The Cold War in Scotland: Technology, Heritage and the British Warfare State
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Stirling
Department Name: History and Politics
Abstract
In Europe, the Cold War was 'war-like', but it never turned hot (Nehring, 2013). Its memories, heritage, and legacies are nevertheless emerging as vibrant fields of research (Greiner et al. 2013; Low and Joel 2014). Analyses of texts have begun to see the Cold War as an 'imaginary war', but such approaches cannot readily be applied to material objects and heritage. This project therefore addresses two issues: how does a non-military object created during the period of the Cold War, or military technology never deployed, become a Cold War object? And what are the implications of this blurred civil/military dichotomy for museum exhibitions and engagement?
The project seeks to address these issues by using NMS science and technology and Scottish modern and contemporary history collections. It will interrogate the material legacies of the relationship between society, technology, and the military, considering objects ranging from typewriters to missiles. It will thereby illuminate the impact on heritage of what Edgerton (1991) has called 'liberal militarism', namely, the mobilisation of civilian resources for military ends.
The project seeks to address these issues by using NMS science and technology and Scottish modern and contemporary history collections. It will interrogate the material legacies of the relationship between society, technology, and the military, considering objects ranging from typewriters to missiles. It will thereby illuminate the impact on heritage of what Edgerton (1991) has called 'liberal militarism', namely, the mobilisation of civilian resources for military ends.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Holger Nehring (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Sarah Harper (Student) |
| Description | Presented a paper at the Cold War Voices conference held by the University of Bristol |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Co-presented a paper with my supervisor Dr Sam Alberti at the Cold War Voices conference held by the University of Bristol. The paper titled 'Cold War Voices in the Museum' discussed the Cold War narratives surrounding objects in the Nataional Museum of Scotland's collections and the people behind those objects such as the donors and the museum curators who influence the biography of the objects. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presented at the Material and Visual Culture Group at Edinburgh College of Art |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I presented a paper at the Material and Visual Culture Group at Edinburgh College of Art. I spoke about my research on the material culture of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Scotland during the Cold War period. The audience was engaged and asked thought-provoking questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Royal Observer Corps Blog for National Museums Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On the 30th anniversary of the stand down of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC), I wrote a blog post for the National Museums Scotland (NMS) website and social media feeds. This blog detailed the role of the ROC during the Cold War and highlighted objects within the museum's collection. The ROC collection is the focus of one of my thesis chapters. The blog was received positively with members of the public added their memories of the ROC in the comments sections. As a result of this blog, I am currently assisting the NMS digital media team to produce a short film on the ROC due to be released in Summer 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blog.nms.ac.uk/2021/09/28/forewarned-is-forearmed-inside-the-hidden-world-of-the-royal-obser... |