Arthur Marwick
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Arthur John Brereton Marwick (29 February 1936 – 27 September 2006) was a British
social historian Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to co ...
, who served for many years as Professor of History at the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
. His research interests lay primarily in the history of Britain in the twentieth century, and the relationship between war and social change. He is probably best known, however, for his more theoretical book ''The Nature of History'' (1970; revised editions 1981 and 1989), and its greatly reworked and expanded version ''The New Nature of History'' (2001). In the latter work he defended an
empirical Empirical evidence is evidence obtained through sense experience or experimental procedure. It is of central importance to the sciences and plays a role in various other fields, like epistemology and law. There is no general agreement on how t ...
and source-based approach towards the writing of history, and argued against the turn towards
postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...
. He believed firmly that history was "of central importance to society".


Early life and education

Marwick was born on 29 February 1936 in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, the younger son of William Hutton Marwick (1894–1982), an economic historian, and his wife, Maeve Cluna, Brereton.Emsley 2011. His parents were
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
. He was educated at George Heriot's School, Edinburgh, and at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, before undertaking postgraduate research at
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
. His Oxford thesis, on the
Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...
, was awarded a BLitt, but not a
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
.Purdue, ''Guardian'' obituary.


Career

Marwick worked as an assistant lecturer in history at the
University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
in 1959–60, before becoming a lecturer in history at the University of Edinburgh in 1960. In 1969 he was appointed the first professor of history at the newly established
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
, where he remained until his retirement in 2001. From 1978 until 1984 he served as dean and director of studies in arts at the Open University. He also held brief visiting professorships at the
State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...
at Buffalo,
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
,
Rhodes College Rhodes College is a private liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the South and is accredited by the Southern Associa ...
, the
University of Perugia The University of Perugia ( Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public university in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. The offi ...
and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.Emsley, ''Independent'' obituary. From 1995 to 1998 he served as co-editor of the ''
Journal of Contemporary History The ''Journal of Contemporary History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the study of history in all parts of the world since 1930. It was established in 1966 by Walter Laqueur and George L. Mosse. Originally published by ...
''.Emsley 2007.


Scholarship

Marwick was a
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
social and cultural historian, but critical of
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
and other approaches to history that he believed stressed the importance of
metanarrative In social theory, a metanarrative (also master narrative, or meta-narrative and grand narrative; or ) is an overarching narrative about smaller historical narratives, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (a ...
over archival research. He was also a critic of
postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...
.''Telegraph'' obituary.


Taxonomy of sources

Particularly in his books ''The Nature of History'' (1970), and its expanded version ''The New Nature of History'' (2001), Marwick analysed at length different types of historical evidence, distinguishing between "facts" and
sources Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...
,
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...
and
secondary source In Scholarly method, scholarship, a secondary sourcePrimary, secondary and tertiar ...
s, and different varieties of primary source. He also distinguished between "witting" and "unwitting" testimony; that is, between the overt and intentional message of a document or source, and the unintentional evidence that it also contains.


War and social change

One of Marwick's most influential books, ''The Deluge'' (1965), dealt with the transformations in British society brought about by the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Its main thesis was that the war had brought about positive and lasting social changes (in the rôle of women, in the acceptability of state intervention for social reasons, and so on). Despite its terrible tragedies, Marwick believed that the sum result of the war was that Britain was a better place to live in the 1920s than in the period before the war. He analysed the social changes that result from
total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare ov ...
in terms of four different "modes", or dimensions: * The destructive and disruptive aspects of war, which may nonetheless provide "an impetus to social construction on an entirely new scale". * War as a challenge to, and test of, a country's social and political institutions, which may prompt the destruction of inefficient institutions and the improved efficiency of others. * The improved opportunities for participation in social, political and economic life of previously disadvantaged sectors of society (for example, women and the working classes). * The emotional and psychological impact of war that may in some cases stimulate creativity, and a greater willingness to adopt new ways of thinking.


Beauty

Marwick published two books on historical perceptions of human beauty – ''Beauty in History'' (1988) and ''It: a History of Human Beauty'' (2004) – in which he attacked the feminist argument that beauty is merely a social construct. His first book was heavily criticised by feminists, including
Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...
, who sarcastically proposed as a subtitle: "Women I have fancied throughout the ages with additional notes on some of the men I think I might have fancied if I were a woman."


Personal life

Marwick had a flamboyant and outgoing personality. A. W. Purdue described him as "alternatively, wonderful, outrageous and dangerous to know. Kind and supportive to colleagues, he was an heroic drinker but not always fun after the first few drinks."
Jonathan Meades Jonathan Turner Meades (born 21 January 1947) is an English writer and film-maker. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty television films, many for the BBC. He has described himself as a "cardinal of atheism" and i ...
called him "the very picture of baba-cool, with his daringly arty shirt, negligently loose
foulard A foulard is a lightweight fabric, either twill or plain weave, plain-woven, made of silk or a mix of silk and cotton. Foulards usually have a small printed design of various colors. By metonymy, it can also be an article of clothing, such as scar ...
and his beardy grin for which the only word is that late Sixties shocker 'mellow'". His colleague Clive Emsley, however, recalled a more complex character: He had many girlfriends and lovers, but never married. He had one daughter, Louise. His ashes were interred in 2007 on the eastern side of
Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...
.


Principal works

* ''The Explosion of British Society 1914–62'' (1963); revised as ''The Explosion of British Society 1914–1970'' (1971) * ''Clifford Allen: the open conspirator'' (1964) * ''The Deluge: British Society and the First World War'' (1965) * ''Britain in the Century of Total War: war, peace and social change, 1900–1967'' (1968) * ''The Nature of History'' (1970) * ''Social Change in Britain, 1920–1970'' (1970) * ''War and Social Change in the Twentieth Century: a comparative study of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States'' (1974) * ''The Home Front: the British and the Second World War'' (1976) * ''The Unemployed'' (1976) * ''Women At War, 1914–1918'' (1977) * ''Class: Image and Reality in Britain, France and the USA since 1930'' (1980) * ''The Illustrated Dictionary of British History'', with Christopher Harvie, Charles Kightly, & Keith Wrightson (1980) * ''British Society since 1945'' (1982) * ''Britain in Our Century: images and controversies'' (1984) * ''Class in the Twentieth Century'' (1986) * ''Beauty in History: society, politics and personal appearance c.1500 to the present'' (1988) * ''The Arts, Literature and Society'' (ed.) (1990) * ''Europe on the Eve of War, 1900–1914'' (1990) * ''Culture in Britain since 1945'' (1991) * ''The Sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States, c.1958–c.1974'' (1998) * ''Windows on the Sixties'' with A. Aldgate and J. Chapman (2000) * ''A History of the Modern British Isles, 1914–1999: circumstances, events and outcomes'' (2000) * ''The New Nature of History: knowledge, evidence, language'' (2001) * ''Total War and Historical Change, Europe 1914–1955'', edited with Clive Emsley and Wendy Simpson (2001) * ''The Arts in the West since 1945'' (2002) * ''It: a History of Human Beauty'' (2004)


References


Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marwick, Arthur 1936 births 2006 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Academics of the Open University Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Academics of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at George Heriot's School 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians Fellows of the Royal Historical Society