Working-Class Public History in the Context of Deindustrialization: Dilemmas of Authority and the Possibilities of Dialogue

The paper is framed by the author's reminiscence of his attendance at a public tour of the Springhill underground mine in Nova Scotia. The tour guide, in response to a question, suddenly spoke compellingly of the disaster that had taken place there. The paper then analyzes the place of oral and public working-class history in an era of deindustrialization. There is a tendency for oral history to be used simply to provide an emotional gloss, but the author argues that particular incidents can also become a turning point in terms of the bigger picture. The author emphasizes the usefulness of dialogue and mutual interrogation in the cultural re-situation and re-imagination of narratives of workers' experience, struggles, and perspectives on change.