@indyhistnetwork.bsky.social The Modern British Studies Association is seeking a representative for independent scholars on our Steering Committee - please do consider joining us. Further details via this link: modbritstud.org.uk/join/

Lucy Delap@lucydelap.bsky.social · yesterday

Great discussion at the 'crisis in UK history' meeting hosted by @ihr.bsky.social, @royalhistsoc.org, @histassoc.bsky.social and History UK. Horror stories of closures and redundancies, balanced by new resources. Check out for ex. the new Independent Historians Network independenthistorians.org

The Modern British Studies Association is looking for volunteers to join its steering committee. We're keen to appoint a representative for independent scholars, for early career researchers, & co-editors for our blog. More details below; expressions of interest by 7 Sept. modbritstud.org.uk/join/

We're delighted to announce that Somak Biswas has won the MBSA Early Career Prize for best presentation at #MBS2026, for a paper entitled ‘AIDS & the Racialisation of Mobility: Britain, 1985-1995’. The judges also highly commended Rebecca Orr & Naomi Samake-Bäckert modbritstud.org.uk/events-awards/

Just one more day to send in your paper from #MBS26 if you want to enter our ECR best paper prize modbritstud.org.uk/events-awards/

'Lawyers held a unique vantage point as the law was increasingly used in norm-breaking ways as a tool of campaigners from across the political spectrum.' Katherine Milliken identifies new avenues for understanding late twentieth century Britain through the law. modbritstud.org.uk/why-do-you-n...

Why do you need more lawyers in your (historical) life? - The Modern British Studies Association

Katherine Milliken I spoke at the recent (and excellent) Modern British Studies Association conference in Birmingham as part of a panel on ‘New Legal Histories of Late Modern Britain, c,1970-2010’ and...

modbritstud.org.uk

Why should historians investigate the legal profession? Katherine Milliken @katie1973.bsky.social argues that lawyers became key contestors of a more powerful 1970s & 1980s political executive. Out today on #MBSA Histories from Here modbritstud.org.uk/why-do-you-n...

Why do you need more lawyers in your (historical) life? - The Modern British Studies Association

Katherine Milliken I spoke at the recent (and excellent) Modern British Studies Association conference in Birmingham as part of a panel on ‘New Legal Histories of Late Modern Britain, c,1970-2010’ and...

modbritstud.org.uk

If you are an ECR and gave a paper at #MBS26, please do send us your paper and slides for consideration for our 'Best ECR Paper' prize. Details on our website, www.modbritstud.org.uk

For those looking for some longer historical context about white supremacist politics in Northern Ireland, I heartily recommend Daniel Geary’s chapter in this fantastic edited collection: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526147073/

Manchester University Press - Global white nationalism

Global white nationalism - Browse and buy the Paperback edition of Global white nationalism by Daniel Geary

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

I’m really pleased to see my article on “The Asian Mother and Baby Campaign” in the @jbritishstudies.bsky.social Many thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding this research. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The latest in our 'Histories from Here' series is published today. @beccagold.bsky.social reflects on writing contingent, hopeful histories in today's heated political moment, that assume neither progress nor collapse are inevitable modbritstud.org.uk/history-from...

History from here – the political ‘here’ - The Modern British Studies Association

What does it mean to write history in our current political climate? The questions we ask as historians are inevitably shaped by the landscape we collectively inhabit, and our individual vantage point...

modbritstud.org.uk

A really great time attending and speaking at @modbritstud.bsky.social Conference the past few days! Great papers with great speakers #MBS2026

Being a part of this #MBS2026 panel was a real treat! Many thanks to my fellow speakers @drrochellerowe.bsky.social @oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social Aleph Ross @leilarsellers.bsky.social @benjamin-bland.bsky.social and @evemworth.bsky.social and our fantastic chair @tsasson.bsky.social

Modern British Studies Association@modbritstud.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Discussion of passing in relation to race, class, disability, gender & ethnicity raises very pertinent final questions for #mbs26: how modern is the sense of self that underpins ideas of passing? Is the language of presenting more useful? How can we explore sonic and embodied aspects?

