The British Library holds a wealth of books, journals, social studies, historical documents and official publications. Readers can examine the welfare state through a variety of topics from social work and social policy administration, governance and management and empirical studies. Our collections have considerable scope and provide historical context to a wide range of themes.  

Now that the remote ordering system has been restored, it is much easier for readers to gain access to printed books and journals.  To use the remote ordering system, readers need to have registered for, or renewed, their reader's pass after 21 March 2024.  This post highlights publications that offer an insight into some of the issues that influence government policy, that can be ordered from home for viewing in the reading room. 

 

Introducing social policy, by Cliff Alcock, Guy Daly, and Edwin Griggs. 2nd edition. Harlow: Longman, 2008. Shelfmark YC.2012.a.3656

Introducing social policy (YC.2012.a.3656) provides a historical overview of welfare provision as it emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and progressed into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The authors provide an overview of how contemporary social policy is governed and suggest ways researchers can adopt a theoretical approach to studying relevant policy areas.  These include social security, health services, social services, education, employment and housing. 

 

Citizen, state, and social welfare in Britain 1830-1990, by Geoffrey Finlayson.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Shelfmark YC.1994.a.1887

 

In Citizen, state and social welfare in Britain (YC.1994.a.1887),  Geoffrey Finlayson states that the beginning and growth of the welfare state is highly contested and open to debate. Traditionally the processes of state control were seen to emerge in the 1830s, but one could argue that the process began in the late 17^th century.

Finlayson also states that emphasising the emergence of state provision tends to ignore the ‘mixed economy of welfare’. Voluntary activities representing a broad coalition of services have until recently been excluded from research in this area. 

His study is divided into four sections:

1830-1880: providence, paternalism and philanthropy 

1880-1914: challenge, collectivism, and convergence 

1914-1949: war, want, and welfare 

1949-1991: participation, perception, and pluralism 

 

Divided kingdom : a history of Britain, 1900 to the present, by Pat Thane.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Shelfmark YC.2019.b.1339

 

In Divided Kingdom: a history of Britain (YC.2019.b.1339), Pat Thane presents a broad picture of the UK and the political, economic, social and cultural changes which occurred since 1900. He reveals how the decolonisation of empire after the Second World War impacted Britain’s status and influence in the world and how the unity of the UK was affected by the devolution of domestic powers. Thane argues that although state welfare expanded after 1945 and partially survived into the 21^st century, its provision was curtailed by successive governments since the 1980s when many services were outsourced to private contractors. 

 

Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870; essays in honour of Jose Harris, edited by Lawrence Goldman.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. YC.2019.a.8933

 

Composed as a tribute to the renowned social theory historian Jose Harris, the essays in Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870 (YC.2019.a.8933), examine the different approaches to welfare provision in Britain since the Victorian era. Stating that philanthropy was firmly rooted within an imperialist notion of community, the collection assesses the foundations of the welfare state within the context of the Beveridge report and socialist ideals.  

In her essay ‘The Reluctant Planner’ on T.H. Marshall, Julia Moses identifies a shift in post war attitudes away from an earlier tradition of philosophical idealism in social reform towards a universal equality that coexists with material wealth. Other essays in the same volume go on to examine how the foundational ideas of the welfare state were by turns exonerated and rebuffed by successive governments and state actors.  

In a chapter entitled ‘Reshaping the Welfare State’,  John Davis discusses the relative benefits that welfare provision brought to industrialised centres after the Second World War. He also highlights the work of the Institute of Community Studies and the Child Poverty Action Group during the 1960s which recognised the needs of the elderly, disabled and the mentally ill. As the complexity of the social makeup in urban areas and the inadequacy of housing stock became apparent, it meant that statutory services were not responding to new challenges. A consequence of this set of circumstances was that voluntary agencies then became more prevalent. 

