Rachel Collett
PhD on the Merseyside Women’s Movement 1969-1990s + teaching history at University of Liverpool 🎓
Keen rambler, morris dancer, founder of Common Folk Collective 🌞
Latest article: doi.org/10.1093/tcbh/hwaf017
- Reposted by Rachel CollettBuzzing to have my hands on a copy of the latest issue of Jacobin, featuring an article by me on Ken Livingstone, his two stints running London, and what it shows about what democratic socialists can achieve in a single city. Glad to see Zohran has his copy too! ✊️
- Liverpool-based friends and colleagues! Come to a film screening of 'Our Planet, The People, My Blood' (2026), followed by a Q&A with director Daniel Everitt-Lock and activist Alan Owen - free tickets available here: www.eventbrite.com/e/our-planet...
- Oops forgot the date - it’s on 2nd Feb, 5pm ! Hope to see some people there
- Reposted by Rachel CollettHey! @manchesterup.bsky.social are having 40% off sale, so it's time to order mine and @d-j-frost.bsky.social's new book 'In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956'. Discount for UK/EU calculated at till, US/Can use code 'JAN40'. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
- If you don’t get the print version, my Tribune article on the Merseyside WLM is now available to read for free online: tribunemag.co.uk/2026/01/the-...
- Reposted by Rachel CollettAnd so honoured to be published alongside @racheljcollett.bsky.social's fabulous chapter on the Merseyside Women's Liberation Movement, @owenjdowling.bsky.social's on the Chile solidarity campaign, and much much more !
- Exciting delivery at the Sydney Jones library today! ✨ So nice to see my chapter on socialist-feminist activism in 1980s Merseyside finally in print (almost 2 years after writing!) in @d-j-frost.bsky.social and @evansmithhist.bsky.social @manchesterup.bsky.social wonderful volume.
- Reposted by Rachel CollettHanding back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
- Lovely surprise this morning to receive an email from an activist who read my recent article on Capenhurst peace camp (doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...) and sent me lots of her personal papers! Sharing this wonderful letter from the UN Namibia Council, praising the women’s occupation of BNFL in 1985 😍😮
- Reposted by Rachel CollettNext up at #nacbs2025 is a fab lineup of rising history stars in field of histories of activism in late 20th century Britain incl: @racheljcollett.bsky.social @alfiesteer.bsky.social Dan Frost & Jess White.
- Reposted by Rachel CollettCheck out @racheljcollett.bsky.social's fantastic article on the Women's Liberation Movement in Merseyside, and radical regionalism, in the latest issue of Tribune - out today!
- Lovely to see my piece in the new issue of Tribune alongside other great articles on protest + power ✊🏼
- Reposted by Rachel CollettWe have an exciting seminar series at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social this semester. These events are free and everyone's welcome to attend.
- What a lovely surprise to be featured in @americanstudier.bsky.social weekly roundup of scholarly work. Sharing the link to my article again in case you missed it, along with some lovely photos of Capenhurst peace camp here: doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...
- Here it is, my 243rd #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
- Reposted by Rachel CollettBrilliant new article by @racheljcollett.bsky.social in @mbhjournal.bsky.social further expanding knowledge & understanding of #womensgrassrootsactivism. Congratulations Rachel 👏🥳. @womenshistnet.bsky.social #skystorians academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...
- Nice surprise to see my article on Capenhurst Women’s Peace Camp is out today - have a read if interested in space, the weirdness of the Wirral, local feminisms and anti-nuclear activism in Merseyside, and global solidarity movements in the 1980s academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...
- Reposted by Rachel CollettSuperb article by @racheljcollett.bsky.social in @mbhjournal.bsky.social, recovering the Capenhurst Women's Peace Camp. Fascinating case study of 1980s anti-nuclear feminism on the Wirral peninsula, and the surprising connections to the Namibian freedom struggle. academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...
- Reposted by Rachel CollettI am going to be speaking at this year’s NACBS on this amazing panel with colleagues and comrades @racheljcollett.bsky.social, @fmarshallpayne.bsky.social and Daniel Frost. Hope to see some of u there or for a pint afterwards 🍻
- Reposted by Rachel CollettMy new article on creative assessments, queer pedagogy, and authenticity, drawing on historians like @julialaite.bsky.social, @willpooley.bsky.social, @tricksterprince.bsky.social. Also, huge thanks to @luciejones83.bsky.social and @cathfeely.bsky.social for putting this issue together!
- Reposted by Rachel CollettWonderful to hear @racheljcollett.bsky.social speak on her research re Merseyside inter generational women’s activism for peace & anti-nuclear arms in camps in 1980s. Great paper as always #womensgrassrootsactivism for our @cont-brit-hist.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social this evening.
