Ewan MacColl memorial concert reviewed

By Edward Hirst

Ewan MacColl’s position in the pantheon of folk legends alongside such leading figures as Albert Lloyd, is never likely to be disputed. For many of the leading figures in the folk revival during the early 1960’s and beyond, MacColl firmly held the reigns as they charged through the political and social tempests of the ensuing decades. MacColl’s career spans a period during which most other musical genres were relapsing into the commercial celebrity cultures we now take for granted: his enduring achievement was his struggle to retain the idiom of the people – their essential passions, dilemnas and language – at the generative nucleus of the British folk song.
And yet, whilst we might talk endlessly about MacColl’ s importance in the folk scene, we should not forget that the flowering of his later career was grounded in the humble origins of an everyday working-class Salford up-brining.

It is apt, therefore, that to mark the 20th anniversary of his death, Manchester University Press have admirably braved the current economic tempest and published a new edited MacColl’s autobiography ‘Journeyman’ with a new introduction by Peggy Seeger, his partner, collaborator, and first-rate artist in her own right. Moreover, to celebrate the launch of ‘Journeyman’, a memorial concert was held in Salford’s Peel Hall, just yards from the Irwell river immortalised by MacColl in Trafford Road Ballad, and attended by some of the finest artists on the circuit, including John Faulkner, Bob Blair, Brian Pearson, John Faulkner, Jez Lowe, David Ferrard, Bob Fox, and the evergreen Seeger herself.
With a packed-out auditorium, and the presence of local brewery Boggart Hole, there was no doubt that this was going to be a memorable evening.

It was fitting that Jez Lowe featured in the concert. He might quite rightly be described as one of the most prolific folk singers around, and has a special connection to Ewan MacColl in his recent work for the 2006 Radio Ballads, which were written in the same style which MacColl himself invented. A powerful rendition of ‘Taking on Men’ based on accounts he heard from ship builders in Glasgow and Newcastle, was greeted with rapturous applause.

David Ferrard, a gifted young American singer who now lives in Edinburgh, reminded everyone that there is more to folk music than mere old tunes. His songs, like MacColl’s, ring with political significance. His protest against the activities of bankers over the last year, was well received by all! But his fine (almost eerily reminicient of MacColl himself) rendition of the Trafford Road Ballad, demonstrated the broad versatility of this young singer.

Finally, to the delight of all, Peggy Seeger took to the stage charming the audience with quips and jokes which nevertheless quickly dissolved into the beautifully haunting First Time Ever I Saw your Face, which MacColl wrote for Seeger.

Seeger displayed her musical talents by accompanying herself on four different instruments, rounding off with the old Scottish ballad Henry Martin, on the Banjo. Both MacColl and Seeger were instrumental in keeping alive many of the Scottish ballads for future generations, and it was fitting that Seeger should pay tribute to their exploits on this night.

No Ewan MacColl concert would be complete without the famous Manchester Rambler, and the audience were treated to a spectacular and nostalgaic chorus from all the performers.

Ewan MacColl was a stalwart of British folk music, a titanesque figure whose memory will inspire many future generations of folk musicians as they struggle on to keep the heart of British folk music beating.

INVITATION
Amnesty International UK and Manchester University Press invite you to a panel discussion and drinks reception to mark the launch of

‘War on Terror’
The Oxford Amnesty Lectures
Edited by Chris Miller

Through dynamic and highly informed discussion, this Amnesty-hosted book launch will address key issues arising in today’s ‘War on Terror’. The book itself is drawn from the world-famous Oxford Amnesty Lectures and contains essays of substantial and abiding importance.
Conor Gearty, Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Professor of Human Rights at the London School of Economics, will speak on ‘The War on Terror in the Age of Obama’. Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck College, will focus on the use of sexual violence in the ‘War on Terror’. Author, commentator and former Guantánamo detainee Moazzam Begg will respond drawing on his experience as a campaigner and advocate for human rights.

