History Workshop 27

History Workshop 27, Nationalism and Regionalism, took place at Leeds Metropolitan University between 19 and 21 November 1993. This reflected a continuing interest in nationalism at later Workshops, probably due at least in part to growing nationalism in Eastern Europe at this time. The choice of nationalism as a theme may also have been influenced by the ongoing demise of apartheid in South Africa at this time – reflected in a strand of discussion on the politics of Southern Africa.

As had become customary at History Workshops, discussion was organised around a plenary session and then a number of parallel discussion strands. Themes covered by the strands included ‘Fascism’, ‘The Politics of Southern Africa’, ‘Green History: Eco-systems and Bio-regions’, ‘Nationalisms’, ‘Anarchism’, ‘Materiality, Locality and Identity’, ‘Women’s/Local History’, ‘France: State and Nation’, ‘Gender and History’, ‘Race, Nation and Education’, ‘Representing the Regions’, ‘Peasantries’, and ‘Poverty and the Regions 1750-1914’.

Workshop 27 was slightly less ambitious in scope than some of the preceding events, and aimed to focus more closely on one theme than had some recent Workshops. A report in History Workshop Journal suggested that the events had lost some of the fire which had characterised many of the earlier gatherings, and had adopted a more collegiate tone. This was partly ascribed to the now increasingly academic constituency of the Workshop movement. This implied the departure of the activist and worker elements who had been a strong presence at earlier Workshops.