National Trust AGM

[PRAMtran]

I’ve received an email from the National Trust inviting me and all other members to vote in their AGM. Does anyone know if there are any things a woman’s rights advocate should vote for or against. Eg TWAW by stealth.

Great points.

Marxist Terry Eagleton accused post-colonial theory of obscurantism, narcissism, solipsism, political disorientation and for him, the ultimate faux pas complicity with American cultural Imperialism.

I've already explained why several times. It feels like an act of cultural coloisation itself -that's why.

I don’t think anyone has advocated judging anyone in the past by the standards of today have they? I certainly haven’t.

Professional history and archaeology aren’t about “judging” anything. They are about understanding what happened, how, and why.

If you “feel” judged, that is your emotional response, not the content of the texts in NT properties.

Quite! Nobody wants to go to galleries and exhbitions to be preached at by the morally righteous. If i want a sermon I'll go to a church.

It might “feel” like it to you personally.

But, if Britain develops a fuller and more accurate understanding of its past in the process, that’s a good thing no?

@DatumTarum of course the history of the Atlantic Slave Trade matters, along with the general political context of the time. But to circle back to the topic of this thread, lots of other aspects of history alongside that time also matter, and balance needs to be struck so that visitors to an NT property can learn about that particular NT property. After all, there will very likely also be descendants of agricultural labourers, domestic servants, grooms, nurses, cooks, builders, craftsmen etc etc in the visitors to the houses and I bet it would be just as relevant and interesting to learn more about their lives and the impact on the property. The slave trade and other geopolitical issues are then the context in which these things happen, and I would argue, not the focus of what visitors want to hear about.

No, I've not studied that in particular - but have had long involvement with other similar disciplines.......Now you are sounding very patronising.

And like most post structuralist theories it ends up disappearing into itself itself, in an endless exercise of navel gazing.

No thanks!

The slave trade and other geopolitical issues are then the context in which these things happen, and I would argue, not the focus of what visitors want to hear about.

This.

You are seriously starting to annoy me now - with your preachy tone. You think you know better; you think you are on the right side of history.

I'm off to prepare dinner now.

I think @MyLadyDisdainlsYetLiving makes a very good point. Absent a political agenda, lots of different historical contexts are going to be relevant to any given historical building.

I’ve had a gutful of preachy, patronising and sadly naïve posts for today. It’s sad when people develop obsessions that they feel compelled to force onto others. Hearing the same tedious “facts” over and over does nothing for your listeners/readers but presumably feeds both your own obsession and narcissism. I’m addressing this post to no one in particular and am now off to source carpets from an online store where I hope not to be hectored/lectured 🤭

As an example, I've never visited Chawton but if I did I would expect to find out about Jane Austen, her family and her life while she lived there. I may expect passing mention of the Napoleonic Wars as one of the great matters that were "current affairs" at the time she was writing her books, eg to give context to why there were always camps of Militia being billeted in villages and explain why they crop up in her books. But I would not expect a great exhibition on the history of the British Army - I'd go to the IWM or other for that.

Are you as keen to highlight Foster and his work to stop children s young as four being employed in mills and mines in Victorian times

Wasn't just me feeling patronised then.

But I wasn't being told I was being patronised, it was just my 'emotional response', so that's okay then 🙄

Conversely, none of them are relevant without politics.

It's just a pile of stones when you get down to it. Why are we preserving them at all? Why do they matter?

Because they’re pretty and a nice day out. If rather Put efforts into stopping modern day slavery

I agree. I would be interested in learning more about the history of agriculture. These great estates were funded by farming and how they developed farming to be as productive and profitable as possible is interesting. Also the impact of the late 19thC collapse in farm rents and how that impoverished some of these estates. The Corn Laws, impact of cheap overseas food imports. I could go on but I would be boring you.

That was to @Ereshkigalangcleg

Spoiler alert: Because there is more than one political agenda.

They're extremely costly and difficult to maintain though.

It would be more cost effective to build easy to maintain replica.

They would be just as pretty and pleasant for a day out.

Seconded. I'm an ex archaeologist and curator, formerly of one of the national institutions mentioned on this thread.

Conversely, none of them are relevant without politics.

I said a political agenda, I didn't say politics wasn't relevant at all. Try to read posts properly, or refrain from trying to put words in people's mouths.

It would be more cost effective to build easy to maintain replica.

They would be just as pretty and pleasant for a day out.

People like to visit old places. You sound like you don't have a clue what people like about old buildings.

And once it’s been knocked down you could excavate it and tell us what it was used for.