 

Imagined orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London, by Lydia Murdoch. New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Rutgers University Press, 2006.  Shelfmark m06/.21505

 

In her study of child welfare in late Victorian London, Imagined Orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London (m06/.21505), Lydia Murdoch focuses on the cultural representations of child poverty and the reality of children’s experiences within welfare institutions in the nineteenth century. While reformers’ motivations were well intentioned, Murdoch shows how they conveyed an anti-poor sentiment that justified a minimalist welfare state. This study also reveals how institutions reacted and adapted to changing values during the First World War. 

 

Continuity and change in voluntary action : patterns, trends and understandings, by Rose Lindsey and John Mohan. Bristol: Policy Press, 2019. Shelfmark YKL.2020.a.2072

 

In their series of essays on the voluntary sector, Continuity and change in voluntary action (YKL.2020.a.2072), Rose Lindsey and John Mohan provide a comprehensive analysis of the social makeup and policy environment of volunteering in Britain since 1979. 

The opening chapter discusses the expansion of voluntary activity as a means of ‘renewing the values of society’. It also identifies the shifting attitudes towards voluntary activity during the Thatcher, Blair/Brown and coalition governments.  

This incisive study identifies trends, trajectories over the life course and attitudes to voluntary work. It also offers a clear analysis of qualitative datasets from the Mass Observation Project and the British Household Panel Survey.

 

The study of social welfare in Britain encompasses a broad range of themes across a number of subject areas and disciplines. In addition to the listed publications, it is possible to investigate social welfare through our extensive collection of reports, journals and government documents. Some of these rarely used sources include reports from the Charity Organisation Society, conference papers, and a complete run of journals from the British Association of Social Workers, as well as publications from the Central Office of Information.

 

UK parliamentary papers are available to view in the Social Sciences Reading Room. Encyclopedias, dictionaries and some research monographs are held on the open shelves.

 

Please check the catalogue or contact the social sciences reference team for more information.

 

Ben Hadley, Social Sciences Subject Librarian

 

 

 

Dr. Paul Stephenson OBE was one of Britain’s most important civil rights campaigners, and a leading organiser of the Bristol bus boycott in 1963. Following his recent passing at the age of 87, this post highlights the resources the British Library can offer for anyone wanting to find out more about his life and work.  

Paul Stephenson made history, but also understood the importance of recording that history through archives and books. He wrote his memoirs and published them with Tangent Books in Bristol, a “purposefully radical publisher”. This post goes on to celebrate some of the remarkable independent publishers in Bristol who have worked to ensure that Paul Stephenson’s story is told, along with many other ‘untold stories’ of people determined to make change. 

 

Second, enlarged, edition of Memoirs of a Black Englishman by Paul Stephenson and Lilleith Morrison. Bristol: Tangent Books, 2021. YKL.2022.a.35798

 

Born in Essex in 1937, Paul Stephenson served in the RAF from 1953 until 1960. After completing a Diploma in Youth and Community Work in Birmingham, he was appointed as a youth worker by Bristol City Council, becoming the city’s first Black social worker.

At that time the Bristol Omnibus Company running the city’s bus services only employed white drivers and conductors and actively discriminated against Black and Asian people by barring them from this work. In 1963 Stephenson joined with others, first to expose this policy, and then to overturn the ‘colour bar’.  Inspired by Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, he called for a boycott of the buses in Bristol. 

Black Bristolians who had formed the West Indian Development Council to fight discrimination were joined by students and many others. The boycott of bus services was supplemented by demonstrations and sit-ins outside the bus station. 

Company managers and the local representatives of the Transport & General Workers Union initially justified the ban on Black workers.  Stephenson was described as “irresponsible and dishonest” by the TGWU regional secretary Ron Nethercott, but he successfully sued and won damages, gaining further publicity and national support for the boycott.

Among prominent supporters of the campaign were Labour MPs Tony Benn and Fenner Brockway (the latter had earlier pushed for legislation to ban racial discrimination), as well as former Trinidadian cricketer Learie Constantine. Learie Constantine had himself challenged racial discrimination in the 1940s, successfully suing a hotel company when he and his family were refused accommodation on the grounds of their race. 