Where

Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA

When

Thursday 26 November 2009
Time: 6.30pm for 7pm start
This event is free but booking is essential at
www.amnesty.org.uk/events

Thinking Allowed - Review by James Nicholls

I was invited to appear on Radio 4’s Thinking Allowed this week to discuss my new book, The Politics of Alcohol. I was impressed by Laurie Taylor’s ability to squeeze a huge range of issues into a ten-minute interview, leaving time for some well-chosen music as well as an excerpt from the Shadow Home Secretary’s speech to the Conservative Party conference last week. While the book is broadly chronological, Taylor concentrated on overarching themes such as the idea of national drinking traditions, class, gender and the cultural symbolism of drinking practices. We were also able to discuss how history could inform the heated policy debates which surround alcohol at the moment – something which illustrated one of the central claims in The Politics of Alcohol: that the ‘drink question’ is very much alive today.

My book argues that debates about alcohol policy and culture not only evade simple resolution but persist in exposing gaps in otherwise coherent ideological claims about individual freedom, social responsibility and the regulation of markets. Although it was a brief discussion, I think we managed to get a sense of that idea across.

Listen to the interview on BBC iplayer (choose the programme dated 14/10/09)

WIN a free copy the brand new The James Bond phenomenon, second edition

To celebrate the launch of The James Bond phenomenon, second edition, Manchester University Press is offering readers the chance to win a copy of the book.

Simply email the answer to the question below, to bethan.hirst@manchester.ac.uk. Don't forget to include your name and address. The lucky winner will be announced 6th November.

Question

The author of the young James Bond novels was in a band with his brothers. What was the band called?

Good luck!

Washington Society for the History of Medicine Annual Dinner and Meeting

Washington Society for the History of Medicine Annual Dinner and Meeting will be held in the US on September 26th.

Jeffrey Reznick will present a talk entitled, John Galsworthy and Disabled Soldiers of the Great War, based on his forthcoming book for MUP.

Jeffrey S. Reznick, PhD is Director of the Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Modern History of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, a member of Birmingham’s Center for First World War Studies, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Check out the Jeffrey S. Reznick website.

Find out more about John Galsworthy and Disabled Soldiers of the Great War

Terry Gilliam season at the BFI

As the world holds their breath for the next Terry Gilliam creation, the BFI is this week taking a peek into the career and personal imaginarium of one of the most lauded and provocative auteurs currently working in film.

The Terry Gilliam season, which kicks off today and lasts for the next five days, will include showings of the spectacular fairy tale The Brothers Grimm, and the celebrated Twelve Monkeys, amongst other famous films.

With great timing, MUP launched a new book examining the work of Terry Gilliam last week. The title provides a detailed analysis of all his major work from television’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus to the controversial film Tideland. Perfect for anyone studying Film, Cultural Studies, Media Studies and Literary Studies - and anyone who thinks of themselves as a Gilliam enthusiast too!

Find out more about Terry Gilliam

Memorial concert for Ewan MacColl

The memorial concert for Ewan MacColl (25 January 1915 - 22 October 1989) looks set to be a landmark folk occasion, commemorating the life and work of one of the major architects of the English folk revival. But far more than a prolific songwriter, folk singer and teacher, he was the founder with Joan Littlewood here in Manchester of radical theatre, a playwright and actor, and a passionate supporter of radical causes.

The concert, which will be held at Peel Hall in Salford on 27th October, also celebrates the re-issue by Manchester University Press of Journeyman, Ewan MacColl's vivid and entertaining autobiography. This new version has been re-edited from his original manuscript, and includes a new introduction by Peggy Seeger, his partner for the last thirty years of his life. Copies of the book will be on sale for £10 during the concert (see below for more details).

Peggy Seeger is joined at the concert by folk singers old and new. Among those taught by Peggy and Ewan in their 'Critics Group' were Sandra Kerr, John Faulkner, Bob Blair and Brian Pearson, all variously singing, writing, acting and teaching. Sandra teaches on the influential Folk and Traditional Music degree course at Newcastle University, the best training ground for folk musicians today. John Faulkner, now artist in residence at the Galway City Museum, took part in Travelling People, last of the famous MacColl/Seeger Radio Ballad series, a form revisited by the BBC in 2006. Writing for and singing in this award-winning recent series were two of the most well-known folk singers today, Jez Lowe - perhaps the best modern songwriter in the folk idiom - and Bob Fox. The line-up is completed by David Ferrard, a young Scottish/American writer of songs of peace and protest.

