‘Nostalgia for the future’

Abstract

Nostalgia for some is pointless and sentimental, for others reactionary and futile. Where does that leave those of us interested in labour history and heritage–is it all just ‘smokestack nostalgia’? Using interviews with visitors, volunteers and staff at sites and museums of industrial and working class heritage in England, the United States and Australia, we argue that a useful distinction can be made between ‘reactionary nostalgia’ and ‘progressive nostalgia’, and that a ‘nostalgia for the future’ can emerge from memories and memorialisations. Drawing on the past can help mould the sentiments and nurture the emotional commitment to social justice issues the Left so desperately needs. Show more