Run by the Irish Centre for Histories of Labour and Class, Galway: June 19 - 20.
From the Civil Rights Movement to contemporary protests against austerity, the years since 1968 have witnessed widespread and varied social movements in communities, workplaces and colleges throughout Ireland, North and South, that have fought for, and resisted, social change. These movements have spurred the growth of numerous organisations ranging from those advocating limited reform, to those advancing revolutionary change in society. However, despite its immediate relevance to an understanding of contemporary Ireland, the lack of historical research conducted in the agents and resisters of social change since 1968 is a noticeable gap in the study of class and politics in Ireland. This interdisciplinary conference hopes to address this. We welcome scholarly contributions of 20 minutes from established academics to students on any issue that falls under the remit of the conference title. The conference also affords us the opportunity to preserve and generate sources for the benefit of future researchers. We hope to offer workshops on oral history and the preservation, including digitisation, of documentation such as leaflets, posters and periodicals. To this end, we especially want to hear from activists in movements and organisations from the period who may be interested in sharing their experiences and documentation in a friendly and open environment.
Possible topics for papers include but are not limited to:
- Civil Rights in Northern Ireland
- Trade union growth, activism, and change
- Workplace strikes/occupations
- Left Social Democratic groups (e.g. Socialist Labour Party, Liaison of the Left, etc)
- Socialist Republicanism
- Trotskyist, Communist, and other Leninist groups
- Anarchist and other libertarian groups
- Catholic Worker, Christian Socialist groups
- Left-wing periodicals
- Community campaigns (e.g. housing, drugs, hospital closures, water charges)
- Second Wave Feminism and Women’s rights (e.g. equal pay, access to contraception, divorce, abortion rights)
- LGBT rights
- Anti-globalisation movement
- Anti-war movement
- Solidarity campaigns on issues abroad (e.g. Nicaragua, Vietnam, Miners’ Strike, apartheid in South Africa)
- Student activism
- Media representation of social movements, trade unionism, and left-wing activism
If you were/are an activist in this area and are interested in attending, please let us know at the same address by the same date. We would be especially grateful if you could inform us if you are willing to share your experiences as part of an oral history interview and/or have documentation which would be of interest. All documentation will remain the possession of the owner.