 

Learie Constantine and race relations in Britain and the Empire, by Jeff Hill. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. British Library shelfmark YC.2019.a.5854

 

Learie Constantine qualified as a barrister and also worked as a journalist and broadcaster.  At the time of the Bristol bus boycott, he was the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to the UK. His public profile gave the bus boycott wider media coverage.

After four months, the bus company backed down, announcing that it would no longer bar Black and Asian people from becoming drivers and conductors.  This came on the same day as Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington, 28 August 1963.

Future Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson also supported the boycott, and once he was in office, he introduced the Race Relations Act in 1965 making racial discrimination in employment illegal – one landmark in the ongoing struggle for equity.

Paul Stephenson went on to work in leading roles for organisations challenging racial discrimination, notably working with champion heavyweight boxer and civil rights campaigner Muhammad Ali on programmes to encourage and facilitate participation in sport for Black and Asian people. This obituary, written by Professor Kehinde Andrews details some aspects of his work.

 

Where do publishers, libraries and archives come into the story?

Paul Stephenson was an active proponent of self-archiving, understanding that it is one thing to make history and fight for change and another to create and preserve the historical record of struggle and presence.  His own memoir, co-written with Lilleith Morrison, may be seen as one manifestation of his determination to ensure that there would be a historical record of his actions, effectively reclaiming the narrative.

First edition (2011) Memoirs of a Black Englishman by Paul Stephenson and Lilleith Morrison. Bristol: Tangent Books, 2011.  YK.2012.a.27533

 

A further manifestation was Stephenson’s role in setting up the Black Bristol Archives Partnership (BBAP) in 2007 when he placed his own personal archives with Bristol's City Record Office for safekeeping. The Partnership aimed to collect and make accessible archives and artefacts to preserve the record of Black Bristolians in all walks of life from Gylman Ivie, baptised in Dyrham in 1574, to the present day.

The Partnership created calendars celebrating local African-Caribbean achievers, exhibitions, and a learning resource for schools in Bristol called Black Bristolians: People Who Make a Difference.  Paul Stephenson’s work also made a contribution to opening up and addressing the question of Bristol's role in the slave trade.

 

Books about the Bristol Bus Boycott

For all its importance in overturning the ‘colour bar’ and bringing about the Race Relations Act of 1965, relatively little has been written about the Bristol bus boycott other than in wider histories.  There are resources online including a BBC World Service Witness History film featuring Guy Bailey, Paul Stephenson and a short clip of Learie Constantine, and another three-minute film entitled Paul Stephenson: A Journey to Justice where Stephenson explains the campaign. There are links to other online sources at the end of this post.

The small number of books specifically about the boycott have come about mainly through the work of locally-based, radical publishers, including Bristol Broadsides, Tangent Books, and Bristol Radical History Group.  These were joined in 2022 by a school reading book published within the Collins Big Cat series, written by Sandra Agard, who traces her own roots in writing to her involvement in the ground-breaking cooperative bookshop and publisher Centerprise in Hackney.

 

Bristol Broadsides : Black and White on the buses

One of very few books written about the Bristol bus boycott is ‘Black and White on the buses’ a detailed and well-referenced 69-page pamphlet by Madge Dresser, published by Bristol Broadsides.  As a historian, Madge Dresser’s work has centred on Atlantic Slavery, slavery and memory, and pubic history, also taking in the history of minority communities and gender history.

Black and white on the buses: the 1963 colour bar dispute in Bristol, by Madge Dresser. Bristol: Bristol Broadsides, 1987  YC.1989.a.10258

 

Bristol Broadsides was a publishing cooperative and member of the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers, and was active from 1976 to 1991.  There is a fascinating and detailed history of the inception and work of Bristol Broadsides written by Jane Duffus on the Bristol Ideas website.  It features the account of Ian Bild who had himself been inspired by the work of Ken Worpole and others at Centerprise in Hackney from 1971 onwards.

