Angela Bartie

My main research interests focus on cultural and social change in modern (post-1940) Scotland, with specific interests in role of the arts in society, cultural policy, and arts festivals. These were explored in my book, 'The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Post-war Britain' (EUP, 2013), which examines changing discourses of ‘culture’ by using the arts as a lens and the Edinburgh Festivals as a stage to examine broader cultural and social change between c.1947 and 1971. Out of this research, I’ve developed interests in the cultural politics of the popular arts, the uses of culture for urban regeneration in the late twentieth century, and in the arts and avant-garde of the 1960s. The latter was explored in 'The International Writers’ Conference Revisited: Edinburgh, 1962' (co-edited with Eleanor Bell, University of Strathclyde; published by Cargo, 2012) and in my recent research on the influential avant-garde poet, playwright and jazz musician, Tom McGrath. I also have continuing interests in the history of youth gangs, violence, media representations of young people, and official responses to delinquency. These interests were sparked whilst exploring the moral panic over youth gangs in 1960s Glasgow, which was the focus of my undergraduate dissertation, and extended during my time as a researcher on Louise A. Jackson’s ‘Policing Youth’ project. Since then, I have worked with sociologists Susan Batchelor and Alistair Fraser (University of Glasgow) to explore the youth gang phenomenon in Glasgow through oral history interviews and a contemporary sociological study undertaken between 1968 and 1970. I am active across my research interests. Following on from my work on the Edinburgh festivals, I’m exploring two major Scottish arts festivals, Clyde Fair International (1972-73) and the Glasgow Mayfests (1983-97) . I am also at the early stages of researching and writing a biography of the avant-garde ‘explorer’, Tom McGrath. My work on the youth gang phenomenon in 1960s and 1970s Glasgow continues too, in collaboration with Alistair Fraser, University of Glasgow. I also worked on the major Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project ‘The Redress of the Past: Historical Pageants in Britain, 1905-2016’. This collaborative project with researchers at King’s College London, the Institute of Education and the University of Glasgow examined the phenomenon of historical pageants in twentieth and early twenty-first century Britain. These major theatrical re-enactments of events from the past experienced waves of popularity in British society, and were so widespread in the Edwardian period that contemporaries referred to an outbreak of ‘pageant-fever’! An AHRC-funded follow-on project produced a variety of outputs and events aimed at a range of audiences, including a film made in collaboration with Windrose Media Trust and a free 'Historical Pageants Local History Study Guide' (St Albans: Regents Court Press, 2020).