Tickets cost £10, and go on sale on 14th September. Call the MUP office on 0161 275 2310 for all ticket enquiries. Copies of Journeyman, the new edition of Ewan MacColl's best-selling autobiography, will be on sale at the concert for just £10.

Read more about Journeyman.

New Open Access Journal

Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal is our first to be published as an open access journal.

The journal contributes to the academic debate into race relations. It is an international, multidisciplinary journal aimed at academics, undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and practitioners in the field. The journal will be published twice yearly and will include two peer reviewed academic essays, one research paper, one peer reviewed book review as well as 40 professionally produced short book reviews.

Open access content can be accessed here.

The Magdalen Laundries - Compartmentalizing abuse … forgotten voices.

By James M. Smith

Today we have a guest post from James M. Smith, Associate Professor in the English Department and Irish Studies Program at Boston College, and author of Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the nation's architecture of containment.

An Irish Times article and a long spot on the popular radio show Today with Pat Kenny have ensured widespread interest in this excellent book on the highly controversial subject matter of Ireland’s Magdalen laundries, which continues to resonate today with the recent Ryan commission report.

Link to Today with Pat Kenny interview: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/player_av.html?0,null,200,http://dynamic.rte.ie/quickaxs/209-rte-playback.smil

It is also the winner of the 2007 Donald Murphy Prize for a Distinguished First Book.

Click here to read more about this wonderful book.

In the meantime, James Smith writes:-

"Are you the man who wrote the Magdalen book?" A voice, hesitant and frail, asked from the other end of my office phone. "I just finished it. I read about ten pages a day." She called to share her story. She wanted someone to listen. She needed someone to understand.

Her mother died when she was seven. Initially, she and a younger sister were cared for within the extended family. The farm required her father's attention. At fourteen, he deposited her with the Good Shepherd nuns in New Ross. Her sister was sent to the congregation's Limerick convent.

The Good Shepherd Sisters managed industrial schools at both these locations. They also operated a reformatory school for girls in Limerick. But the two teenage sisters would live and work with the adult women in the Magdalen laundry. They remained enslaved, unpaid for their labor, for almost five years.

The Ryan Report evades this woman's experience of childhood abuse. She was disappeared directly into the Magdalen laundry. There was no judge. No "cruelty man." No committal order. She never was a ward of state. She was just dumped. Consequently, she exists in a legal limbo.

The Residential Institutions Redress Board ignores her experience of childhood abuse. The Dublin-based lawyers responded to her queries. She insisted she was a Magdalen and was never in the industrial school. They told her there was little they could do. The advocacy group "Justice_for_Magdalenes" helped petition the Redress Board on her behalf. Again, her case was not taken up. Her childhood abuse didn't fit the legal parameters.

The recently published Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse tells a horrendous story. Irish society responds with anger, a sense of betrayal, and oft-stated disbelief. It seems intent on holding the religious congregations accountable. The government now accepts the report's major recommendations. The Dáil passed an all-party motion pledging to cherish all the children of the state equally.

But what about those victims and survivors of institutional abuse not addressed by the report? What about Ireland's Magdalen women and their families? Now is precisely the juncture that Irish society—state, Church, religious congregations, families, and local communities—should confront head-on the abuse of thousands of women in Ireland's Magdalen laundries.

The Magdalen laundries were excluded from the Residential Institutions Redress legislation. They were deemed private, charitable institutions. Women, the state asserted, voluntarily committed themselves seeking asylum. The four religious congregations involved in operating Ireland's laundries—the Good Shepherds, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge, Mercy Sisters—all gave testimony before the Commission's confidential committee. But, they only addressed their management of industrial and reformatory schools.

Magdalen survivors were not invited to appear before the confidential committee. The Commission, of course, was charged with inquiring into child abuse. Magdalens were, in the main, women not children. And, age continues to inform the state's rationale for disqualifying survivors' claims for redress. So too, however, does the question of liability. Unlike the industrial and reformatory schools system, the government disclaims any function in licensing or inspecting the laundries. It purports never to have funded them directly.

