Professor Arthur McIvor

History

Personal statement

My research interests are in the history of work and occupational health where I’ve played a significant role over the past two decades in applying an oral history methodology. My work thus lies at the intersection of the sub-disciplines of labour and medical history. My recent publications reflect this, including a co-authored book, Miners’ Lung (Ashgate, 2007), my monograph Working Lives: Work in Britain since 1945 (Palgrave 2013) and the co-authored book Men in Reserve: British Civilian Masculinity in the Second World War (Manchester University Press, 2017). Generous financial support from external funders has contributed to these research outputs, including the AHRC, the Wellcome Trust, the Nuffield Foundation and the Hudson Trust. I am currently working on projects on the transnational gendered health impacts of industrialisation and deindustrialisation (as Co-investigator in a major Canadian SSHRC research project: Deindustrialization and the Politics of our Time, 2021-27); 'The Lost Villages: Deindustrialisation in East Ayrshire' (Principal Investigator: Externally funded £143,000, 2021-23); working lives in the Scottish and Irish whisky industry (funded by Diageo, Irish Distillers and Chivas; since 2015); and the oral history of occupational health. 

I am currently writing a book, Jobs and Bodies: An Oral History of Health and Safety at Work in Post-War Britain (under contract with Bloomsbury Press for delivery 1 Oct 2022). 

In my role as Director (since 2005) of the Scottish Oral History Centre (SOHC) I have overseen its development into an internationally renowned interdisciplinary research and knowledge exchange centre for oral history. I am passionate about oral history and have played a leading role in getting oral history situated as one of the four research strengths of the History subject area at the University of Strathclyde, in teaching through our undergraduate and postgraduate oral history pathways, in providing advanced oral history training through the SGSAH/SS and in supervising dissertation, Masters and PhD theses deploying oral history methodologies.

I strongly believe that academic research should have a significant public impact and that there should be deep engagement with the public and wider stakeholders. I have tried to do this in my own research where my oral history approach to occupational respiratory disease and disability has had a significant effect on understanding the diverse and complex impacts of contracting such diseases upon identities, health and well-being, including in relation to the ongoing asbestos-related disease epidemic. I held an AHRC Knowledge Transfer Fellowship with Glasgow Museums in 2010-11 and have developed close links with museums, archives, community groups and some businesses, which has significantly impacted on their practices, including their understanding of the importance of memory heritage and the role of the voice in reconstructing past lived experience. I submitted a public impact case study to REF2014 and another: 'Memory in Public History' to REF2021 (rated at internal audit at 4*). The latter incorporates a new MOOC (FutureLearn) I worked on (with Kirstie Blair) delivered over 2019-2021 on coal miners' working lives (in collaboration with coal mining museums). Over 4,650 learners have taken the MOOC to date.

I have extensive experience of postgraduate supervision and welcome enquiries from prospective Masters and doctoral students interested in any aspects of the history of work, occupational health and safety, and deindustrialisation – especially those interested in deploying oral history methodology.

 

 

Publications

Germs in the English Workplace, c1880–1945 , by Laura Newman
McIvor Arthur
Nuncius Vol 37, pp. 750-752 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1163/18253911-tat00002
Working-class studies, oral history and industrial illness
McIvor Arthur
The Routledge International Handbook of Working Class Studies (2021) (2021)
The Lost Villages : An Oral History of Miners' Rows and Deindustrialisation in East Ayrshire, Scotland
McIvor Arthur, McFadden Yvonne
(2021)
Guardians of workers' bodies? Trade unions and the history of occupational health and safety
McIvor A
Labour History Vol 119 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.3828/jlh.2020.16
Blighted live : Deindustrialisation, health and well-being in the Clydeside region
McIvor Arthur
20 & 21: Revue d'histoire Vol 144 (2019)
Where is 'Red Clydeside'? Industrial heritage, working-class culture and memory in the Glasgow region
McIvor Arthur
Constructing Industrial Pasts Industrial Heritage Making in Britain, the West and Post-Socialist Countries (2019) (2019)

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Professional activities

RESEARCH PROJECT WEBSITE: The Lost Villages https://www.thelostvillages.co.uk
Recipient
1/6/2021
International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) Scientific Committee on the History of Prevention of Occupational and Environmental Diseases, conference, 28-29 May 2020. Keynote: ‘Guardians of workers’ bodies: The rise and fall of trade unions in occupational health and safety’.
Keynote/plenary speaker
2021
'Ruination' : Scotland's Experience of Deindustrialisation
Speaker
13/11/2020
Understanding the Deindustrial Body: The Legacies of Occupational Injuries and Disease in the Former Kent Coalfield (Sophie Rowland)
Examiner
7/11/2019
Mobilizing the Home: The Politics of Female Space, Women’s Working Class Consciousness, and the Labor Movement in the U.S. and Britain, 1912-1922 (Shannon Kirkwood)
Examiner
27/9/2019
Oral History Society Annual Conference
Keynote/plenary speaker
2/7/2019

More professional activities

Projects

Diageo (Cameronbridge)
McIvor, Arthur (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2022
Advanced Oral History for PGR Students (SGSSS/AH)
McIvor, Arthur (Principal Investigator)
Oral history training for the SGSSS/AH
24-Jan-2021 - 25-Jan-2021
The Lost Villages: Deindustrialisation in East Ayrshire
McIvor, Arthur (Principal Investigator) MCFADDEN, Yvonne (Researcher)
Oral history project as part of the Coalfield Communities Landscape Partnership (East Ayrshire Council) and funded (£143k) by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Environment Scotland. See website: https://www.thelostvillages.co.uk
01-Jan-2021 - 28-Jan-2023
Oral Histories of life in the Row Villages
McIvor, Arthur (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2022
Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time
McIvor, Arthur (Principal Investigator)
Please see also 191203
01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2027
Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard Oral History Project
Walker, David (Researcher) McIvor, Arthur (Principal Investigator)
An oral history project interviewing former and current employees of Midleton Distillery owned by Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard. The project involved discussions with individuals about their direct experiences in the development of the Irish whiskey industry. The narratives will be added as a distinct collection to the Archives of Irish Distillers and used as a point of reference for future research.
15-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2018

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