How can I make history a meaningful career? How can activism fit in with history?

[rikkyponnting]

I really enjoy history and would love to have a more scholarly career. However, it bothers me that a job history doesn't really imply a shaping and changing of the future, while I would like to have a more meaningful effect in working towards positive change. What are your opinions on the relevance of history and how it can be meaningful? Are there are any careers you can think of that would combine history and activism? (I am also not so much interested in studying activism)

[NGNM85]

I really enjoy history and would love to have a more scholarly career. However, it bothers me that a job history doesn't really imply a shaping and changing of the future, while I would like to have a more meaningful effect in working towards positive change. What are your opinions on the relevance of history and how it can be meaningful? Are there are any careers you can think of that would combine history and activism? (I am also not so much interested in studying activism)

Teach. Different states have different rules, but in Massachusetts you just need a bachelor's then you can take the certification test, then you have five years to get a masters. If you have a masters you could be a professor at a community college. Check out the regulations in your state.You'll have a career that contributes to society, that actually helps people, and you'll have a lot of free time to devote to activism or other pursuits.

One last piece of advice; if you're still in High School, get good grades. I screwed around and never did my homework and it made my life ten times harder afterwards.

[Telemakus]

I really enjoy history and would love to have a more scholarly career. However, it bothers me that a job history doesn't really imply a shaping and changing of the future, while I would like to have a more meaningful effect in working towards positive change. What are your opinions on the relevance of history and how it can be meaningful? Are there are any careers you can think of that would combine history and activism? (I am also not so much interested in studying activism)
You don't see how? If we want to change the course of history, we need to understand how history works - both how it has worked recently (modern history) and how it works over longer time periods (ancient history). As a historian you can help solidify the foundations for activism, as well as having a firmer backing to your ideas when promoting them. I don't really know a lot about careers, but I'm almost certain there would be various suitable positions in academia.

[bailey_187]

If you are good at writing, writing popular Marxist history books would be very useful.

Most Marxist history books are very dull, we need some good popularisations of Marxist history that are enjoyable to read (e.g. Leo Huberman's Man's Worldy Goods)

[Jolly Red Giant]

I really enjoy history and would love to have a more scholarly career. However, it bothers me that a job history doesn't really imply a shaping and changing of the future, while I would like to have a more meaningful effect in working towards positive change. What are your opinions on the relevance of history and how it can be meaningful? Are there are any careers you can think of that would combine history and activism? (I am also not so much interested in studying activism)
Write - there is a massive lack of left-wing / labour / working class / revolutionary history (particularly local history). It is a completely underdeveloped aspect of historiography and in dire need of development to demonstrate to working class people that history isn't dominated by the ruling elites.

And teach as well - you will need an income.

One word of caution - don't become an academic - they are pompous asses.

[Magón]

If you are good at writing, writing popular Marxist history books would be very useful.

Most Marxist history books are very dull, we need some good popularisations of Marxist history that are enjoyable to read (e.g. Leo Huberman's Man's Worldy Goods)

That's because Marxism is dull. :P

On a serious note, like others have already said, teaching is something you could get into. But not only just teaching in one school, but you could also get involved in various groups around the country that would have you going from city to city, talking about your ideas and you could use the history to show it? Left Forum and other groups like that have teachers and speakers of all sorts (Marxists, Stalinists, Anarchists, etc.) speak at their gatherings to students at various colleges and universities. And not just schools either, I believe they sometimes hold gatherings at various other types of places where people might be interested and want to listen.

[Os Cangaceiros]

The job market is currently oversaturated with teachers, especially in regards to the Humanities. A prospective teacher's prospects don't look all that great in the United States, honestly (I'm just assuming that's where you're from).

[Serge's Fist]

Why not do teaching but be a substitute teacher so you can fit it around any political commitments you have that most peoples jobs get in the way of?

[Invader Zim]

Getting a job as an academic historian, in this economic climate, is very difficult. Not only do you have to get a PhD but even then that is rarely enough. You have to have several publications in meaningful periodicals, teaching experience, good networking skills and have actually done research in a field that is not only in vogue but hasn't got many other historians working in it.

[howblackisyourflag]

Write - there is a massive lack of left-wing / labour / working class / revolutionary history (particularly local history). It is a completely underdeveloped aspect of historiography and in dire need of development to demonstrate to working class people that history isn't dominated by the ruling elites.

And teach as well - you will need an income.

One word of caution - don't become an academic - they are pompous asses.

Could you talk about this a bit more? Im interested in writing also. Im from Ireland too, what kind of subjects are missing a left wing perspective here? All of them? :D

Maybe I should write "A peoples history of Ireland"

[Jolly Red Giant]

Could you talk about this a bit more? Im interested in writing also. Im from Ireland too, what kind of subjects are missing a left wing perspective here? All of them? :D

Pretty much so - there is a major lack of labour/working class history. That which does exist mainly deals with the 1917-1922 period.

Examples -
Emmet O'Connor - Syndicalism in Ireland, 1917-23 (Cork, 1988)
Emmet O'Connor - Reds and the Green: Ireland, Russia, and the Communist Internationals, 1919-43 (Dublin, 2004)
Both are quite good (particularly the first one) - but do somewhat lack a marxist outlook.

Conor Kostick - Revolution in Ireland (Cork University Press, 1996).
being from a member of the SWP the book does take some flights of fancy and has some historical inaccuracies.

Arthur Mitchell - Labour in Irish Politics, 1890–1930 (1974)
More general but a decent summary of the period.

There are some general works like
Emmet O'Connor - A Labour History of Waterford (Waterford, 1989)
Emmet O'Connor - A Labour History of Ireland (Dublin, 1992)

John W. Boyle - The Irish Labor Movement in the Nineteenth Century (Washington DC, 1988)

Charles McCarthy, Trade Unions in Ireland, 1894–1960 (1977)
A very limited book.

