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I find the arguments about 'worthwhile' themes fascinating. As an 'obviously 
biased' female, I think there will always be a gender divide on which issues 
are of most importance to the world. When I studied history I got frustrated 
by all the 'real' stories that were missing: the minutiae of people's 
everyday lives that I thought told us so much more about them than the 
leaders they had and the battles they fought.

In Mass Observation I think there is generally a good balance between 'hard' 
and 'soft' themes if you like. For me if I want to understand past 
culltures - what really made people tick, it's the diaries I go for every 
time. Anne Frank's diary for instance tells you more about what nazism meant 
to the Jews than any political analysis.

Claire Shelton-Jones
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dorothy Sheridan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 3:37 PM
Subject: [MASSOBS] Debates about the Directive themes


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>
> Dear Jiscmailers,
> Thought you might like to see - and join in with - the discussion I have 
> been having with one of our Mass Observers about the themes we shoose for 
> the directives.
>
> Mr Marshall doesn't mind you seeing his name.... and has given me 
> permissiont o put this on the JISCMAIL discussion list so I shall include 
> that. I have suggested he join the list so he can see what others say so 
> please don't write directly to me on this. The idea is to share the 
> discussion and broaden it out. I shall be reading it!
> Best wishes,
> Dorothy Sheridan
> MOA Director
>
> Below four messages - two from Mr Marshall and my replies.
>
> From Mr John Marshall (1st message)
>
>>> Thank you for the Summer Directive 2007 and the long and informative
>>> letter from the Director, Dorothy Sheridan.  I am answering the question
>>> on page 3 - 'Do you want to stay on our mailing list?'  Yes please, even
>>> though I have not responded to recent Directives.  I think it is more
>>> than a year since I made a contribution.  There are two reasons for
>>> this.  The main one has been demands on my time for other writing
>>> projects, as well as being away from home on a series of lengthy
>>> overseas trips.
>>>
>>> The second reason is that the subjects chosen recently - with two
>>> possible exceptions - have not really grabbed my interest.  Take the
>>> last three Directives.  Autumn 2006 - 'home and contents' and
>>> 'quotations'.  Neither is likely to set the world on fire.  I did
>>> attempt the other offering, some thoughts on 'age', but other, more
>>> pressing demands made me put it to one side.  Some day it might be
>>> finished because I did a deal of background research.
>>>
>>> Spring 2007 - The smoking ban.  An excellent measure - and that's about
>>> all there is to be said.  I haven't smoked for 40 years.  'Domestic
>>> violence' - so predictable and I have no personal experience.
>>>
>>> Summer 2007 - Shopping - no thank you.  'Gardens and gardening' - no
>>> interst in either subject.
>>>
>>> With respect I would suggest that the subjects chosen over the last
>>> twelve months could have been lifted from an editorial meeting of
>>> 'Woman's Own.'
>>>
>>> Because I enjoy contributing my thoughts to the Mass Observation 
>>> Archive,
>>> and wish to continue doing so, I would beg you to provide your
>>> contributors with worthwhile subjects which go far beyond the Virago
>>> feminist agenda.
>>>
>>> For the record I shall send you my thoughts on Age and Mourning, 
>>> together
>>> with a form to renew my membership of the Friends, by separate letter.
>>>
>>> And I do wish to remain on the mailing list.   With best wishes -
>
>
>
> Reply from Dorothy
>
>
>>> Dear XXXX,
>>> Thanks for your email and thoughts on the themes. I appreciate you 
>>> giving
>>> us time to comment and I take your critique seriously although I think
>>> your allusion to "Women's Own"  and "feminist virago" (what's that?)
>>> were uncalled for! Do I detect a bit of male chauvinism? Actually 
>>> women's
>>> magazines often tackle very important issues - certainly as far as women
>>> are concerned.
>>>
>>> You are a fairly new correspondent with us and I wonder whether you've
>>> seen the full range of themes that we have covered since 1981?
