History from below
History from below seeks to take as its subjects ordinary people, and concentrate on their experiences and perspectives, contrasting itself with the stereotype of traditional political history and its focus on the actions of 'great men'. It also differed from traditional labour history in that its exponents were more interested in popular protest and culture than in the organisations of the working class. Emerging partly from the preoccupations of the Communist Party Historians Group and Past and Present in the 1950s, in the following decade the founding of the History Workshop movement at Ruskin College saw the emphasis shift from strict Marxism to women's history and oral history, as well as to encouraging the participation of non-academics.
- Historians:
- Cobb, Richard Charles
Hill, John Edward Christopher
Hilton, Rodney Howard
Hobsbawm, Eric J.
Samuel, Raphael Elkan
Thompson, Edward Palmer - Institutions:
- Communist Party Historians Group
History Workshop Journal
Past and Present
- Themes:
- Annales school
Labour history
Marxist history
Oral history
Social history
