Voices of Postwar England: an oral history of the working-class

Young, H. and Todd, S. (2008) Voices of Postwar England: an oral history of the working-class. [Website]

Abstract

The aim of this blog is to offer more information about life in England during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s – and provide some thoughts about how life then compares with life today. In particular it focuses on working class history, and showcases oral history from twenty life history interviews we have conducted with people in Coventry and Liverpool between September 2006 and now. These oral histories are part of a wider project that Selina Todd and myself, Hilary Young, have been working on to explore working class identities in postwar Britain. The relationship between the working class and affluence is central to this wider project. In order to build a bigger yet more nuanced picture of how people experienced class and social mobility we have looked at a wide variety of sources including sociological surveys conducted in the fifties and sixties, newspaper reports, diaries, films and memoirs. But at the heart of this project are people’s own experiences of growing up, living, socialising and working in two predominantly working-class cities in this period:

• Item Type: Website
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Young, Dr Hilary
• Authors: Young, H., and Todd, S.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain; H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform; H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman; H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Information Studies
• Published Online: 01 June 2008