Biggest thanks to Chika Tonooka for all her posts over the course of #mbs26. It was great to be able to give glimpses of the panels and debate to folks on Bsky

Modern British Studies Association@modbritstud.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Finally, thanks to everyone who followed these Bluesky posts across the last 3 days. I’m now handing the account keys back to my colleague Lucy Delap. (Chika Tonooka)

We’ve officially reached the end of #MBS2026! Thank you to everyone who attended, both in person and online. It’s been fantastic seeing so many people here and engaging in these vital conversations across Modern British Studies.

Discussion of passing in relation to race, class, disability, gender & ethnicity raises very pertinent final questions for #mbs26: how modern is the sense of self that underpins ideas of passing? Is the language of presenting more useful? How can we explore sonic and embodied aspects?

#MBS2026 post-lunch panel on social science and government identifies important areas of investigation for historicising the 1990s:

In the last panel of #mbs26 we are keeping our energy levels up with edible cups to nibble as we listen to the brilliant lineup discussing passing in modern Britain

Heading into our final parallel sessions to close out #MBS2026. Here is the final session lineup: 1. Decolonising British Urban History 2. Class and Negotiations with the State 3. Passing in Modern British Studies

Here are the choices for the post-lunch slot #MBS2026: 1. Social Science and British Government in the 1990s: Sex, Deficits, and Futurology 2. Politics, Society, and the Body 3. Energy transitions 4. Political Movements and the Afterlife of Empire 5. Crises of Sexual Health in Modern Britain

Brilliant panel on cultural histories of climate #MBS2026. Papers highlight the potential of focusing on the weather for exploring the environmental, material, embodied, discursive and their intersections.

And here is the lineup for our second morning slot - Day 3 #MBS2026: 1. Encounters with Nature 2. Writing Everyday Whiteness 3. Trauma, Memory, and Care in ‘Oral’ History and Contemporary Archives

Great panel on US writer & activist James Baldwin’s relationship to Britain – Douglas Field highlights Baldwin’s commitment to trans-Atlantic black radicalism and critique of global reach of white supremacy. #MBS2026

Fascinating panel on women's oral history evidence and how it might be used in policy collaborations. Dangers of flattening evidence and policymaker disinterest in slow research. Yet panelists note govt and business strong interest in participatory methods #mbs2026

It’s Day 3 of #MBS2026! We’re kicking off at 9am with parallel sessions and plenty of tough choices to make across a range of modern British studies.

📚 Demystifying Trade Publishing: Some golden advice from Day 2’s #MBS2026 Roundtable on ‘Writing Public Histories of Modern Britain’. 📚 Featuring: Emily Baughan (Sheffield) Kieran Connell (Queen’s University Belfast) Helen McCarthy (Cambridge) Lucy Delap (Cambridge)

Regimes of exploitation, mapped by Nick Draper and Legacies of Enslavement team. Illustrates the power of visualisation to capture racial capitalism and accumulation #mbs26

The highlight plenary of #mbs26, with the legendary Catherine Hall

The #MBS2026 hybrid Plenary Lecture begins at 5:30pm this evening. Catherine Hall (UCL) will present her keynote address, titled 'Laying an axe to the roots: history writing for the present'. Many thanks to @britishacademy.bsky.social for sponsoring this event. www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

Modern British Studies Conference 2026 - University of Birmingham

Conference information

birmingham.ac.uk

Born digital sources panel #mbs2026 is quite pessimistic in tone, despite riches of 'digital heap' of two decades of uk state digital sources held by the National Archives. Digital records management broadly means deletion. Rot or obsolescence affects sources. And ethical parameters unclear.

Now moving into the last parallel sessions of Day 2 at #MBS2026: 1. Mass Observation and Vernacular Understandings of Crisis 2. New Legal Histories of Late Modern Britain, c.1970-2010 3. Colonialism, Belonging, and the British Empire