- Reposted by Rachel CollettOur next @ihr.bsky.social @cont-brit-hist.bsky.social is on Weds 28 May, 5.30pm (in person only) with brilliant @racheljcollett.bsky.social on grassroots feminisms, resistance & transnational solidarities. Don't miss it, sign up today 👇. #womensgrassrootsactivism @womenshistnet.bsky.social
- Reposted by Rachel Collett📢 Wowzers 😮! What a line up we have for @cont-brit-hist.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social Term 3. Fab speakers incl: @racheljcollett.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @lauratisdall.bsky.social Lucy Robinson Lukas Herde + Jennifer Wallis. Join us via link below 👇 www.history.ac.uk/seminars/con...
- Pleased to have been asked to write a little overview for this brilliant new resource on Liverpool radical history: More to come! liverpoolpeopleshistory.org/2025/04/24/t...
- Reposted by Rachel CollettOur new volume 'In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956', co-edited with Daniel Frost, is now available for pre-order from @manchesterup.bsky.social. Hardback is out Nov 2025, with a paperback edition to follow in 2026-27. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
- Reposted by Rachel CollettWhew! Made Research🐟 deadline by a whisker! Working with @annefhlogan.bsky.social @ruthdav.bsky.social @racheljcollett.bsky.social Anna Muggeridge & members of @womensinstitute.bsky.social @soroptimistgbi.bsky.social & ICA we had 28 activities over 18 months on #AHRC #womensgrassrootsactivism.
- What a jam-packed 18 months!! Such a privilege to work with such a wonderful team on this project + so excited to see the final outcomes.
- Today is the official end date for our #Womensgrassrootsactivism AHRC funded project. Over 18 months we had 14 events inc. workshops, conference, seminars, webinars, lecture & ECR training. Our 5 episode podcast coming in Feb/March via @historyhub.bsky.social & SI Women's History Review out in 2026.
- Reposted by Rachel CollettSuch a privilege to work with @womensinstitute.bsky.social SIGBI (Ireland & England), Irish Country Women's Association (ICA) & WI of Northern Ireland. And with fab core team @annefhlogan.bsky.social @ruthdav.bsky.social @racheljcollett.bsky.social & Anna Muggeridge ❤️. #womensgrassrootsactivism
- Today is the official end date for our #Womensgrassrootsactivism AHRC funded project. Over 18 months we had 14 events inc. workshops, conference, seminars, webinars, lecture & ECR training. Our 5 episode podcast coming in Feb/March via @historyhub.bsky.social & SI Women's History Review out in 2026.
- V excited to get my hands on an advance copy of this! Looking forward to reading @samwetherell.bsky.social
- Reposted by Rachel CollettBeyond the Fragments: @racheljcollett.bsky.social and @alfiesteer.bsky.social report on their conference looking back at the socialist-feminist text and its influence. sslh.org.uk/2024/12/28/b...
- My wonderful partner @alfiesteer.bsky.social has bought me the best and nerdiest Xmas present ever - an original screenprinted Merseyside Women’s Centre poster from the 1970s! Nothing can ever beat this! 🥹
- Teaching on nuclear heritage, legacies and material culture tomorrow - got to take the opportunity to include my mum’s iconic ‘Stop Sellafield’ concert t-shirt! 💚 Thinking about clothing + music cultures as resistance; generational activism; sources as living objects; curating nuclear histories etc
- Reposted by Rachel CollettTo finish up our AHRC Women’s Grassroots Activism Workshop 4 on the theme of Visibility we had 3 fab ECRs @racheljcollett.bsky.social Grace Heaton & Maisie Jessop sharing their experiences of using oral history to make the activism of women more audible & therefore more visible.
- Join us for FREE on 28 June (including lunch!) www.tickettailor.com/events/beyon...
- Using my inaugural Bluesky post to share the link to a conference @racheljcollett.bsky.social and I have been organising. Marking 45 years since the publication of the seminal socialist-feminist text Beyond the Fragments. FREE tickets here: www.tickettailor.com/events/beyon...
- Reposted by Rachel CollettUsing my inaugural Bluesky post to share the link to a conference @racheljcollett.bsky.social and I have been organising. Marking 45 years since the publication of the seminal socialist-feminist text Beyond the Fragments. FREE tickets here: www.tickettailor.com/events/beyon...
- There’s still a couple of weeks left to submit to our CFP for Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On, a free one-day conference on 28 June 2024! Please send abstracts up to 300 words + bio to beyondthefragments2024@gmail.com by 1 Feb (or thereabouts). #AcademicSky #PhDSky #History #Politics #activism
- Reposted by Rachel CollettThis is a delightful, short, and concrete write-up of Judith Walkowitz' archival practice. www.historians.org/research-and...
- What better way to beat the January blues than attending our jam-packed Women's Grassroots Activism online workshop on 18-20th Jan - register for free here! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/womens-gra...
