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Inequalities, Activism and Social Justice

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This strand invites you to think about profound questions connected to inequality, social movements, and the nature of justice in society.

How have manifestations of social, material, or cultural inequality changed over time, and how might practices of charity or systems of welfare have changed as a result? How have activists sought to effect social change or to enact their vision of social justice? How have geography and (de)colonialism shaped understandings of activism or justice, for whom, and by whom? Which groups are included or excluded from these visions? What inequalities, perceived or real, did their activism address? How have historians engaged with concepts of inequality, activism, or social justice? How might work on these histories connect with the same broad sweep of topics today?

This strand welcomes proposals for papers and panels on these and other themes, including poverty and welfare; charity and philanthropy; humanitarianism; human rights and civil rights; social movements, and more. It welcomes contributions from all time periods, and interdisciplinary work drawing on, for example, political thought, information science, social theory, geography, literature, and economics.

We welcome submissions from archivists, practitioners, and curators and the strand is also interested in proposals covering innovative teaching methods. Submissions from postgraduate students are particularly welcome.

Strand Convenors