Reflections: Oral History Practice & The Windrush Scandal Project

London Metropolitan University/Online

Join us for an intimate and thought-provoking ‘In Dialogue’ event with Juanita Cox, a lead researcher on the ‘Windrush’ Scandal oral history project and John Gabriel, chair of the Oral History Society.  Together they will reflect on the academic, ethical, and emotional complexities of collecting voices of those impacted by one of the UK’s most significant immigration injustices and their advocates.

This event will explore:

• The methodological challenges of oral history in academic research including positionality and the practice of self-reflexivity.
• Navigating trauma, trust, and representation in community storytelling; as well as the tensions between heritage and history.
• The power dynamics between interviewer and interviewee.
• The role of the oral history archive in activism, education, and legacy-building.

Through candid discussion and selected audio excerpts, they will address what it means to document history from the perspective of those whose voices are traditionally marginalised, and how oral history can serve as both a scholarly tool and a form of resistance.  This event will be chaired by Joanna Bornat, an emeritus professor of oral history at the Open University and a long-standing trustee of the Oral History Society.

???? Featuring live excerpts from interviews
????️ Audience Q&A
☕ Refreshments provided

Free and open to all.

Bios

Juanita Cox is an Independent Scholar and a Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research. A specialist in oral history and post-colonial Caribbean literature, she was a researcher on the AHRC-funded project The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context. Her work explores how legacies of empire shape the experiences of the Windrush Generation and their descendants. Passionate about public engagement, Cox collaborates with grassroots organisations to preserve community memory and challenge historical silences. She holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham and is a recipient of the prestigious R.E. Bradbury Memorial Prize.

John Gabriel is Chair of the Oral History Society, a member of its ‘In Dialogue’ Steering Committee and Higher Education Special Interest Group. A senior professor of Sociology at London Metropolitan University, he teaches health ethics and research methods. Since the early 2000s, John has contributed to community oral history projects on refugees, youth in care, industrial decline, and lost trades in Islington. He recently co-led a PhD training course with Jenny Harding and Verusca Calabria. His research interests include racism, pedagogy in higher education, and oral history’s role in capturing diverse lived experiences.

Joanna Bornat is an emeritus professor of oral history at the Open University and a long-standing trustee of the Oral History Society. She has co-edited the journal Oral History for over forty years and is a member of its ‘In Dialogue’ Steering Committee. Her research explores late-life memory, marginalised voices, and the evolving role of oral history in shaping historical understanding. Joanna has published widely on topics including reminiscence, migration, belief, and biographical methods. She is passionate about inclusive, community-driven history and the creative use of sound and visual technologies. 

This will be a hybrid event and joining details will be available shortly.