Overview

My research interests lie in British political history since 1945 and, more specifically, the politics and history of the Labour Party. I am particularly interested in how British politics has been (and remains) shaped by emotionally-imbued identities rather than by rational considerations and calculated actions. My book Nostalgia and the Post-war Labour Party: Prisoners of the Past (MUP, 2018) explores the different ways in which nostalgia has impacted on Labour's political trajectory and hindered the party's capacity for modernisation. This book was published in paperback in September 2021.

I started my current role as Lecturer in 20th Century British History at the University of Exeter in September 2019. I teach a range of modern historical and political topics, including the Special Subject 'The Yes, Minister Files: Perspectives on British Government since 1914'.

I have previously lectured in Modern History at The Queen's College, University of Oxford and in Contemporary Political History at the University of Bristol. I have also worked as an Associate Research Fellow for the GW4 Alliance Modern British Politics and Political History research group. 

Back to top

Publications

_{Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.}

| 2024 | 2023 | 2020 | 2018 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2011 | 2010 |

2024

• Jobson R. (2024) ‘A different species’: the British Labour Party and the Militant ‘other’, 1979-1983, Contemporary British History, pages 1-27, DOI:10.1080/13619462.2024.2305434. [PDF]

2023

• Jobson R. (2023) Teaching Modern British Political History in a Politically Polarised and ‘Post-Truth’ Environment, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, pages 1-12, DOI:10.1017/s0080440123000269. [PDF]

2020

• Jobson R, Drew D. (2020) Labour's Rural Problem, Renewal, volume 28, no. 2, pages 56-67.

2018

• Jobson R. (2018) Nostalgia and the post-war Labour Party Prisoners of the past, Manchester University Press.

2015

• Jobson R. (2015) A New Hope for an Old Britain? Nostalgia and the British Labour Party’s Alternative Economic Strategy, 1970–1983, Journal of Policy History, volume 27, no. 4, pages 670-694, DOI:10.1017/s0898030615000305. [PDF]

2014

• Jobson R. (2014) Blue Labour and Nostalgia: The Politics of Tradition, Renewal, volume 22, no. 1-2, pages 102-117.

2013

• Jobson R. (2013) ‘Waving the Banners of a Bygone Age’, Nostalgia and Labour's Clause IV Controversy, 1959–60, Contemporary British History, volume 27, no. 2, pages 123-144, DOI:10.1080/13619462.2012.753179. [PDF]

2011

• Jobson R. (2011) Review of Callaghan’s Journey to Downing Street - By Paul J. Deveney (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), History: the journal of the Historical Association, volume 96, no. 324, pages 518-519.
• Jobson R, Wickham-Jones M. (2011) Reinventing the block vote? Trade unions and the 2010 Labour party leadership election, British Politics, volume 6, no. 3, pages 317-344, DOI:10.1057/bp.2011.20. [PDF]

2010

• Jobson R, Wickham-Jones M. (2010) Gripped by the past: Nostalgia and the 2010 Labour party leadership contest, British Politics, volume 5, no. 4, pages 525-548, DOI:10.1057/bp.2010.25. [PDF]

Back to top

Teaching

Modules taught

• HIH1002 - Losing an Empire, Finding a Role: Britain Since 1945
• HIH1420 - Understanding the Modern World
• HIH2001 - Doing History: Perspectives on Sources
• HIH2002 - Uses of the Past
• HIH3005 - General Third-Year Dissertation
• HISM186 - Supervised Independent Study in the Humanities
• HISM201 - Debating British Political History, 1906 to the Present
• HISM400 - Dissertation in History
• HISM482 - Empire and Globalisation

Back to top