C. Desmond Greaves - The Irish Transport and General Workers Union: The Formative Years l9O9-23, (Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, l982).
Very good history of the early years of the ITGWU but it does lack a political undertone.

There is a brief summary of the standing of Irish labour historiography here - http://dublinopinion.com/2007/12/20/irish-labour-history-and-irish-historiography-a-summary/


Maybe I should write "A peoples history of Ireland"
Well you could look at James Connolly's Labour in Irish history which pretty much does that.

There are a myriad of topics that have not been covered. Once you start doing some research you will find dozens upon dozens of topics that you could write about.

I am currently working on my PhD thesis on the history of the working class in Limerick. I have also started a basic outline of another work on the relationship between Daniel O'Connell and the Irish working class and have a list of five or six more that I would like to eventually get around to writing. I have had several articles published and am also currently working on a pamphlet on the Limerick Soviet from a Marxist perspective.

A word of caution - you will not make any money from writing this kind of stuff (indeed you could end up paying some or all of the cost of printing - €400 or so for a basic self-publication). So an alternative source of income will be necessary. History teaching is good - but there are few jobs for history teachers (or teachers of any kind these days) and the second subject could well determine if you get any work.

[Pavlov's House Party]

The job market is currently oversaturated with teachers, especially in regards to the Humanities. A prospective teacher's prospects don't look all that great in the United States, honestly (I'm just assuming that's where you're from).

Is it really that bad in the States? In Canada we actually have a shortage of teachers because the government is just awful with public sector workers; one of my friends taught and was paid under the table at a high school without even having a university degree because they needed teachers so bad.

[TwoSevensClash]

I really enjoy history and would love to have a more scholarly career. However, it bothers me that a job history doesn't really imply a shaping and changing of the future, while I would like to have a more meaningful effect in working towards positive change. What are your opinions on the relevance of history and how it can be meaningful? Are there are any careers you can think of that would combine history and activism? (I am also not so much interested in studying activism)

By teaching the kids the truth you will make a difference. Half the stuff I learned in school was lies, taken out of context, or half truths. Also kids are really confused so you good point them in the right direction:lol:

[KC]

Going into academia professionally is a bad idea IMO. It's riddled with useless debates and a ton of shit that you have to get bogged down in as a professor. Get a job you enjoy and if you like it enough you can write/teach.

[MilkmanofHumanKindness]

Howard Zinn. Historian and a great activist. A part of History is reclaiming and uncovering what really happened in the past, and this can be extremely liberating for many groups.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is it really that bad in the States? In Canada we actually have a shortage of teachers because the government is just awful with public sector workers; one of my friends taught and was paid under the table at a high school without even having a university degree because they needed teachers so bad.

I know where I'm going to teach when im done with undergrad :lol:

[human strike]

The job market is currently oversaturated with teachers, especially in regards to the Humanities. A prospective teacher's prospects don't look all that great in the United States, honestly (I'm just assuming that's where you're from).

Different situation here in the UK. There's a similar situation in regards to uni level but below that there are a lot of opportunities for newly qualified teachers because they're cheap. Of course that situation won't last forever, just as long as the Tories are in government.

P.S. I think the original poster is Australian.

[Raúl Duke]

Is it really that bad in the States? In Canada we actually have a shortage of teachers because the government is just awful with public sector workers; one of my friends taught and was paid under the table at a high school without even having a university degree because they needed teachers so bad.

For real? Maybe I should learn French and move to Quebec.


I know where I'm going to teach when im done with undergrad :lol:

Hahaha, I'm having the same thought.

[Jolly Red Giant]

By teaching the kids the truth you will make a difference. Half the stuff I learned in school was lies, taken out of context, or half truths. Also kids are really confused so you good point them in the right direction:lol:
A teacher has to teach to a syllabus - whether you like it or not. Yes I could teach the kids about all the lies in school history books - if I did they would probably all fail the exams and I can guarantee you I would be out of a job very quickly. No matter what your personal outlook is, as a teacher you have a responsibility to ensure that students get through the history course with sufficient knowledge and understanding to get as high a result in the state exams as possible.

I concentrate on helping students to develop an inquisitive mind, to ask questions and never to take what they read in history books at face value. I regard that I have done my job successfully if my students go on to university to study history. It means that I have made the course interesting and I have raised their curiosity enough to encourage them to move onto the next level.


Going into academia professionally is a bad idea IMO. It's riddled with useless debates and a ton of shit that you have to get bogged down in as a professor.
I thoroughly agree - a bunch of pompous asses if ever there was - academics think they know everything about everything when in reality they spend all their time naval gazing. By virtue of my responsibilities for my PhD I am forced to engage in academic debates - I almost without fail use the opportunity to stir the sh*t and annoy the crap out of every academic in the place.


Get a job you enjoy and if you like it enough you can write/teach.
absolutely - there is nothing worse than doing a job you hate - and I can guarantee you that if you become a teacher and you don't love the job, it it the worst job in the world - you will be completely stressed out, you will be depressed and you will become the biggest cynic in the world.


Different situation here in the UK. There's a similar situation in regards to uni level but below that there are a lot of opportunities for newly qualified teachers because they're cheap. Of course that situation won't last forever, just as long as the Tories are in government.

I wouldn't become a teacher in the UK if it was the last job available. Every year I get offered anything up to a dozen full-time permanent teaching jobs in England. I turn down every single one. The pay is sh*te - the conditions are sh*te - there is a mountain of paperwork and bureaucracy, the syllabus is sh*te and the management treat you like sh*te.

[human strike]

Sounds about right.