D2. Humanitarian Archives: Absences and Opportunities Chair: Flora Chatt, John Rylands Research Institute and Library Chimwemwe Phiri, University of Manchester
Bertrand Taithe, University of Manchester
Humanitarian archives are full of absences: the voices of recipients and patients, evidence of wrongdoing and certain decision trails often never make it into the official archives, whether they are either never created, destroyed, neglected or indefinitely closed off. This workshop will explore how these absences are (and often aren’t) supplemented by other sources, including oral history interviews, research data, social media, instant messaging and community history projects.
Drawing together researchers and archivists who work with humanitarian archives and evidence (particularly those relating to humanitarian medicine) we will discuss how these alternative sources prove challenging to the strict traditional concept of archives, which defines them as objective traces of institutional or personal transactions which are ‘not drawn up in the interest or for the information of Posterity’ (Jenkinson, 1922). It will also touch on the ethics of producing, collecting and using these sources, and how patient and recipient perspectives can be captured in spheres of work that generally prioritize the views of practitioners.
It will also explore the challenges and opportunities presented to archivists and researchers by such sources, particularly those produced that are produced 'for Posterity', such as oral histories. We will also reflect on whether they can fit into an archive, or if they even should: are they better suited to being preserved and accessed in a different setting, and should we question the dominance of the archive in historical research? Keywords: archives, research, oral history
* Understand and be able to critically evaluate key archiving principles, how they affect the use and presentation of material defined as archives, and how these practices have developed over time.
* Develop an understanding of how and why archives can be a tool of exclusion and oppression for certain categories of patients and recipients.
* Gain an awareness of the ethics of capturing, collecting, storing and using archives relating to medical treatment, and the legal frameworks that govern this.
