Social History

Welcome to the Making History: The changing face of the profession in Britain. A research project from the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) which explores the history of the discipline of history in the United Kingdom.

Most non-human primates live in social groups. So how are humans different? Find out here.

Welcome to the Making History: The changing face of the profession in Britain. A research project from the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) which explores the changing faces of the discipline of history in the United Kingdom.

A new form of antiquarianism? Celebrating experience at the expense of analysis? The sort of history Socialists write? Rescuing the past from the enormous 'condescension of posterity'? Mobilising popular enthusiasm? What is social history?

Social history, often called the new social history, is a broad branch of history that studies the experiences of ordinary people in the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments.

If we want to understand why standard schools are what they are, we have to abandon the idea that they are products of logical necessity or scientific insight. They are, instead, products of history. Schooling, as it exists today, only makes sense if we view it from a historical perspective.

For those in the upper echelons of Victorian society, rules such as the proper forms of address, and even what to wear (including which pieces of jewellery would be appropriate) were all considered very important.

Howard Zinn's influential mutilations of American history.

This great book should really be read by everyone. It is difficult to describe why it so great because it both teaches and inspires. You really just have to read it. We think it is so good that it demands to be as accessible as possible.

Many historians argue that in a pre-market, farm economy, women enjoyed something much more like equality. On a family farm, men and women typically did different jobs - men did heavy field labor, woodwork and repair, and worked with large edge tools: women typically did food and clothing preparation, and food preservation. Children were raised by both. A farm simply could not survive without the skilled labor of both men and women, and in this sense men and women's contribution to the economy of the family farm was equal.

Men and women, are we really so different? To help us understand sex, gender, and our whole place within this species, I've put together a brief timeline of how men and women have come to relate to each other. Think of it as a highlight reel of the last billion years. Enjoy.