Which Side are you on? Great Britain and the Miner's Strike 1984/85 - Einzelansicht

The British miners´ strike of 1984/85 was one of the biggest industrial disputes in post-war British history. In an attempt to stop mining closures and the loss of jobs, thousands of miners came out in protest and went on strike for over a year. In the end, the miners were unable to push through their demands and returned to the collieries in March 1985. This meant victory for Margaret Thatcher´s liberal reforms to transform the economy and curb the influence of trade unions. Thus, it was a decisive step in reshaping the British economy in the 1980s.

The events have been recorded and commented on in a variety of sources: Government documents, memoirs of protagonists, oral accounts by striking miners, activists and politicians, and artistic interpretations such as in novels, films and pop music. This course aims to develop critical source analysis skills through the study of these diverse sources.
By working on these sources, students will learn how to interpret and analyse sources, work with scientific literature and present the results of their analysis.
Please note: The course will be held in English and literature will be provided in English. It requires an appropriate level of language proficiency, especially in terms of reading comprehension and conversation skills.
Please note: The course will take place as a block seminar - Two introductory sessions on 19.10. and 26.10.2022, 4-6 pm (room 1.09.2.05); Three block sessions on Friday, 13 January (12.00-15.00); Saturday, 14 January (8 am - 4 pm); Sunday, 15 January (8 am - 4 pm) (Room 1.11.2.03). It is necessary to participate in all block sessions.

Arnold, Jörg: Vom Verlierer zum Gewinner – und zurück. Der Coal Miner als Schlüsselfigur der britischen Zeitgeschichte, in: Geschichte und Gesellschaft 42,2 (2016), S. 266–297; Beckett, Francis / Hencke, David: Marching to the Fault Line. The Miners’ Strike and the Battle for Industrial Britain, London 2009; Howell, David: Defiant Dominoes: Working Miners and the 1984-5 Strike, in: Ben Jackson / Robert Saunders (Hrsg.): Making Thatcher’s Britain, Cambridge 2012, S. 148–164; Leeworthy, Daryl: The Secret Life of Us. 1984, the Miners’ Strike and the Place of Biography in Writing History ‘From Below’, in: European Review of History 19,5 (2012), S. 825-846; Phillips, Jim: Containing, Isolating and Defeating the Miners. The UK Cabinet Ministerial Group on Coal and the Three Phases of the 1984-85 Strike, in: Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 35 (2014), S. 117–141; Taylor, Andrew: The NUM and British Politics, Bd. 2: 1969-1995, Aldershot 2005.

The course will take place as a block seminar - Two introductory sessions on 19.10. and 26.10.2022, 4-6 pm (room 1.09.2.05); Three block sessions on Friday, 13 January (12.00-15.00); Saturday, 14 January (8 am - 4 pm); Sunday, 15 January (8 am - 4 pm) (Room 1.11.2.03)

Active participation in the seminar discussion and all block sessions, presentation, source analysis (10 pages)