 

Tangent Books

Paul Stephenson’s biography was first published in Bristol by Tangent Books.  They brought out a new, enlarged edition in 2021. In 2013 Tangent Books republished Madge Dresser’s account of the Bristol Bus Boycott to bring it back into circulation.  Since 2004, Tangent Books has been publishing books about Bristol and by Bristol authors. Their publications form an archive of Bristol history, reference, fiction, poetry and counter-culture, including titles on Bristol music and street art.  Tangent aim “to publish books whose stories, thoughts, images and writing will not be published elsewhere”.  Tangent produced learning materials on Memoirs of a Black Englishman available for free download.

 

Bristol Radical History Group – The 1963 Bristol bus boycott

This year (2024) Bristol Radical History Group have published an account of the Boycott by Silu Pascoe and Joyce Morris-Wisdom. Silu Pascoe is a retired social worker who has researched some major historical events and found ‘hidden histories’ of Black people within them.  Her research into her own family’s history has revealed connections with local, national and international history.  Joyce Morris-Wisdom was 14 when she began protesting with fellow boycotters.  She speaks in schools to share her story, recalling how she took time off from school to protest with a mixture of pride in her actions and fear for her safety amid beatings and reprisals.

 

The 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, by Silu Pascoe and Joyce Morris-Wisdom.  Bristol, Bristol Radical Pamphleteers, no. 66, 2024 (image from publisher website)

 

Other books and pamphlets published by Bristol Radical History Group and held by the Library can be found here.  Many are short booklets, but there are also substantial studies delivering high-powered academic work in a readable format, including From Wulfstan to Colston : Severing the sinews of slavery in Bristol, by Mark Steeds and Roger Ball. Bristol: Bristol Radical History Group, 2020 (434pp.)

 

From Wulfstan to Colston : Severing the sinews of slavery in Bristol, by Mark Steeds and Roger Ball. Bristol: Bristol Radical History Group, 2020.  British Library shelfmark YK.2022.a.2734

 

Sandra A. Agard: bringing history and life stories into schools

It’s long been clear that radical and small independent publishers punch above their weight when it comes to telling ‘untold stories’.  But it’s really important that these stories go further, and can be incorporated to the history taught in schools and general reading. Among the big publishers, the only one to have so far included a history of the Bristol bus boycott on their list is Collins (a division of the publishing giant Harper Collins).  In 2022 they added The Bristol Bus Boycott: a fight for racial justice by Sandra A. Agard and Chellie Carroll to their Big Cat series of schools reading books.

The Bristol Bus Boycott: a fight for racial justice. Sandra A. Agard and Chellie Carroll. London, Collins Big Cat, 2022 (Ruby / Band 14 reading book.)  Image from publisher website: not yet available in the Library due to delays caused by the cyber incident.

 

Sandra A. Agard is a storyteller, writer, literary consultant and cultural historian.  She helps children connect with stories and gives them confidence to write and tell their own stories through her work as a learning facilitator in the Library’s Learning Team. The most recent book by Sandra currently available in the Library is her 170-page Trailblazers’ children’s book about Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman: a journey to freedom, by Sandra A. Agard, illustrated by Luisa Uribe, George Ermos, and Manhar Chauhan. London: Stripes, 2019  British Library shelfmark YKL.2020.a.6957 . Stripes is an imprint of Little Tiger, now part of Penguin Random House. There is a video of Sandra reading from the book on the Little Tiger website.

Harriet Tubman: a journey to freedom, by Sandra A. Agard, illustrated by Luisa Uribe, George Ermos, and Manhar Chauhan. London: Stripes, 2019  British Library shelfmark YKL.2020.a.6957

 

Sandra Agard was first encouraged to write and see herself as a writer through her involvement with Centerprise community centre, bookshop and publisher in Hackney.  The Library holds Rosa Schling’s work about Centerprise, based on oral history interviews with some of the participants. The lime green mystery: an oral history of the Centerprise co-operative, by Rosa Schling. London: On The Record, 2017.  British Library shelfmark YKL.2018.a.12258  (The book is also available freely online.)

