20-21 March 2025, Bochum
Organizing Committee: Jörg Arnold (University of Nottingham), Stefan Berger (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Marion Henry (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), and Jim Phillips (University of Glasgow)
The miners’ strike of 1984/5 is regarded as a seminal event of contemporary British history. The strike pitted Britain’s most iconic group of workers, organised in the National Union of Mineworkers, and led by Arthur Scargill, against the Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher. The government drew on the full resources of the state – ranging from the police to the courts to public relations – to ‘contain, isolate and defeat’ the striking miners in twelve gruelling months of attrition..
The international conference, to be held at the Institute for Social Movements in Bochum over two days on 20/21 March 2025, aims to evaluate critically the existing historiography and to sketch avenues for future research. In this call for papers, we invite contributions of original research addressing diverse economic, social, cultural and political dimensions of the strike and its aftermath. These include but are not necessarily restricted to:
- Political dimensions of the strike: these include the aims and strategies of the National Coal Board, and the Conservative government but also the strategic thinking of the National Union of Mineworkers.
-The role of women in the strike, including gender perspectives on the strike
-The experience of children in the strike
-The role and experience of strike-breakers
-The perspective of people not directly involved in the conflict
-The strike and people from different ethnicities
-Environmental questions and energy politics
-The strike and international perspectives
-How the strike is remembered and memorialized
Please submit a short abstract (c. 200 words) of your proposed paper, and a one-page CV to Stefan Berger at stefan.berger@rub.de. The deadline for submissions is 15 March 2024. We expect to be able to cover travel and accommodation costs for all invited delegates.