Orgreave: The Service Speaks
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Derby
Department Name: College of Business, Law & Social Sci
Abstract
The year 2024 will mark forty years since the Miners' Strike of 1984-5 which left a legacy of resentment and distrust towards the police in mining areas which endures to this day. The 'Battle of Orgreave', was captured by BBC cameras and involved confrontation between police from eighteen UK forces and some 5000 striking miners.
All events of historic significance merit an oral history of those who participated. The human life span imposes a window of opportunity for the conduct and writing of such studies. The aftermath of such events may entail a long history of litigation and distress which may preclude candour. The Hillsborough soccer stadium disaster is an instance where an objective oral history is probably still impossible. The opening of the window of opportunity is determined by factors of litigation, research ethics and sensitivity. The closing of the window is determined by the death of those involved. A police officer new in the career in 1984 would now be in his or her late sixties, so the window of opportunity for an oral history of policing the miners' strike remains open for a few years yet.
The proposed research will use narrative inquiry and visual methodology approaches capturing social representation processes such as feelings and images. It offers the potential to address ambiguity, complexity, and dynamism of individuals, groups, or organisational phenomena (Mitchell & Egudo 2003). This research will not seek to necessarily address the 'rights or wrongs' or the 'truth' of this contentious event in history, nor to formulate a scientific explanation, but rather to address the epistemological question of how we endow experience with meaning and reflection. The findings from the proposed study will contribute to current debates on the fortieth anniversary of this event by asking what factors were at play in the miners' strike to move officers towards or away from procedural justice. The findings from the proposed study will be of interest to scholars across a variety of disciplines, given the significance of this historic and exceptional industrial dispute. We think it will also move forward contemporary thinking on the concept of procedural justice in policing - which refers to the degree to which someone perceives people in authority to apply processes, or make decisions about them, in a fair and just way. Aside from capturing an important perspective of social history that has not yet been recorded, this research has the potential to investigate the experience of performing a public service and policing during a period of considerable civil unrest under a 'law and order' administration.
All events of historic significance merit an oral history of those who participated. The human life span imposes a window of opportunity for the conduct and writing of such studies. The aftermath of such events may entail a long history of litigation and distress which may preclude candour. The Hillsborough soccer stadium disaster is an instance where an objective oral history is probably still impossible. The opening of the window of opportunity is determined by factors of litigation, research ethics and sensitivity. The closing of the window is determined by the death of those involved. A police officer new in the career in 1984 would now be in his or her late sixties, so the window of opportunity for an oral history of policing the miners' strike remains open for a few years yet.
The proposed research will use narrative inquiry and visual methodology approaches capturing social representation processes such as feelings and images. It offers the potential to address ambiguity, complexity, and dynamism of individuals, groups, or organisational phenomena (Mitchell & Egudo 2003). This research will not seek to necessarily address the 'rights or wrongs' or the 'truth' of this contentious event in history, nor to formulate a scientific explanation, but rather to address the epistemological question of how we endow experience with meaning and reflection. The findings from the proposed study will contribute to current debates on the fortieth anniversary of this event by asking what factors were at play in the miners' strike to move officers towards or away from procedural justice. The findings from the proposed study will be of interest to scholars across a variety of disciplines, given the significance of this historic and exceptional industrial dispute. We think it will also move forward contemporary thinking on the concept of procedural justice in policing - which refers to the degree to which someone perceives people in authority to apply processes, or make decisions about them, in a fair and just way. Aside from capturing an important perspective of social history that has not yet been recorded, this research has the potential to investigate the experience of performing a public service and policing during a period of considerable civil unrest under a 'law and order' administration.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Kate Moss (Principal Investigator) | |
| Emily Gray (Co-Investigator) |
| Title | Audio Oral History Recordings |
| Description | Oral history recordings will be made from participants who were police officers at the 'Battle of Orgreave' in 1984. They will then be transcribed and both these items will be archived at the British Library by National Life Stories. National Life Stories is an independent charitable trust within the British Library. It is the leading oral history fieldwork charity in the UK. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world-class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation, among which the oral history recordings are considered vital to the Library's intention to preserve the nation's memory. The British Library's oral history collection is one of the largest in the world and covers a huge range of topics encompassing diverse voices, from artists to steelworkers, doctors to postmen, Holocaust survivors to authors. The oral history section on the British Library's website has more information: www.bl.uk/oralhistory. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Impact | The full impact of this will be evident at the culmination of the project. The permissions forms, audio files, content summaries, transcripts, and photographs will be deposited at the British Library for long-term archiving and public access. After deposit at the British Library is complete, the University of Derby will retain copyright of the material for 5 years. After this period of time, copyright will be transferred to the British Library in perpetuity. Once deposited at the British Library, the information contained within the interview itself will be made available (subject to your agreement) through the Library to researchers, academics and other members of the public who access oral history content. The British Library will keep this material in perpetuity, so as to preserve the oral history of the United Kingdom and inform the research of future generations. |
| URL | https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/showcase/orgreave-service-speaks/ |
| Description | British Society of Criminology (Midlands Branch) Seminar - 'Contemporary Issues in Criminology: Works in Progess |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Derby University annually hosts a British Society of Criminology Seminar with their funding and support. This seminar focused on a number of papers given about current research works in progress by a range of academics, to an academic and student audience. The seminar was publicised by the BSC and attracts academics mainly for the Midlands. The research team gave a presentation on the progress of the Orgreave research thus far. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | History and Archives in Practise Conference, Senate House, UCL, 5 March 2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Title: Echoes of Orgreave: The Role of Memory in Police Officers' Recollections of a Divisive Event. Participants: Professor Kate Moss (University of Derby) Dr. Emily Gray (University of Warwick) Tom Andrews (University of Derby); Jenny Richards (University of Derby). This paper examines how memories of the contentious public incident known as the Battle of Orgreave are recalled and interpreted by police officers who either participated in or witnessed the event in 1984. The data is drawn from a recent project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) which seeks to produce the first narrative account (using Oral History method) from the perspective of police officers who were 'on the ground' at Orgreave. The paper will explore i) how the process of recounting personal life experiences can facilitate individual and communal understanding, contributing to well-being and identity formation; ii) how narratives serve as valuable resources for investigating not only the actions and intentions of individuals at the time but also how they retrospectively interpret and reconstruct their memories over time and iii) consider how public events are shaped by both shared and concealed narratives of actors from important historical moments. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/our-research-and-academic-collaboration/research-events/hi... |