 

The lime green mystery: an oral history of the Centerprise co-operative, by Rosa Schling. London: On The Record, 2017.  British Library shelfmark YKL.2018.a.12258

 

That the Library holds these books is largely due to ‘legal deposit’ whereby publishers deposit a copy of their books with the British Library (and the other legal deposit libraries, on request).  Holding these books and making them available for research contributes to enabling future generations to explore their past, draw inspiration from it, and shape their own work.

In writing this blog post, I am aware that I have moved away from writing about Paul Stephenson to consider wider aspects of archiving, publishing and preserving history. To return to Paul Stephenson, I would like to close with his words about the Black Bristol Archives Partnership:

“Our work ensures that the work and achievements of people of African descent are not only fully recognised but also preserved as a legacy for future generations.  We owe it to our children.”  (http://ourmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Bristol-Black-Archives-Partnership-text.pdf )

 

Books by Bristol independent, radical publishers that can be read in the Library, included in our interim catalogue (to April 2023):

Bristol Broadsides’ publications held by the Library are here

Bristol Radical History Group publications held by the Library are here

Tangent Books’ publications in the Library are here

 

Accounts of the Bristol Bus Boycott available online include:

Detailed article on the Black History Month website.  https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/civil-rights-movement/the-bristol-bus-boycott-of-1963/ .

A BBC article gives an account written following Paul Stephenson’s passing.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5m864ny6qo

Paul Stephenson Obituary, by Professor Kehinde Andrews, The Guardian, 22 November, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/22/paul-stephenson-obituary

Article in The Guardian following the passing of fellow campaigner Roy Hackett:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/03/bristol-bus-boycott-campaigner-roy-hackett-dies-at-93

A profile article in The Guardian from 2020:    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/01/paul-stephenson-the-hero-who-refused-to-leave-a-pub-and-helped-desegregate-britain

A BBC KS2 History Resource with 5-minute video and teaching notes featuring former Olympic athlete and activist Vernon Samuels whose father became Bristol’s first Black bus driver. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/articles/z9k4g7h

‘How the Bristol bus boycott changed UK civil rights’, short film, Witness History, BBC World Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQXwh__d2S4

BBC article written 50 years after the boycott, 2013:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23795655

BBC film from 2013 with Guy Bailey, Paul Stephenson and Roy Hackett: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-21525110

Paul Stephenson: a journey to justice film on Jeremy Corbyn channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0eR7dH7BYY

Black Curriculum animated film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSyzaXXKUaQ

Roy Hackett speaking about his role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUjZkmxnWV8

 

References

Agard, Sandra A., with Luisa Uribe, George Ermos, and Manhar Chauhan:  Harriet Tubman: a journey to freedom. London: Stripes, 2019  British Library shelfmark YKL.2020.a.6957

Agard, Sandra A. and Carroll Chellie: The Bristol Bus Boycott: a fight for racial justice. London, Collins Big Cat, 2022 (Ruby/Band 14 reading book.) 

Bristol Archives record for Black Bristol Archives Partnership   https://archives.bristol.gov.uk/records/43765

Bristol Museum text about Black Bristol Archives Partnership http://ourmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Bristol-Black-Archives-Partnership-text.pdf

Dresser, Madge: Black and White on the Buses: the campaign against the colour bar in Bristol.  Bristol: Bristol Broadsides, 1987 YC.1989.a.10258

Dresser, Madge: Black and White on the Buses: the campaign against the colour bar in Bristol.  New edition Bristol: Tangent Press 2013 (not held in Library)

Hill, Jeff: Learie Constantine and race relations in Britain and the Empire. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. British Library shelfmark YC.2019.a.5854

Pascoe, Silu and Morris-Wisdom, Joyce: The 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott.  Bristol, Bristol Radical Pamphleteers, no. 66, 2024 (not yet in Library)

Schling, Rosa: The lime green mystery: an oral history of the Centerprise co-operative. London: On The Record, 2017.  British Library shelfmark YKL.2018.a.12258

Steeds, Mark and Ball, Roger: From Wulfstan to Colston : Severing the sinews of slavery in Bristol. Bristol: Bristol Radical History Group, 2020.  British Library shelfmark YK.2022.a.2734

Stephenson, Paul and Lilleith Morrison: Memoirs of a Black Englishman (First edition) Bristol: Tangent Books, 2011.  YK.2012.a.27533

Stephenson, Paul and Lilleith Morrison: Memoirs of a Black Englishman (New, enlarged edition) Bristol: Tangent Books, 2021. YKL.2022.a.35798 (stored offsite)

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Dr.Debbie Cox, November 2024.

