Dr Katy Shaw (Leeds Beckett University)

This paper will consider how and why we continue to represent and reconsider events during and legacies of the 1984-5 UK Miners’ Strike, and how the strike continues to haunt the contemporary period. From Corbyn’s Northern Futures policy to the Northern Powerhouse, Orgreave Justice Campaign to the Coalfield Justice Bill, the strike continues to impact upon twenty-first century politics. This paper will trace the roots of the conflict and consider their long-lasting implications for a post-industrial society during a period of (post)capitalist conflict.

Dr Katy Shaw is Associated Director of the CCA: Centre for Culture and the Arts, Head of English and Principal Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University. Her research interests include contemporary literature, especially working class literature, cultural representations of post-industrial regeneration and the languages of comedy. Her monographs including David Peace: Texts and Contexts (2010), Mining the Meaning: Cultural Representations of the 1984-5 UK Miners’ Strike (2012) and Crunch Lit (2015). She is editor of C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writings.