Labour History Project AGM: ‘Politics and protest in a time of crisis’

Shining the historical spotlight on unemployment

Given the circumstances we face, the Labour History Project is shining the historical spotlight on unemployment:

• Malcolm McKinnon speaks about ‘Politics and protest in a time of crisis: New Zealand 1930-35’

• Cybèle Locke offers ‘Snapshots of the 1930s Depression: Ratana, Unemployed Workers and Trade Unions’, and

• Sam Orchard discusses the very recent past with: ‘We are Beneficiaries: using art to share stories’

Labour History Project website

About the speakers

Malcolm McKinnon is a Wellington historian. He is the author of ‘The Broken Decade: Prosperity, depression and recovery in New Zealand, 1928-39’ (Otago University Press, 2016).

Cybèle Locke is a labour historian and works at Victoria University of Wellington. She has long been interested in the history of organised unemployed and beneficiaries in Aotearoa. Cybèle’s AGM talk draws on her PhD thesis, ‘Demanding Jobs with Justice: The Organisation of Maaori and Paakehaa Unemployed in Aotearoa/New Zealand During the 1930s and 1980s’.

Sam Orchard is committed to building a world where our many differences and complexities are celebrated. He writes comics, essays and children’s books, creates animated videos, podcasts, and resources with this aim. Sam’s recent activism projects include 'We Are Beneficiaries' and 'Out Loud Aotearoa'.

As part of these he organised and engaged other artists and writers to drive social change in New Zealand. These projects gained international attention across social media and news sites, amplifying viewpoints which are often missing from public discourse.

Sam’s comics and resources about sexuality, sex and gender have been used internationally by SOGI advocates. Sam is currently working on his first full length graphic novel.