Last year’s cyber-attack on the Library continues to impact on social science disciplines where researchers rely on current material.  Whilst remote ordering for print and archival materials received before April 2023 has now been restored, the Library remains unable to provide access to published material held in digital formats (ebooks, ejournals and archived web content) and to print materials received after April 2023.

Rather than focusing on recent work, at the conclusion of this year’s Black History Month, it seems fitting to present a retrospective overview of the work of one of someone who has been at the forefront of reclaiming the historical narrative for over three decades. Hakim Adi held the post of Professor of the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at the University of Chichester, until the university discontinued the Masters course on which he taught and made him redundant in July 2023.  He was the first historian of African heritage to become a professor of history in Britain. Hakim Adi established a ground-breaking Masters by Research (MRes) programme on the History of Africa and the African Diaspora at Chichester. His most recent work, African and Caribbean People in Britain (Penguin, 2023) was shortlisted for the prestigious Wolfson history prize, and he was instrumental in the founding of History Matters whose free, online journal is celebrating the organisation's 10^th year.   History Matters will host the 3rd New Perspectives on the History of African and Caribbean People in Britain Conference on Saturday 9 November 2024. 

 

Cover of Winter 2024 issue of History Matters Journal, Volume 4, no.1.

 

Hakim Adi founded the Young Historians Project to promote the study and popular understanding of Black history. The project encourages the development of young people of African and Caribbean heritage into historians, researchers, editors, public speakers, creatives, and more: passing the work of reclaiming the narrative to a new generation.  In this light, it perhaps not surprising that the earliest of Professor Adi’s works held by the Library is one of his books written for children, rather than adults: African migrations (Hove, Wayland, 1994, YK.1995.b.8866).   This book was republished with an updated cover by Hachette in 2021. 

 

African migrations, by Hakim Adi. Hove, Wayland, 1994. YK.1995.b.8866

 

This post highlights Hakim Adi’s books and chapters in collective works that are held by the Library in print format, and which are currently available to readers using the Library.   Professor Adi can be counted among the many voices calling for Black history to be incorporated more fully into the curriculum at school and university, and to be a concern across the whole year rather than confined to Black History Month.  The books featured in this post can be accessed in the Library’s reading rooms in London and Yorkshire. Anyone over 18 can register for a free reader’s pass to use the reading rooms.

 

The earliest of Professor Adi’s works for adults, co-authored with Marika Sherwood, and held by the Library recounts the history of the fifth, and arguably most significant, Pan African Congress, held in Manchester in 1945.  The book includes the report of the 5th Congress edited by leading Pan-Africanist and writer George Padmore (1903-1959). The book was published by Britain’s first Black publishers and bookshop, New Beacon Books, founded by John La Rose and Sarah White.

 

The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress revisited. Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: New Beacon Books  1995, YC.1995.a.3969

 

Adi followed on three years’ later with West Africans in Britain 1900-1960: nationalism, pan-Africanism and communism, which not only shines an important light on the lives of Black people living in Britain before the Second World War but also shows the influence these pioneers have had on a world scale.

 

West Africans in Britain, 1900-1960: nationalism, pan-Africanism and communism, by Hakim Adi. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1998   YC.1999.a.3231

 

An inside page from West Africans in Britain, 1900-1960: nationalism, pan-Africanism and communism, by Hakim Adi. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1998   YC.1999.a.3231

 

Professor Adi, again working with Marika Sherwood, followed up with a book tracing the wider history of political figures from Africa and the African diaspora.  Pan-African history: political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, was published by Routledge in 2003.

