Scope
During this course, we will explore key moments and aspects of popular protest in Britain. A wide range of primary sources (texts, oral archives, iconography) as well as later representations and interpretations (movies, scholarly texts) will be examined. Some sessions will focus on illustrious events and movements (the peasants’ revolt, chartism, the suffragette movement, etc.), whilst others will address less prominent but equally significant phenomena (18th-century rioting, strikes during the Second World War, etc.). Particular emphasis will be placed on the conflicting representations and interpretations these events have generated over time. These conflicts often persist today, sometimes in a more subdued form – but not always.
Purpose
- To practice and develop the five Cambridge English C1 Advanced skills (listening, reading, speaking, interacting, writing).
- To acquire key reference points within British history.
- To develop a critical awareness of the contested nature of memory and historiography.
- To gain insight into the main principles that have shaped the perception, representation and interpretation of popular protest.
Provisional outline
- The Peasants’ revolt
- The Levellers and the Diggers
- 18th-century Rioting
- Luddism
- Chartism
- A Corporatist Working Class?
- Suffragettes and Suffragists
- A People’s War? Strikes during the Second World War
- The Poll Tax Riots
- Black Lives Matter
