Constructions and representations of the popular voice (c.1500 to the present day)
York history professor has played a key role in organising a conference that explores the 'voice of the people' through the centuries.
Professor Laura Stewart was one of the organisers of the 'The Will of the People: Constructions and representations of the popular voice from c.1500 to the present day' conference held at Bath Spa University in June 2018. The conference explored the ways in which the ‘voice of the people’ has been constructed, used, and represented in modern democracies and pre-modern political systems. It brought together an international group of early career researchers and established scholars, political activists and non-academic stakeholders.
Keynote lectures were given by Prof Andy Wood (Durham), Prof Elaine Chalus (Liverpool) and Dr Daniel Hucker (Nottingham). Conference participants were joined by Luke McKernan, Lead Curator, News and the Moving Image, British Library, and Gregory Thompson, Creative and Collaborative Enterprise Course Leader at UCL. The conference engaged with current concerns through a public roundtable entitled ‘Democracy and Legitimacy in Modern Britain’, held at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute. Amelia Womack, former deputy leader of the Green Party, articulated links between democratic practices and global environmental challenges, while Robin McAlpine, director of the think-tank, Commonweal, John Rees, historian and co-founder of Stop of the War, and Ian Bartle, campaigner for ‘Bath for Europe’, offered differing perspectives on the need for greater public participation in politics.
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