Alistair Thomson – författare

From 2011 to 2014, the Australian Generations Oral History Project recorded 300 interviews with Australians born between 1920 and 1989. The contributions to this book, a result of this project, reflect on the practice of oral history and how interviews can illuminate Australian social and cultural history. Three of the chapters consider oral history innovations: focusing on the potential for oral history in a digital age, the pioneering technologies that underpinned Australian Generations and the ethical issues posed by online digital oral history, and the challenges and opportunities for radio oral history. In addition, four chapters demonstrate how oral history interviews can be used as rich evidence for historical research: examining the interconnections between class, social equity, and higher education in post-war Australia; how life histories can transform understandings of mental ill-health; considering how oral history interviews with Australians of all ages confound stereotypical notions about generations; and investigating the ways in which family relationships mediate identities and how remembered places and objects provide points of anchor in a rapidly changing world. This book was originally published as a special issue of Australian Historical Studies.

The Oral History Reader, now in its third edition, is a comprehensive, international anthology combining major, ‘classic’ articles with cutting-edge pieces on the theory, method and use of oral history. Twenty-seven new chapters introduce the most significant developments in oral history in the last decade to bring this invaluable text up to date, with new pieces on emotions and the senses, on crisis oral history, current thinking around traumatic memory, the impact of digital mobile technologies, and how oral history is being used in public contexts, with more international examples to draw in work from North and South America, Britain and Europe, Australasia, Asia and Africa.Arranged in five thematic sections, each with an introduction by the editors to contextualise the selection and review relevant literature, articles in this collection draw upon diverse oral history experiences to examine issues including:Key debates in the development of oral history over the past seventy yearsFirst hand reflections on interview practice, and issues posed by the interview relationshipThe nature of memory and its significance in oral historyThe practical and ethical issues surrounding the interpretation, presentation and public use of oral testimoniesHow oral history projects contribute to the study of the past and involve the wider communityThe challenges and contributions of oral history projects committed to advocacy and empowermentWith a revised and updated bibliography and useful contacts list, as well as a dedicated online resources page, this third edition of The Oral History Reader is the perfect tool for those encountering oral history for the first time, as well as for seasoned practitioners.

The Oral History Reader, now in its third edition, is a comprehensive, international anthology combining major, ‘classic’ articles with cutting-edge pieces on the theory, method and use of oral history. Twenty-seven new chapters introduce the most significant developments in oral history in the last decade to bring this invaluable text up to date, with new pieces on emotions and the senses, on crisis oral history, current thinking around traumatic memory, the impact of digital mobile technologies, and how oral history is being used in public contexts, with more international examples to draw in work from North and South America, Britain and Europe, Australasia, Asia and Africa.Arranged in five thematic sections, each with an introduction by the editors to contextualise the selection and review relevant literature, articles in this collection draw upon diverse oral history experiences to examine issues including:Key debates in the development of oral history over the past seventy yearsFirst hand reflections on interview practice, and issues posed by the interview relationshipThe nature of memory and its significance in oral historyThe practical and ethical issues surrounding the interpretation, presentation and public use of oral testimoniesHow oral history projects contribute to the study of the past and involve the wider communityThe challenges and contributions of oral history projects committed to advocacy and empowermentWith a revised and updated bibliography and useful contacts list, as well as a dedicated online resources page, this third edition of The Oral History Reader is the perfect tool for those encountering oral history for the first time, as well as for seasoned practitioners.

From 2011 to 2014, the Australian Generations Oral History Project recorded 300 interviews with Australians born between 1920 and 1989. The contributions to this book, a result of this project, reflect on the practice of oral history and how interviews can illuminate Australian social and cultural history. Three of the chapters consider oral history innovations: focusing on the potential for oral history in a digital age, the pioneering technologies that underpinned Australian Generations and the ethical issues posed by online digital oral history, and the challenges and opportunities for radio oral history. In addition, four chapters demonstrate how oral history interviews can be used as rich evidence for historical research: examining the interconnections between class, social equity, and higher education in post-war Australia; how life histories can transform understandings of mental ill-health; considering how oral history interviews with Australians of all ages confound stereotypical notions about generations; and investigating the ways in which family relationships mediate identities and how remembered places and objects provide points of anchor in a rapidly changing world. This book was originally published as a special issue of Australian Historical Studies.

More than a million Britons emigrated to Australia between the 1940s and 1970s. They were the famous 'ten pound Poms' and this is their story. Illuminated by the fascinating testimony of migrant life histories, this is the first substantial history of their experience and fills a gaping hole in the literature of emigration.The authors, both leading figures in the fields of oral history and migration studies, draw upon a rich life history archive of letters, diaries, personal photographs and hundreds of oral history interviews with former migrants, including those who settled in Australia and those who returned to Britain. They offer original interpretations of key historical themes, including: motivations for emigration; gender relations and the family dynamics of migration; the 'very familiar and awfully strange' confrontation with the new world; the anguish of homesickness and return; and the personal and national identities of both settlers and returnees, fifty years on.Accessible and appealing, this book will engage readers interested in British and Australian migration history and intrigued about the significance of migrant memories for individuals, families and nations.

I'm not a good mother - not what Dr. Spock calls a “slow mother” who leaves her chores to make sure junior gets the right treatment. (Dorothy Wright, 1961) I must admit that I am no longer the same person who was tied to the kitchen sink at home. (Phyllis Cave, 1973) This book represents a unique collaboration between a historian and four ordinary women who were extraordinary letters-writers, family photographers and memoirists. As British migrants to Australia these women recorded in intimate detail aspects of everyday life and women's experience that are often lost to history: childcare and housework, housing and domestic appliances, friendship, family and married life. Taken together, their stories enrich and complicate our understanding of key themes in twentieth century women’s history. This book will appeal to students and academics interested in British and Australian social history, oral history, women’s studies and the lived experience of migration.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Oral History is a comprehensive examination of oral history which addresses a wide range of practitioners, from beginning students to graduate students and established scholars, community and freelance practitioners in the field, and those from other fields and disciplines interested in oral history. The purpose of the book is to provide a broad range of readers with:* An advanced introduction into and overview of the field;* Cutting-edge reflections on core themes in the field; and* Global comparative perspectives on oral history theory and practice The Handbook is arranged in five thematic Parts: Creating Interviews, Interpreting Oral Histories, Making Histories, Advocacy & Empowerment, and Big Questions & Future Directions. Each chapter documents the state-of-the-art in a particular subject area and surveys the international historiography and current debates. Each chapter concludes with a brief outlook of potential future developments in the field.With chapter authors from every region of the oral history world - North America, South America, Oceania, Africa, Asia and Europe - and each author making use of examples and scholarship from across the global field of oral history, this volume represents the first truly international handbook of oral history.