The Democratic Power of History from Below

Historian Marcus Rediker, Spring 2019 Dan and Maggie Inouye Chair in Democratic Ideals, will give a keynote lecture as a culmination of his semester-long residency at UHM.

America has experienced a long, often violent struggle for democratic rights from the American Revolution through the Civil War to modern social movements for civil, labor, and women’s rights. The struggle has taken place on battlefields, at polling places, in the streets -- and on the pages of history books, where historians have clashed fiercely over the content and meaning of America’s past. This lecture explores “history from below,” which grew out of the movements of the 1960s and 1970s to challenge elite “top down” versions of history. Drawing on more than three decades of writing history from below, Rediker suggests that a democratic future may depend on how we see the past.

Event Sponsor
American Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Mari Yoshihara, (808) 956-8542, myoshiha@hawaii.edu

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