This module (and its co-requisite The Revolting Right: Conservative Activism in Post-war Britain (Masters): A) will allow students to study a historical theme or area in great depth, under the guidance of an individual member of staff. The module will allow students to study an aspect of history in detail and gain a fuller understanding of how different types of source material inform the historical process. Like Part A, Part B will involve a detailed examination of primary as well as secondary sources, (documents, newspapers etc) both published and unpublished, and students will be tested on their ability to compare different source materials from the period under scrutiny. The course uses the extra-parliamentary right to ask big questions about political mobilizations in the twentieth century and how to historicize these. We will consider what conservatism look like when we observe it from outside Parliament and explores the ways which Thatcherism become ‘ordinary’ through activist spaces including the Neighbourhood Watch, the individual share owners or the University campus. The course will reflect upon the histories of conservatism, ethnic populism, neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
analyse and critically appraise key events and historical processes relevant to the subject under scrutiny;
analyse and critically evaluate a wide range of relevant primary source material offering where appropriate, an explicitly comparative perspective;
critically evaluate the historiographical context and trends of the subject under exploration;
Summarise, synthesise and evaluate the subject material in a sophisticated written form showing an awareness of further research potential.
