Livesey (History of slavery)

Dr Jan Ludvigsen (Sport and security)

Dr Lucie Matthew-Jones (Histories of the home, gender, Victorian culture)

Prof Gillian O'Brien (Irish history, dark tourism)

Dr Nick Ridley (Terrorism and 19th century revolutionary movements)

Dr Isabel Robinson (Postdoc researcher, history of slavery)

Dr Avril Rowley (Education history)

Dr Olivia Saunders (South American history)

Prof Nick White (History of decolonisation in South-East Asia, business history)

EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

"Anxiety, Prejudice, Paranoia: Shaping British Intelligence Culture, 1880s-1920s"

Leverhulme Trust (£113,000 / 2022-2025)

This project examines how colonial anxieties, prejudices and trauma shaped the culture of Britain’s intelligence community during its formative period from the 1880s to the 1920s. This will be done using a novel interdisciplinary method, which will involve combining the study of emotions and human experience (affective science) and collective biography (prosopography) to explore the emotional states and activities of 19 individuals who, after experiences in the colonies, returned to Britain to work for the Community. By uncovering the connections between colonial experiences and the development of the Community’s institutional culture, this project will contribute new knowledge to the field of imperial history, and pioneer a more human-centric approach to intelligence studies, in which the emotional states of intelligence officers will be given greater consideration when analysing how they assess and respond to threats. Through a range of outputs aimed at both academics and the public, this research will open avenues for a wide discussion of the troubling colonial origins of today’s intelligence Community.

Researchers: James Crossland and Lukasz Grzymski.

"Engaging with a Pariah State: British Cultural Diplomacy in Rhodesia, 1965 to 1980"

British Academy (£7,715 / 2023-2025)

Debates about the value of cultural boycotts re-emerge on a cyclical basis, often coming hand-in-hand with the implementation of economic sanctions. The key question is always whether it is better to isolate a pariah state, or maintain cultural contact with the general population in the hope of softening attitudes, promoting change, and gaining influence. One example, which has received little scholarly attention, is the efforts by Britain to utilise cultural diplomacy in its dealing with the ‘rebel colony’ of Rhodesia. While Britain and Rhodesia had a unique relationship, and this contact took place at a very different time, this case study can be used as a microcosm for the contemporary challenges states face when attempting to sustain linkages through cultural contact with the aim of maintaining long-term influence.

Researcher: Dan Feather.

"Sharing Lands: Reconciliation, Recognition and Reciprocity"

AHRC (£509,400 / 2024-2027)

The remarkable story of the $172 sent by members of the Choctaw tribe to Ireland via the General Irish Relief Committee of the City of New York during the Great Famine in 1847 is one that is often recalled by people worldwide. Despite that fact, both the details surrounding the connection between the Choctaw Nation, the people of Ireland and the gift's legacy have been greatly understudied. Rooted in the Choctaw concept of ima (giving), the project will consider the gift's expression of core indigenous values as well as models of sharing and collective wellbeing. It will also construct a deeper understanding of the ways in which Choctaw traditions have led to moments of empathy, recognition, and international alliance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. There are other relevancies to be considered too, given that the tribe's donation was dispatched soon after Choctaw Removal to Indian Territory in the mid-1830s. Also suffering from hunger, disease and land loss, swathes of the population in Ireland-had experienced numerous privations caused by colonial expansion. It is also a tragic fact that many Irish born migrants and Irish-America settlers-President Andrew Jackson amongst them-would go on to play a large part in expansionist U.S. policies during the 1830s and beyond. Set within the broader interpretative contexts established by this project, the enduring story of the Choctaw gift can speak, compellingly, to issues surrounding collective trauma and indigenous responses to colonisation. Moreover, the critical(re)assessment of this story, as well as the memorialisation, commemoration and celebration of it in the twenty-first century, underlines the potential for recovery and reconciliation, both within and between communities. Finally, set against a backdrop of famine and removal, in the first instance, as well as forms of sustenance and sharing, in the second, the donation might prompt audiences to consider questions relating to immigration, internationalism and belonging, patterns of inter-relationality and reciprocity during times of crisis and catastrophic change, and the ethics of production and consumption, especially around food sustainability.

Researchers: Gillian O'Brien and Prof LeAnne Howe (University of Georgia).

Partner Organisations: Irish Heritage Trust, Department of Foreign Affairs, Irish American Heritage Museum, Nano Nagle Place and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. 

"From Slavery to Roe vs Wade: Using Theatre to Explore Black Diasporic Understandings of Reproductive Health and Justice"

British Academy (£7,810 / 2023-2024)

This collaborative between LJMU, Collective Encounters and the International Slavery Museum, works with women from local descendant communities to better understand how participatory theatre methodology can help curators understand difficult sources and artefacts. The objective is to co-produce research into slavery, midwifery and reproductive health.  In the trauma-informed sessions – led by local artists – the project researchers explore links between reproductive violence under slavery and in the present day.  The participants and artists will use creative methodologies to share in the archival material, building knowledge and developing critical skills. 