 

Pan-African history: political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, by Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: Routledge, 2003. YC.2004.a.199

 

Adi adapted his scholarship to author another book for children, The history of the African and Caribbean communities in Britain, published in London by Hodder Wayland in 2005, YK.2008.b.5900.  This book has been through multiple editions, and was republished most recently by Hachette in 2021.

The history of the African and Caribbean communities in Britain. London, Hodder Wayland, 2005. YK.2008.b.5900

Professor Adi’s concern not only with history but with the way colonial histories have been presented, comes to the fore in the chapter he contributed to a collective work edited by Simon Faulkner and Anandi Ramamurthy: Visual culture and decolonisation in Britain, YC.2007.a.933.  First published by Ashgate in 2006, and subsequently by Routledge, the book traces the way in which different visual genres – art, film, advertising, photography, news reports and ephemera – represented and contributed to political and social struggles over Empire and decolonisation during the mid-Twentieth century.  Hakim Adi wrote a chapter with Anandi Ramamurthy under the title, 'Fragments in the history of the visual culture of anti-colonial struggle'.

Simon Faulkner and Anandi Ramamurthy: Visual culture and decolonisation in Britain, YC.2007.a.933

 

Another chapter in a wide-ranging and fascinating historical work followed. Adi contributed the chapter on ‘The Negro question; the communist international and black liberation in the interwar years’ to From Toussaint to Tupac : the Black international since the age of revolution (Michael O. West, William G Martin and Fanon Che Wilkins) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009, YC.2010.a.684. From Toussaint to Tupac is a collection of essays across geographic and cultural lines exploring black internationalism and its implications for a black consciousness. Its description reads, “At its core, black internationalism is a struggle against oppression, whether manifested in slavery, colonialism, or racism. The ten essays in this volume offer a comprehensive overview of the global movements that define black internationalism, from its origins in the colonial period to the present.”

From Toussaint to Tupac, YC.2010.a.684, in the centre of other books on the basement shelves, waiting to be ordered up to the reading rooms.

 

In 2011, with Caroline Bressey, Adi edited and contributed a chapter to Belonging in Europe : the African diaspora and work, London: Routledge  2011, YC.2014.a.9592.  In this book, which makes connections across Europe through the experience of work and labour, Adi’s chapter was on ‘The Comintern and Black Workers in Britain and France 1919-37’.  The book’s chapters cover the period from the long eighteenth century to the Second World War.

 

Belonging in Europe: the African diaspora and work, edited by Caroline Bressey and Hakim Adi, London: Routledge  2011, YC.2014.a.9592

 

A flavour of Caroline Bressey’s important work can be gained from her chapter (chapter 11) in Slavery and the British Country House (edited by Madge Dresser and Andrew Hann, and published by English Heritage, which is freely available online.

 

Adi updated and extended his earlier work on communism and Pan-Africanism in 2013, publishing the 445-page Pan-Africanism and communism: the communist international, Africa and the diaspora, 1919-1939. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2013. YC.2019.a.166

Pan-Africanism and communism: the communist international, Africa and the diaspora, 1919-1939. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2013. YC.2019.a.166

 

In 2018, Adi published Pan-Africanism: a history, Bloomsbury Academic, covering many key figures in the twentieth century development of Pan-African thought and practice from W.E.B. De Bois, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah through to the music of Bob Marley.  

Front cover of Pan-Africanism: a history, Hakim Adi, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. YC.2019.a.2646

Back cover of Pan-Africanism: a history, Hakim Adi, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. YC.2019.a.2646

 

Adi brought the work of established and emerging scholars together in the publication of his edited work Black British History: New Perspectives, Zed Books, 2019.  The book spans the centuries from the first Black Britons to the latest African migrants, covering everything from Africans in Tudor England to the movement for reparations. This is held in the Library as an ebook at ELD.DS.649502 and is not currently available.

