Joe Moran (social historian)
Encyclopedia
Joe Moran is a social and cultural historian who has written about everyday life, especially British everyday life from the mid-twentieth century until the present day.
Moran studied international history and politics at Leeds University before doing an MA in English literature and a DPhil in American studies at Sussex University. The Mass-Observation Archive at Sussex was what aroused his interest in studying the everyday; Moran credits his own interest in taking note of what normally goes unnoticed to the I-Spy
booklets he consumed as a young boy.
Quoting Doreen Massey, Moran says that despite every generation's emphasis on change, "much of life for many people 'still consists of waiting in a bus shelter with your shopping for a bus that never comes'"; he describes himself as "trying to find a critical language to talk about these empty, purposeless moments of daily life, filled with activities such as commuting and office routines, that we generally take for granted but that take up so much of our lives." Moran describes himself as influenced by Mass-Observation
and a new French ethnography of the quotidian or infraordinary, exemplified by works by Georges Perec
, Marc Augé
and François Bon
.
Moran's book Queuing for Beginners is a chronological account, from breakfast to bed, of a normal British day and how it has changed since the nineteenth century and more particularly since the 1930s; the book received favorable reviews.
Moran is teaching at Liverpool John Moores University
. He writes articles for The Guardian
and New Statesman
.
Moran studied international history and politics at Leeds University before doing an MA in English literature and a DPhil in American studies at Sussex University. The Mass-Observation Archive at Sussex was what aroused his interest in studying the everyday; Moran credits his own interest in taking note of what normally goes unnoticed to the I-Spy
I-Spy
The I-SPY books are spotters' guides written for British children, and particularly successful in the 1950s and 1960s in their original form and again when relaunched by Michelin in 2009 after a seven year gap in publishing....
booklets he consumed as a young boy.
Quoting Doreen Massey, Moran says that despite every generation's emphasis on change, "much of life for many people 'still consists of waiting in a bus shelter with your shopping for a bus that never comes'"; he describes himself as "trying to find a critical language to talk about these empty, purposeless moments of daily life, filled with activities such as commuting and office routines, that we generally take for granted but that take up so much of our lives." Moran describes himself as influenced by Mass-Observation
Mass-Observation
Mass Observation was a United Kingdom social research organisation founded in 1937. Their work ended in the mid 1960s but was revived in 1981. The Archive is housed at the University of Sussex....
and a new French ethnography of the quotidian or infraordinary, exemplified by works by Georges Perec
Georges Perec
Georges Perec was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He is a member of the Oulipo group...
, Marc Augé
Marc Augé
Marc Augé is a French anthropologist.In an essay and book of the same title, Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity , Marc Augé coined the phrase "non-place" to refer to places of transience that do not hold enough significance to be regarded as "places"...
and François Bon
Francois Bon
- Bibliography :* Sortie d'Usine, - Minuit, 1979.* Limite, - Minuit, 1985* Le Crime de Buzon, - Minuit, 1986* Un fait divers, - Minuit, 1994* La Folie Rabelais, essai - Minuit, 1990* Calvaire des chiens, - Minuit, 1990...
.
Moran's book Queuing for Beginners is a chronological account, from breakfast to bed, of a normal British day and how it has changed since the nineteenth century and more particularly since the 1930s; the book received favorable reviews.
Moran is teaching at Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University is a British 'modern' university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus...
. He writes articles for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
.
Books by Moran
- Star Authors: Literary Celebrity in America. London: Pluto Press, 1999. ISBN 0745315194. (At Google Books.)
- Interdisciplinarity. London: Routledge. Hardback: 2001; ISBN 0415251311. Paperback: 2002; ISBN 041525132X. (At Google Books.)
- Reading the Everyday. London: Routledge, 2005. Hardback: ISBN 0415317088. Paperback: ISBN 0415317096. (At Google Books.)
- Queuing for Beginners: The Story of Daily Life from Breakfast to Bedtime. Hardback. London: Profile Books, 2007. ISBN 0743259203. Paperback. London: Profile Books, 2008. ISBN 1861978413.
- On Roads: A Hidden History. Hardback. London: Profile Books, 2009. ISBN 1846680522.
External links
- Joe Moran's blog ("On the Everyday, the Banal, and Other Important Matters").
- "The Anthropology of Everyday Life." The Book Show. ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. A talk with Moran as a guest. - "Queuing." Thinking AllowedThinking AllowedThinking Allowed is a radio discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday afternoons between 16:00 and 16:30 and repeated between 00:15 and 00:45 on Monday mornings. It focuses on the latest social science research and is hosted by Laurie Taylor, who was formerly a Professor of...
. BBC. Moran talks with Laurie TaylorLaurie Taylor (sociologist)Laurence John "Laurie" Taylor is an English sociologist and radio presenter originally from Liverpool.-Academic career:After attending Roman Catholic schools including the direct grant grammar school St Mary's College in Crosby at the same time as Liverpool poet, Roger McGough, Taylor first...
. - "November in Berlin: The End of the Everyday." History Workshop Journal 57 (2004) 216-234. An article by Moran.
- "Crossing the Road in Britain 1931-1976." The Historical Journal 49 (2006), 477-96.