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Political Science at the LSE: A History of the Department of Government, from the Webbs to Covid

Submitted by: Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey
Date: Autumn 2019-January 2021

This book began in autumn 2019, and continued throughout the Covid pandemic. It is being published by Ubiquity Press, as an open-source book, with a publication date of about 1st October 2021. It was meant to be part of the School's 125th anniversary celebration and is the first ever history of the LSE Government Department.

The contributors include students at all levels (undergraduate, masters, doctoral), working together with Gordon Bannerman (a British historian who previously studied at LSE) and Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey as Head of the Department. Moreover, we wanted to ensure that different perspectives were heard and so along with archival research, we included dozens of interviews with current and former academics, PSS staff, students and alumni. We wanted the history to have many voices, and I think that we have achieved that.

Completing this during Covid posed many challenges. First, we had only two months to conduct the in-person archival work in the library before the first lockdown hit. This posed a major challenge as it made access to the historical archives impossible. Fortunately, the research that had been done, together with on-line research, allowed us to move forward.

A second challenge was that we were all working from various parts of the worldCanada, Kenya, Lebanon, Poland, and different parts of the UK! So, just keeping the focus and momentum going as the pandemic raged throughout the world was quite the task. Somehow, each of us managed to bring our contributions to the volume at different times, as we were each facing our own Covid-related disruptions along the way.

A third challenge was obtaining the interviews as the turmoil of Covid took hold. Here, Skype, Zoom and phone calls made the interviews possible, and in some cases, were more convenient than in-person interviews. The real difficulty was that in spring of 2020, many interviewees were difficult to contact, given the on-going turmoil in everyones lives. But the fact that so many interviewees were willing to take the time for us is a real testament to the strength of feeling that many have towards the Department and the School more generally.

The book itself traces the emergence and evolution of the LSE Government Department from 1895 to 2020, focusing on the personalities that guided the development of the Department, the social and political contexts the Department existed within, its research agenda and course structure, and the location of the Department in British politics. It also charts the evolution of the discipline of political science in Britain itself. The volume is divided chronologically into four chapters, each covering roughly similar time periods in the Departments history and focuses on the events that shaped it: personalities, events, and location. Key themes are the development of political science in Britain, the impact of location on the LSE Government Department, the professionalisation of academia in Britain, and the microcosm the Department presents of British political life during each time period. The conflicts between progressive and conservative forces are a recurring theme which helps link the internal dynamics of the Department with the wider social and political contexts that occurred from the beginning of the School to its 125th anniversary.

Plastic-free pantry

Submitted by: Dana Ramadan
Date: February 2021
Location: In my kitchen, in my London shared flat in Islington

I finally found the time to start bulk shopping after discovering my local zero-waste stores.

Pixie Taylor interviewed by Vanessa Pini

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Pixie.
Pixie spent two periods of her life at Greenham. Firstly, when she was 18, she went down on an overnight coach from Dundee and lived at Green Gate from 1985-86. She returned for the 10th birthday in 1991 and lived at Blue Gate until January 1994. She talks about the differences in the eras, evictions and bailiffs, women only spaces, learning to value her body and her time in Holloway. She recalls doing doughnuts in a borrowed car in the base during the American leaving ceremony and reads from a Greenham newsletter documenting leaving Blue Gate. Pixie speaks about how ludicrous it was to have nuclear weapons being driven around the country and how Greenham wouldn't have survived without humour and laughter. She also remembers writing to Greenham at school on Dennis the Menace paper and getting a reply!
Pixie was interviewed by Vanessa Pini in January 2021.

Petros Kusmu

Personal author: Kusmu, Petros

Three photos. Two from June 2015 celebrating the last day of exams with my colleagues in the MSc IPE program (one in front of the Old Building and Lincoln's Inn Fields). Another from Dec 2015, again in front of the Old Building, celebrating our last day together after our graduation ceremony. Looking at these photos completely floods me with happiness, nostalgia and a yearning to go back in time. My time at LSE was remarkable.

Petros Kusmu

Personal author: Kusmu, Petros

Three photos. Two from June 2015 celebrating the last day of exams with my colleagues in the MSc IPE program (one in front of the Old Building and Lincoln's Inn Fields). Another from Dec 2015, again in front of the Old Building, celebrating our last day together after our graduation ceremony. Looking at these photos completely floods me with happiness, nostalgia and a yearning to go back in time. My time at LSE was remarkable.

Petros Kusmu

Personal author: Kusmu, Petros

Three photos. Two from June 2015 celebrating the last day of exams with my colleagues in the MSc IPE program (one in front of the Old Building and Lincoln's Inn Fields). Another from Dec 2015, again in front of the Old Building, celebrating our last day together after our graduation ceremony. Looking at these photos completely floods me with happiness, nostalgia and a yearning to go back in time. My time at LSE was remarkable.

Penny Gulliver interviewed by Isabelle Tracy

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Penny.
Penny was 21 when she went to Greenham. She stayed for a year. She lived at Blue Gate and was at the camp during the evictions. She recalls the enjoyment of political discussions with women, recounts actions such as painting out the lights on the runway to try and stop the Cruise missiles landing. Penny talks about the legacy of Greenham, the impact of the protest, going to prison and the echoes of Greenham across her life.
Penny was interviewed by Isabelle Tracy in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

Penny Gane interviewed by Florence Weston

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording.
Penny was drawn to Greenham by the thought of women being there on their own, shouldering the responsibility of taking on the world. 'It was a call to all of us, which is why I became active.' She recalls the strong women of Bristol taking part in Non-Violent Direct Action and supporting women living at the camp. She remembers Joan Baez visiting, a truck ploughing through the benders, the Greenham Common Newsletter and how, ultimately, 'The women always won.'
Penny was interviewed by Florence Weston in 2019.

Peggy Seeger interviewed by Rebecca Mordan

This folder includes the recorded audio of the interview along with a transcript of the recording and a photograph of Peggy.
Peggy is a folk singer, songwriter and activist who wrote 'Carry Greenham Home'. Along with other musicians, she sang to the march that was coming through from Wales to Greenham in September 1981. She later joined them at Greenham Common and recalls journalists, donations and getting pissed-off with lounging men! Peggy speaks of how women don't have a written history and how we have to celebrate the power of a lot of women together. She remembers women improvising singing collectively to dumfound police, showing skill in keeping the peace where men could not and Rebecca Johnson signing her nightmare of nuclear war.
Peggy was interviewed by Rebecca Mordan in 2019.
She was photographed by Christine Bradshaw (copyright Christine Bradshaw).

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