Fraught spaces: the risks, challenges and failures of collaborative public histories

Abstract

Throughout this article, we examine the potential pathways towards failure in public engagement projects as well as specific experiences of failure. Our aim is to identify some core reasons why attempts by historians to work with people beyond the campus contain risk and might fail. To do this, we focus on the types of relationships that are formed as a result of collaboration and emphasise the role of dialogue: of speaking and, more importantly, of listening. In writing this article, we therefore set out to explore the implications of sound and space for socially engaged public history. Throughout the article, we develop the idea of ‘fraught spaces’ as a way of recognising the feelings, especially of anxiety and insecurity, that all participants might experience as they enter what are sometimes complex relationships. We also suggest some practical steps to support collaborative research.