Seminar outline.

Key questions for discussion in the seminar:

• What are some of the key debates in the history and historiography of voluntary action in Britain?

• How do we define ‘voluntary action’ and related concepts?

• How can object-based learning provide insights into the history of voluntary action in modern Britain?

This first session will introduce students to key topics, themes and debates in the history and historiography of voluntary action in twentieth-century Britain. We will explore upcoming themes through engagement with the material culture of charity through the HIST7466 object handling collection. Each object – some familiar, some less so – relates to organisations, campaigns, people and events that we will return to over the following 9 weeks. Objects can be viewed from many different perspectives to reveal multiple, and sometimes contested, meanings.

Have a look at some information about the UK Voluntary Sector in 2019 in the UK Civil Society Almanac available at https://data.ncvo.org.uk/  You might also look at the Government's Civil Society Strategy (you can read a 7-page summary).