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Finally watched entire #SHEAR2020 plenary. I won't focus on Feller's presentation; others have already begun the necessary if tedious task of eviscerating it. Instead I'll offer a thread on how it reminds me of what the @WhaHistory went through during the turn of the 21st cent.
For decades the Western History Association was steeped in the colonial justifications, glorifications, and erasaures of the American West's mythology. FJ Turner provided tattered scholarly cover even after other Am historians had long dispensed with Turner's Frontier thesis.
The WHA promoted some very good and even excellent work during this era, but on the whole it increasingly became an atavistic boutique organization rife with ideology, rituals, iconography, and even scholarship that ranged from the embarrassing to the infuriating.
Of course the WHA's big revolution began with the emergence of New Western History in the 1980s. But the story of WHA's eventual transformation's not so simple as saying some younger scholars fought the good fight, shot down Turnerianism once and for all, and the ship was righted
New Western History (itself hardly perfect) was course ultimately victorious over Turnerianism. However, its intellectual victory did NOT complete the WHA's institutional cultural transformation. That's a more recent development. Here are some quick observations about . . .
how that unfolded for WHA, and might unfold for SCHEAR.
-Some old school scholars will be obstinate til the end
-Many will gradually come around
-The whole thing will take a long time to play out b/c national mythologies are difficult to dislodge, even from scholarly orgs . . .
-Some old school scholars will be obstinate til the end
-Many will gradually come around
-The whole thing will take a long time to play out b/c national mythologies are difficult to dislodge, even from scholarly orgs . . .
And many of the of the "new school" scholars you thought were fighting the good fight will disappoint you at some point. That disappointment will take various forms.
-Some will stick their heads in the sand.
-Some will talk a big game but back down when it counts.
. . .
-Some will stick their heads in the sand.
-Some will talk a big game but back down when it counts.
. . .
-Some will recognize specific problems but fail to see the larger picture.
-Some, despite advocating the big solutions, will still defend and even protect things they shouldn't because of personal affections, loyalties, and endearments.
In the end, the WHA's transformation . . .
-Some, despite advocating the big solutions, will still defend and even protect things they shouldn't because of personal affections, loyalties, and endearments.
In the end, the WHA's transformation . . .
was only BEGUN by the intellectual revolt of New Western History. More important than correcting Turner's dated Frontier Thesis was correcting the institutional culture. Making the WHA a place that not only welcomed women and scholars of color, but also took them and their. . .
work seriously. Which in turn improved both scholarship and the institution's culture. That meant challenging both overt and subtle sexism and racism. Not just in scholarship, but in the institution itself.
Of course that job's hardly complete, but WHA has made huge strides...
Of course that job's hardly complete, but WHA has made huge strides...
over the last several decades and its current leadership continues to emphasize and advance that good work.
As historians, we know that real change takes time. But it also takes ongoing work and commitment from many people.
Find your allies and settle in for the long haul.
As historians, we know that real change takes time. But it also takes ongoing work and commitment from many people.
Find your allies and settle in for the long haul.
I'd like to add that as a cis white guy, really not for me to say how far the WHA has come; it's impossible for me to know. But I think all WHA members recognize the organization's come a long way these last 35+ years. And that as society needs to keep moving forward so must WHA.