>>>
>>> See
>>>
>> www.sussex.ac.uk/library/speccoll/collection_catalogues/massnewprojectdat
>> e.htm> l
>>> Maybe you could tell me which themes  would stimulate you to write more?
>>> Send us a list!!!!
>>> Also we are always happy to receive contributions independently of
>>> directive themes.
>>>
>>> It is ironic that all the themes you cite have all been the basis of
>>> serious academic research projects. I don't just dream them up and I
>>> think quite hard before accepting a commission on a theme. We have been
>>> collaborating with researchers in other universities on the directives.
>>> Can I just defend the themes you mention for a moment?
>>>
>>> The gardening one is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council 
>>> and
>>> is the concern of a team from the University of Brighton who see
>>> gardening as a way of understanding the changing nature of time use,
>>> leisure, social meanings and social practices. It feeds into
>>> understandings of gender, economics, work and life style.
>>>
>>> Domestic violence is a very difficult to research area. It is easy to
>>> look at police records and statistics or at alarmist press coverage  but
>>> harder to get at the less public experiences. Most people would be
>>> nervous or cautious about opening up to a stranger interviewing them on
>>> this subject. This is where the stories sent in by Mass Observers are
>>> gold dust for researchers.  Of course (and thank goodness for that) lots
>>> of people don't have direct experience to report. We are still
>>> interested in their views.
>>>
>>> Shopping is something everyone has to do and may be regarded as trivial
>>> but in fact this directive which had at its heart the theme of Fair
>>> Trade goods was looking at how we make moral choices and it allows
>>> people with political or ethical views to describe their experiences. It
>>> raises issues about attitudes to global poverty and inequality in the
>>> world.... I see that as being a very important issue.
>>>
>>> The Smoking ban - well that does affect everyone ebven non-smokers and
>>> will have an impact on the health services. Personally I have never
>>> smoked  and loathe the practice and the smoke so am enjoying the new
>>> smoke-free atmospheres. My parents both died of smoking related
>>> illnesses so I have strong feelings on the subject. the social practice
>>> of smokinbg has so many links - health services, advertising, economics,
>>> tax, business and the interaction between people in social settings.
>>> fascinating for the anthropologist, the health specialist, the economist
>>> and so on.
>>>
>>> Home and contents  was also commissioned by an academic - issues of life
>>> style, spending, fashion, family relationships, economics, design, 
>>> social
>>> policy on housing..... key issues.
>>>
>>> Quotations is a complex question - understanding how people communicate
>>> is important, and written communication is changing rapidly - again of
>>> interest to sociologists, anthropologists and educationists.  You say it
>>> doesn't set the world on fire but MO is precisely about the details of
>>> everyday life - again that's why researchers use us.
>>>
>>> Finally - if you are still with me in this long reply, would you mind if
>>> we put this correspondence (yours and mine but of course without your
>>> name appearing)  on the MOA email discussion list as maybe other people
>>> would like to comment on our choice of themes. I will also show your
>>> letter to the researchers who collaborated with us on these subjects. I
>>> am sure they'd be interested in hearing what you feel would be good
>>> subjects for directives.
>>> Let me know!
>>>
>>> And glad you are staying with us after all,
>>> Dorothy
>
>
> Mr Marshall's second letter
>
> Dear Dorothy,
>
> Thank you for taking the trouble to write such a detailed reply to my 
> views on recent directives.  However, having read the reasons you put 
> forward in their defence, I still maintain the subjects are relatively 
> trivial in nature.
>
> In paragraph 4 you say the themes 'have all been the basis of serious 
> academic research projects.'  That this may be so endorses my view - which 
> I suspect is also held by other non-academics - that no matter how these 
> topics may be dressed up in jargon-laden gobbledygook, they are, 
> neverthless, are of no value to the general good of the nation.  It also 
> leads to the occasional media stories that is possible to attend certain 
> colleges and eventually graduate with a diploma in flower arranging or 
> ballroom dancing.
>
> Phrases used in favour of the gardinging project, such as 'understanding 
> the changing nature of time use, leisure, social meanings and social 
> practice' illustrate my point.  People have been gardening since Adam was 
> a lad.  It cannot be argued that over the centuries the nature of 'time 
> use' in gardening has changed.  Gardeners dig over and prepare the ground; 
> they plant the seeds;  they tend the shoots;  and, eventually, they 
> harvest the crops and enjoy their flavours in a meal, or they cut the 
> flowers and display them in a vase.  It is an activity which gives our 
> many gardeners a sense of pride and satisfaction in a job well done.  That 
> is enough for them.  They can exisit quite happily for the remainder of 
> therio fulfilled lives without feeding 'into understandings of gender, 
> economics, work and life style' - whatever that may mean.  Perhaps the 
> Arts and Humanities Research Council would benefit from a breath of fresh 
> air while undertaking a spell of manual work in the garden.
>
> Similar comments could be made about researchers in their ivory towers 
> expressing interest in domestic violence or shopping.   I think it may be 
> for the best if we agree to differ.
>
> You ask for a list of subjects which would stimulate myself (and other 
> contributors) to write more.  I'm only too happy to oblige.  When 
> discussing shopping (paragraph 7) you mention the moral choices involved. 
> There are several subjects, listed in no particular order of preference, 
> where moral choices have a genuine significance.
>
> Dafur  The new Prime Minister and the new French President have 
> demonstrated their concern about the plight of the hundreds of thousandsof 
> wretched souls living and dying in abject squalor and poverty while the 
> Sudanese Government denies - as it has done for many years - that any 
> problem exists.  It is a complex problem with (as is so often the case) 
> religious bigotry a root cause of hatred between people.
>
>
> Zimbabwe  What a frightening place must be.  Rampant inflation.  Chronic 
> widespread unemployment.  Brutal intimidation of any opposition to Mugabe 
> and his fat-cat bullies.  A lack of any information about daily life.  A 
> brave Catholic archbishop as a lone voice of protest.  A lack of will 
> among neighbouring African states unwilling to criticise Mugabe 
> (particularly South Africa which should know better after years of 
> apartheid).  And Britain, the former Colonial power which helped bring 
> Mugabe to office after the racisit Ian Smith had been toppled, washing its 
> hands of the whole sorry affair.
>
> The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan  Now Tony Blair has gone how much 
> longer do our young men and women  in the Armed Services have to continue 
> giving their lives in these futiler conflicts?
>
> As unforgivable as having military personnel locked into these dangerous 
> places is the way we, as a nation,treat these brave people and their 
> families.  There is the scandal over the delayed inquests on those who are 
> killed in these conflicts.  There is the scandal over the apparently 
> indifferent attitude by the authorities to those who are wounded (many of 
> them seriously, both physically and mentally).  All the military hospitals 
> were closed down years ago.  The strap-cashed NHS finds itself carrying 
> this additional burden (and the state of the NHS is another subject upon 
> which all your contributors must have a view).  There is the scandal of 
> the slims they call 'married quarters' where Service families are housed 
> while their loved ones often face  unecessary danger, hardship and 
> equipment shortages.
>
> Multi-cultural Britain  A vast subject which would possibly call for 
> several directives covering religious issues, asylum seekers, workers from 
> the new EU countries taking jobs the indigenous population scorn, lack of 
> English-speaking skills, styles of dress, policing the minorities - are 
> they treated differently because of the colour of their skins?  The 
> millionaire business men with dubious backgrounds who are taking over our 
> football clubs, our public utilities, our supermarkets, our enegy 
> supplies.
>
> Politicians - lack of public trust  Honours for cash donations.  Dodgy 
> dossiers about weapons of mass destruction which didn't exist.  Promises 
> made and never kept.  Spin.  When mistakes are discovered blaming the 
> media for getting the story 'out of context.'  A reluctance to say 
> 'Sorry.'  An even greater reluctance to resign when mistakes have been 
> made.  A general attitude of treating the public with contempt except once 
> every five years when their votes are required.  Increasing corruption at 
> elections.  A general tendency to explain away bad election results as 
> 'encouraging trends.'  And a general inertia among all politicians to seek 
> solutions to any of these problems.