But the state always relied on the availability of the Magdalen laundries to conceal “problem women.” It continually facilitated the transfer of women into the nuns’ care. It helped make possible a labor force through court referrals. It apportioned lucrative contracts for state institutional laundry (e.g., hospitals, military, etc.). After 1960, it provided the nuns with capitation grants for women on remand from the courts.

The state always ignored the flagrant disregard for the women’s civil and constitutional rights: false imprisonment; the absence of due process; exploitative and dangerous work practices; the denial of educational and human developmental resources; as well as emotional, physical and, in some cases, sexual abuse. The department of justice never regulated institutions routinely used by members of the judiciary to incarcerate Irish citizens.

Ireland’s Magdalen survivors are denied a distinct redress and reparations scheme despite the state’s culpability, complicity, and collusion in these abusive institutions. And no one in Ireland—not the religious congregations, not the Hierarchy, not the state—has apologized to the Magdalen communities.

The Residential Institutions Redress Act (2002) did include, but only as an afterthought, young girls illegally transferred from industrial and reformatory schools to Magdalen laundries. Many of these "preventative" cases, as they were called, rejoined society in their early twenties. Some have sought the redress they were entitled to. Others decided to remain in the sheltered environs of the convent all their lives. What about these women's lost childhoods? What about the abuse they suffered?

And what about the young children disappeared directly into Magdalen institutions, like the woman who picked up the phone to call me? What about her sister? What about the others? The Kennedy Report (1970) documents some "617 children … resident in 'Voluntary Homes which have not applied for approval.'" We are left to guess how many of this number lost their childhoods in Magdalen Laundries?

And what of the larger Magdalen community of adult women? Is their experience of physical and emotional abuse somehow less worthy of acknowledgment, redress, and reparation than that of children? Is contemporary Irish society comfortable with this compartmentalization of abuse?

In places like Drumcondra, Cork, and New Ross, laundries and industrial schools stood side by side. In Limerick, a system of underground tunnels ensured both populations could attend church and then return to their separate buildings without ever seeing each other. Indeed survivor testimony speaks to mothers and children separated by walls within the one convent complex without ever knowing of the other's whereabouts.

Is the abuse experienced by these woman and children somehow fundamentally different? Is it conceivable that nuns abused children and didn't abuse adult women in a different part of the same institution? Or, is contemporary Irish society suggesting that the Magdalen women somehow deserved the treatment they received?

The woman who called me is a survivor of institutional child abuse. She remains scarred by her childhood experience. Elderly and alone, she is angry about the past, afraid for the future. Irish society now demands accountability for child abuse at the state's industrial and reformatory schools. When will it do likewise for the abuse of girls and women in the nation's Magdalen laundries?

Recognition for Carers

By John Costello

I am delighted that the Manchester University Press Friends and Family series is contributing to Carers week 2009 by launching the first book in the series Caring for someone with a long term illness by John Costello.


As we begin National Carers week, it is interesting to note the results of two recent surveys announced recently. The survey conducted by YouGov, questioned over 2,000 members of the public about their beliefs and attitudes towards carers. The results revealed that the public rank carers alongside the emergency services in terms of their contribution to society. Six out of seven people (86%) believe that carers make a valuable contribution, behind only nurses (91%) and firefighters (90%). The overwhelming majority also agree that carers’ benefits are far too low, with over three-quarters (76%) stating that the current level of Carers’ Allowance is unreasonable. But when asked to estimate the number of carers in the UK, 8 out of 10 were unable to pick the correct figure of 6 million, with almost three-quarters (71%) underestimating by over 4.5 million.


These results indicate that the work and the important role of carers often goes unnoticed. Caring for Someone with a long term illness (Costello 2009), sets out to explain what carers do for people often relatives, and the importance of knowing what services are available and what sources of support they can expect. The book is based on a practical approach and designed to help those carers who often experience frustration at not knowing the best way to do things. I am delighted to contribute towards helping those who do so much for others. I sincerely hope that carers week 2009, is successful in highlighting the needs of carers as well as acknowledging the importance of being a carer.


Find out more about Caring for Someone with a long term illness