Adi’s most recent sole-authored work, African and Caribbean People in Britain: a history, Penguin 2023 is also unavailable at present. He came to the British Library to speak about the book, in conversation with historian David Olusoga in November 2022. A recording of the event is available online  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqe5TyD09Yk

Adi's edited work, Many Struggles: New Histories of African and Caribbean People in Britain, Pluto Press, 2023, also features the work of emerging scholars and scholar-activists. The book draws on new archival research to emphasise often-neglected themes such as local histories, women, gender and political activism.  Voices from the archive also come to the fore in Black voices on Britain, London : Macmillan, 2022 (held digitally as ELD.DS.729195, not available at the moment).  In this book, Adi draws on published works to give voice to people who lived, worked, campaigned and travelled in Britain from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Writers featured include James Gronniosaw, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, and William Wells Brown among others.  The Library appreciates the patience and understanding of its users whilst these books, received in digital format, are unavailable to readers.  Similarly the Library is grateful for the understanding of publishers currently unable to deposit books in digital format whilst work is undertaken to make ebooks and ejournals available once more.

Fortunately, following up on references to chapters Hakim Adi has contributed to other works can lead to the discovery of major contributions to scholarship that aim to redress the historical narrative.   One such work is Representing slavery: art, artefacts and archives in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, edited by Douglas J. Hamilton and Robert J. Blyth (Aldershot: Lund Humphries: 2007. LC.31.a.5400.  Adi contributed a short chapter to this substantial work, which is currently available and is relevant to the work of a wide range of British institutions confronting the legacy of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.

Professor Adi’s work can also be found in another book available in the Library, with a detailed preview on JSTOR : Global Africa : into the twenty-first century, edited by Dorothy Hodgson and Judith Byfield, University of California Press, 2017.  YC.2018.a.12042

Global Africa : into the twenty-first century, edited by Dorothy Hodgson and Judith Byfield, University of California Press, 2017.  YC.2018.a.12042

 

Similarly Professor Adi’s history books for children, which are held by the Library, remain important markers along the way to creating a more inclusive and accurate narrative for a younger generation.

Nelson Mandela: father of freedom, by Hakim Adi. London: Hodder Wayland, 2000. YK.2001.b.3940 (stored in Yorkshire, allow 48 hours for delivery to London reading rooms)

 

References

African migrations, by Hakim Adi. Hove, Wayland, 1994. YK.1995.b.8866

The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress revisited. Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: New Beacon Books, 1995. YC.1995.a.3969

Pan-African history: political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, by Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. London: Routledge, 2003. YC.2004.a.199

The history of the African and Caribbean communities in Britain, London, Hodder Wayland, 2005. YK.2008.b.5900.

(With Anandi Ramamurthy) 'Fragments in the history of the visual culture of anti-colonial struggle' in Visual culture and decolonisation in Britain, Simon Faulkner and Anandi Ramamurthy, Ashgate, 2006. YC.2007.a.933.

'Black people in Britain' in Representing slavery: art, artefacts and archives in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, edited by Douglas J. Hamilton and Robert J. Blyth Aldershot: Lund Humphries: 2007. LC.31.a.5400

‘The Negro question; the communist international and black liberation in the interwar years’ in From Toussaint to Tupac: the Black international since the age of revolution (Michael O. West, William G Martin and Fanon Che Wilkins) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009, YC.2010.a.684.

Belonging in Europe: the African diaspora and work, edited by Caroline Bressey and Hakim Adi, London: Routledge  2011, YC.2014.a.9592

Pan-Africanism and communism: the communist international, Africa and the diaspora, 1919-1939. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2013. YC.2019.a.166

'Pan-Africanism: An Ideology and a Movement' in Global Africa : into the twenty-first century, edited by Dorothy Hodgson and Judith Byfield, University of California Press, 2017.  YC.2018.a.12042

Pan-Africanism: a history, Hakim Adi, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. YC.2019.a.2646

Black British History: New Perspectives, Zed Books, 2019

 

Black voices on Britain, London : Macmillan, 2022

 

African and Caribbean People in Britain: a history, Penguin 2023

 

Many Struggles: New Histories of African and Caribbean People in Britain, Pluto Press, 2023