>
> Climate change  The local perspective - flooding, drought, seasonal 
> difference, the relevance of individual 'carbon footprints'.  Does being 
> 'Green' make any difference?  And the wider picture of melting ice caps, 
> deforestation, Bush's denial that climate change is a problem.  There are 
> also the 'Great Polluters' - India and China.  Is it too late to conserve 
> the future for our children and grand-children?  Within fifty years will 
> the planet still be habitable?  How will the suvivors regard us.  Might we 
> have done a great deal more to ensure their future was worthwhile?
>
> The terrorist threat (which I separate from multi-culturalism).  Two years 
> ago 52 people were murdered in London by a small group of British-born 
> fanatics.  A short time before July 2005 hundreds more died on commuter 
> trains entering Madrid.  Scores of young people died in a fire bombed 
> nightclub in Bali.  Two thousand plus died horrible deaths when the World 
> Trade Center and other US icons were attacked.  The world has become an 
> increasingly dangerous place.  How do we cope with these images always at 
> the back of our minds?
>
> Just a few items which ought to attract a decent response because everyone 
> can relate to them.  We are all involved.
>
> I would be delighted if this correspondence appears on the MOA e-mail 
> discussion list.  I can see no reason why my name should not be attached 
> to my contribution.
>
> It has been a most stimulating exchange of views.  With best wishes - John 
> Marshall
>
>
> And my reply:
>
> Dear John,
> I have no argument with you about the importance of the international
> events and major national issues you list. We have - as you will have seen
> from our list - covered many similar issues in the past from the war in
> Iraq, 9/11, the bombing of the underground in London, the floods in New
> Orleans, the Tsunami, through to immigration, race, crime, the middle East
> and the Gulf War. Because the number of directives is necessarily limited,
> we will never be fast enough to coincide with current affairs as they
> happen and we rely on people to to write spontaneously if they feel an
> issue is crucial.
>
> My own analysis is that all these issues are related. What we feel about
> ethical shopping,  for example, links to our attitudes to global poverty,
> war, racism. I saw a film about US interests in South America last week by
> John Pilger. Perhaps you have seen it ? It begins by focussing on
> Venezuala. So much of what happens in the world is determined by the power
> of vested interests. I see personal and plitical issues being completely
> intertwined.... and I think that the researchers who use us also work
> within this framework. It's the relationship between the macro and
> micro.... and thew ay we are individuals navigate our ways through the
> broader sweeps of ecomonic and political history. MO in the 1930s was a
> pioneer in understanding this relationship.
>
> But bear in mind that many media and polling organisations ask for 
> opinions
> on these issues all the time. There is no shortage of quantitative data on
> UK public opinion around for the present or future researcher.
>
> MO aims at something very different and is set up to document  direct 
> life
> story *experience*.  That's our particular strength as I said before. And
> that is what most writers for us seem to prefer to do. It's harder for 
> some
> people to write about things that are not part of their direct experience.
> The issues are still important - eg health and domestic violence seem to 
> me
> to be crucial issues for all of us. I am a bit shocked at your critique of
> our including domestic violence. But maybe that's one of the problems -
> some men don't take it seriously.  Your response in itself will contribute
> to the research data!
>
> I must repeat that you are welcome to set your own themes and write about
> those. Many of our correspondents do just that from time to time and we
> welcome unprompted contributions.
> Thanks for giving me permission to put our correspondence  on the
> discussion list. It will probably appear next week. If you want to 
> join,see
> www.massobs.org.uk/join_our_email_list.htm
>
> I must stop here as I must do other work..... on the Jiscmail i am sure
> others will take over the discussion!
>
> All the best
> Dorothy
>
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