Articles

From red to black: political and cultural change in an industrial town

In 2018, after more than ten years of dramatic labour struggles, the historically red workingclass town of Terni in central Italy elected a right-wing mayor and city council. This article explores some of the reasons for this radical shift: changes in the demographic weight and composition of the working class, the increasing perception of the factory as an environmental liability rather than a source of jobs and income, the workers’ feeling of being abandoned by a former left that had turned towards neoliberalism, and the way in which the former left-wing administrations had turned into a stifling power structure. When, after a prolonged strike, the steel company offered a redundancy payment to workers willing to give up their jobs, more than 500 accepted: some with a sense of liberation, some with a sense of defeat, but all feeling that there was no future for them in the factory and no industrial future for their town.
Author(s): Alessandro Portelli
Keywords: Terni, Italy; working class; right-wing parties; memory; environment

Out in the open: reflections on researcher well-being and emotional honesty in oral histories of trauma

Well-being and protection are central tenets of oral history: the historian is required to consider the ethics of their project and the potential impact on interviewees. However, what is to be said of the well-being of the oral historian? This article is a collaboration between three oral historians who focus on women’s history across Ireland, whose histories traverse especially traumatic periods and themes including the Northern Irish conflict, mother and baby homes, and obstetric and sexual violence. The aim of this collaboration was to discuss the issue of conducting emotionally charged traumatic histories and the mechanisms needed to ensure researcher well-being. This work was presented as part of a panel at the Oral History Society conference in June 2025.
Author(s): Sarah Mason, Olivia Dee and Laura Kelly
Keywords: trauma; researcher well-being; self-care; Ireland; resilience

Interviewing elites: reflections on sharing authority with parliamentarians

The History of Parliament Trust oral history project has spent years interviewing undoubtedly elite actors using life-story methodology. From the perspective of long experience creating this archive of interviews with former Members of Parliament, this article discusses the crucial methodological concepts of shared authority and imagined audiences when interviewing elites. Because these interviewees are both self-confident in the interview space and public figures concerned with their historical reputations, these concepts can work differently. Using examples from across our archive, we suggest a modified life-story approach to reflect these differences. The aim remains to create interviews with meaningful shared authority, which are reflective additions to the historical record.
Author(s): Emma Peplow and Priscila Pivatto
Keywords: life story interviewing; shared authority; elite interviewees; imagined audience; UK politics; UK parliament

Intersecting lives: class, community and change on the Andover Estate

This article explores the evolving dynamics of class, community and identity on the Andover Estate in north London, drawing on forty oral history interviews conducted between 2022 and 2024. It examines how white and migrant working-class experiences have intersected and diverged over the past fifty years amid shifting social, economic and cultural contexts. Rejecting simplistic media portrayals, the article presents five personal narratives that illuminate the complex interplay of class, gender, race, heritage and health. Framed through an intersectional lens, the findings challenge reductive stereotypes and underscore residents’ resilience and agency. This insider perspective enriches our understanding of urban marginalisation and highlights pathways toward more inclusive and socially just community narratives and policies.
Author(s): John Gabriel, Gulser Rose Kaya and Alya Khan
Keywords: Community; council estate; class; change; intersectionality

Public History

‘Why did you kill that person and not someone else?’: sharing oral histories of restorative justice Keeva Baxter in conversation with public history editor Ruth Beecher

Undertaking oral history research with people who have engaged in restorative justice processes brings specific challenges, especially when the intention from the outset is to make the resulting testimonies public. Public history editor Ruth Beecher interviews Keeva Baxter of the charity ‘Why me?’. Baxter led ‘Damage and Repair’, an oral history project set up to record the memories of those who were central to establishing restorative justice practices in the UK, including the victims and perpetrators of crimes. They discuss the risks, benefits and challenges of providing access to these difficult histories.
Author(s): Keeva Baxter and Ruth Beecher
Keywords: sensitive topics; restorative justice; public history; dissemination and access; ethical risks

Learning

Soul work: conceptualising a framework for the oral history of African American educators

This article introduces soul work as an African American-centred conceptual framework and methodological approach for oral history research. Drawing on the Teachers in the Movement Project team’s experiences, collecting 500 interviews with teachers who taught between 1950 and the 1980s, the article articulates soul work through the principles of the griot mindset, flow and intuition, and communal bonds to offer a spiritual and culturally grounded means to engage African American teachers and communities. Through vignettes, the article illustrates how soul work illuminates the nuances, voices and memories of African American teachers and communities and can be employed with oral history in local and indigenous cultures and communities.
Author(s): Derrick P Alridge
Keywords: African American teachers; soul work; griot mindset; communal bonds

Reviews

REVIEW ESSAY Insurgent narratives, revolutionary praxis

TIP OF THE SPEAR: BLACK RADICALISM, PRISON REPRESSION, AND THE LONG ATTICA REVOLT University of California Press, 2023, 317pp, £25, paperback.

THE YOUNG LORDS: A RADICAL HISTORY University of North Carolina Press, 2020, 468pp, £18.99, paperback.

ORGANIZING YOUR OWN: THE WHITE FIGHT FOR BLACK POWER IN DETROIT New York University Press, 2024, 304pp, £28.99, hardback.