“I always say that historians are craftsmen. We must be craftsmen”. Interview with Daniel James

Abstract

In this interview, Daniel James tells us about his childhood in the United Kingdom and recalls summers spent at his miner uncle's house in Wales. We learn that he is the only son of a nurse and a metalworker. Both were drafted into the British Army to serve in World War II. His father -a member of the Communist Party- introduced him to reading and history. He later encouraged him to study at the university. The family library provided those first books that introduced him to history, including some by Eric Hobsbawm. James then recalls his early education at Oxford and his entry into Raphael Samuel's History Workshop. Through his words, we relive the electrifying fascination he felt upon first hearing Edward P. Thompson. His account conveys, with sensitive precision, Thompson's passionate and theatrical display in front of an attentive, silent audience. Our conversation then explores the reasons that led him to choose Latin America and Argentina for his research, his journey leading up to Resistencia e Integración, and his encounter with Berisso and, crucially, with Doña María. His latest book with Mirta Zaida Lobato -Paisajes del Pasado- occupies an important place in this conversation. Also featured are his methodological reflections on the possibilities and limitations that historians experience when trying to reconstruct inevitably fragmented worlds. As a summary of his conception of the craft -and of this interview as well-we appeal to one of his quotes that takes us back to the sociological imagination postulated by Charles Wright Mills: “I always say that historians are craftsmen. We must be craftsmen.”