A digital exploration of hunger strikes in British prisons, 1913–1940

Abstract

This research uses digital tools including geospatial, timeline, and chart programs to explore the more than 1,200 recorded hunger strikes that took place in British prisons during that span. The primary purpose of the project is to trace instances of hunger strikes over time and space. By viewing large sets of data in this fashion, viewers can identify trends across both time and location much more easily than by relying on the textual records from the Home Office. The project also explores some details about the strikes that the records reveal. For each year of the official record we present data on reasons for the strikes, methods of force feeding, and length of strikes. This project sheds light on some of the many challenges and opportunities that digital applications can offer the humanities. One challenge is how to present data in a way that is clear, accessible, and thought-provoking without overwhelming viewers with complex displays. A dominant question of the project has been how to present such data from multiple vantages in order to provoke new lines of inquiry. Unlike published essays or books, digital projects do not need to be declared complete. While the project cannot answer every question that the records spark, the digital format of the data facilitates new questions, appeals to a range of audiences, and challenges the nature of humanities scholarship.