A living archive of the British Black Power movement of the 1960s-70s
CDA in collaboration between the School of Advanced Study and The National Archives.
- Primary academic supervisor: Dr Pragya Dhital (School of Advanced Study)
- Collaborative Partner supervisor: Dr Kevin Searle (The National Archives)
- Secondary academic supervisor: Dr Andrew Nash (School of Advanced Study)
- Collaborative Partner secondary supervisor: Dr Kaja Marczewska (The National Archives)
This project explores the British Black Power movement of the 1960s-70s through an original focus on state surveillance of its unofficial publications. It will use innovative approaches to archival research and oral history to produce an important study of the movement, which will enlarge the scope of work on radical print and the policing of racialised communities.
The project spans the period from formation of the British Black Panthers in 1968 to the repeal of the ‘sus laws’ (anti-vagrancy laws giving police stop and search powers) in 1981. This period saw a low point in race relations, characterised by provocative media coverage of a ‘mugging crisis’ and extensive use of ‘sus laws’. But it was also the period of the ‘mimeograph revolution’, a global efflorescence of DIY and radical print.
A multi-layered and polyvocal perspective on the movement will be achieved through:
– A bibliographic survey of the unofficial publications of the British Black Power movement of the 1960s-70s, currently found across many local collections and in National Archives surveillance records.
– A survey of National Archives surveillance records on these publications and their authors. This will place surveillance of these works in historical and transnational perspective: cover the role of British anti-vagrancy laws dating back to the 16th century and also consider the use of Cold War-era cultural policing mechanisms.
– Oral history interviews with people involved in the production and circulation of this literature. These will include recollections of the past and responses to this archival material in the present.
Outputs can take the form of a standard academic thesis. But we would particularly welcome proposals adopting a creative or practice-based approach (e.g. proposing a work of fiction or creative nonfiction; an online or physical exhibition; a digital resource etc).
Applicants should have a master’s degree in a relevant subject or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting (with examples of what this might be).
We strongly encourage applicants from backgrounds currently underrepresented in archives and academia: first-generation university-educated; Black, Asian and Global Majority; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+); neurodivergent; with hidden or visible disabilities.
For queries specific to the project, please contact the project’s lead supervisor Pragya Dhital (pragya.dhital@sas.ac.uk) or Collaborative Partner Supervisor Kevin Searle (kevin.searle@nationalarchives.gov.uk).
Applicants will need to apply for the CDA project via the LAHP online portal by 5pm 26th January 2024. For more information on the application process click here.