Researchers: Andrea Livesey and Isabel Robinson.

Partner Organisations: Collective Encounters and the International Slavery Museum.

IMPACT CASE STUDIES

"History Through Advertising"

This project seeks to engage children at Key Stage 2 (KS2) in the study of history, generating enthusiasm for the subject by providing an accessible means to understand the past. It seeks to do this by using historic press advertisements given that pupils will be familiar with such outputs, making it accessible and being presented in a language they understand, thereby making connections with their contemporary circumstances. The intention is to develop resource/teaching packs which open up an entirely new approach to the KS2 National Curriculum unit, ‘Beyond 1066’, the states aim of which is to develop pupils’ chronological understanding typically by following a theme across time. The parameters of the unit in this case will follow specific products/brands from the mid-nineteenth century through to the 1980s. This timeframe witnesses the evolution of modern advertising as we recognise it today, in large part a consequence of the Industrial Revolution whereby production volume and diversity increased calling on producers to devise ever more effective methods to shift units. Starting at this point, pupils will learn more about the rise of industrial Britain and the birth of modern consumer society. Further, we witness the rise of the modern newspaper, a crucial vehicle for spreading such messages: via this means, lessons can be taught which demonstrate the erosion of local identities and the rise of a more homogenous nation.

Researchers: David Clampin, Ailsa Fidler and Avril Rowley.

Risk, Emergencies and Security

Crises, emergencies, and the notion of a global “risk society” have become a mainstay of the public discourse. In the first two decades of the 21st century alone, societies faced the challenges of international terrorism, global financial crises, the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and various armed conflicts. We believe these pressing contemporary issues are rooted in long-term historical developments and thus warrant historically-informed analysis and discussion. Understanding these phenomena requires multi- and cross-disciplinary approaches, and we are therefore keen to include colleagues with a background in sociology, political science, media studies, linguistics and literature, and law (but not limited to them)  in the work of the cluster alongside colleagues from history. This cluster aims to provide a forum for researchers in to engage with these issues and to facilitate multi, inter- and cross-disciplinary discussion and collaboration.

Cluster leader: Andre Keil

The Postcolonial World: Ends and Legacies of Empire

The end of European global empires in the decades following World War II seemed to herald a fundamental and unprecedented historical shift from a world of empires to a world of nation-states. The process of decolonisation in Asia and Africa, its contingencies and contested outcomes, has come under sustained historical scrutiny in recent years, and the study of newly independent states in the post-colonial world is a key area of interest within the wider context of global history. Yet the questions of whether imperialism really ended with the decolonisation of European empires - particularly given the character of American and Soviet power in the post-war era, and the continued efforts by Britain and France to maintain their imperial spheres of influence - and the nature and extent of the legacy of European imperialism in today’s world, remain key academic and public concerns. This cluster brings together historians of diverse regions and scholars from associated disciplines who work on the ends and legacies of empires in the recent past and contemporary world, with the aim of facilitating sustained conversations and potential collaborations among members of the CMCH.

Cluster leader: Dan Feather

Gender, Race and Sexuality

This cluster brings together the complex research and ideologies that constitute the histories of gender, race and sexuality.  By taking an intersectional approach to these histories, the Gender, Race and Sexuality cluster will provide a space for discussion, sharing of ideas, and constructive feedback for researchers working across disciplines.

Cluster leader: Andrea Livesey

Home and Domestic Cultures

This research cluster will provide an interdisciplinary and collaborative space to investigate home and domestic cultures from a historical and contemporary perspective. The nineteenth century famously saw the proclamation of ‘home, sweet home’, while the recent pandemic has centred home and domestic culture as never before. Home and homemaking continue to be central to our daily lives. Yet, home is not just as a physical space of dwelling, but a feeling and emotion that can extend into other home-like spaces such as gardens, parks, workspaces, community spaces, the nation, and institutions. Broadening understandings of home and domestic cultures, this interdisciplinary research cluster aims to explore more fully how people have made themselves at home both in the past and the present. By decentring a romanticised reading of domestic space, we recognise that not everyone finds their homes to be a place of security and tranquillity. We therefore aim to address how homes are made and unmade, embraced and rejected, located and displaced. This research cluster will run a regular reading group, meetings, and workshops. We are keen to provide a space for researchers across the HSS and APSS who have an interest in home and domestic cultures and to extend this network to the broader community with a view to building partnerships across the heritage, charity, and public sectors. A key component of our research group will be to support knowledge exchange work and to develop funding opportunities. 

Cluster Leaders: Lucinda Matthews-Jones and Emily Cumming