The Working Class History podcast has launched a web app and map that allow users to explore and learn about people's history and struggles for a better world.
The detailed mapping in cities like London, New York, Barcelona, Paris, Vancouver, and Leeds provides precise locations of significant events, strikes, and movements, highlighting the often forgotten or overlooked places where working class struggles took place.
The Working Class History map and app challenge dominant narratives and symbols by promoting the historical legacy of grassroots movements and local struggles, empowering individuals to actively engage with history and make it relevant in the present.
Deep dives
Launch of New Online Projects
The Working Class History podcast announces the launch of new online projects, including an interactive web app and map containing historical stories. The web app and map provide a platform for exploring and learning about people's history and struggles for a better world. The map includes specific locations and tags for over 3,000 people's history stories around the world. The goal is to make history accessible and allow people to connect with their local history and the history of places they visit. The project aims to counter the whitewashing and selective commemoration of history by empowering individuals and communities to reclaim and share their own stories.
Detailed Mapping of Cities
The Working Class History map has been closely mapped in cities like London, New York, Barcelona, Paris, Vancouver, and Leeds. The detailed mapping provides precise locations of significant events, strikes, and movements in these cities, allowing people to experience history in a tangible way. The focus is on mapping specific streets, buildings, and areas rather than general locations. The map aims to help people explore and rediscover their cities, highlighting the often forgotten or overlooked places where working class struggles took place. These locations serve as permanent digital historical markers, counteracting the erasure of radical history and challenging dominant narratives.
Reclaiming History and Space
The Working Class History map and app contribute to the ongoing process of reclaiming history and public space from dominant narratives and symbols. It challenges the commemoration of figures linked to oppression and promotes the historical legacy of grassroots movements and local struggles. By mapping events like toppling statues or collectivizing buildings, the project empowers individuals to actively engage with history and make it relevant in the present. The map offers an alternative way of sightseeing, encouraging people to explore the hidden historical sites and learn about the often overlooked stories of working class resistance and solidarity.
Future Development and Community Engagement
The Working Class History team plans to further develop the map and app, adding features like topic and year filtering to enhance user experience. They also aim to collaborate with historians, researchers, and local history groups to expand the content and ensure accuracy. In the future, there are plans to allow users to submit their own historical markers, while implementing a fact-checking and verification process. The project seeks to decentralize the mapping of radical history and encourage public engagement, creating a collective space for sharing and preserving working class stories.
Accessing the Working Class History Map and App
To explore the Working Class History map, visit map.workingclasshistory.com, and for the stories app, go to stories.workingclasshistory.com. The app can also be accessed through various social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and Tumblr. The Working Class History podcast is available on popular podcast platforms or through their website at workingclasshistory.com. Support for the project can be provided through Patreon, where patrons receive exclusive benefits and early access to content.
We chat with Pearson from the Coffee with Comrades podcast about our new web apps: the Working Class History Map and Stories app. This episode has been timed to coincide with the public launch of our web apps on January 31. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory In this episode, we talk about why we started the mapping project, what it’s about, how people can use it, and about different ways of interacting with people’s history. We also talk about how it differs from any other radical history mapping project.
There is an additional bonus episode with Pearson speaking about their experiences using the map on a trip to London. Coming later today exclusively for our patreon supporters.If you enjoy it, make sure to check out Coffee with Comrades, who are also supported by patreon. Connect with them here:
