Dig Where You Stand: How to Research a Job

On the 45th anniversary of its initial publication in Swedish, Sven Lindqvist's polemic on history, politics and power is finally available in English for the first time.

This volume brings Dig Where You Stand, Sven Lindqvist's classic text on history, power and politics, to English-speaking audiences for the first time.

First published in 1978, Dig Where You Stand is a rallying cry for workers to become researchers, to follow the money, take on the role as experts on their job, and "dig" out its hidden histories in order to take a vital step towards social and economic transformation.

A how-to guide that inspired an entire movement, it makes the case that everyone – not just academics – can learn how to critically and rigorously explore history, especially their own history, and in doing so find a blueprint for how to transform society for the better.

In a world where the balance of power is overwhelmingly stacked against the working-class, Dig Where You Stand's manifesto for the empowerment of workers through self-education, historical research and political solidarity is as important and relevant today as it was in 1978.

Sven Lindqvist (1932-2019) was a prolific and award winning writer, journalist, historian and activist. He has been widely translated and among his most influential works to have appeared in English are Exterminate All the Brutes (1992), A History of Bombing (1999) and Terra Nullius (2005).

Dr Andrew Flinn is a Reader in Archival Studies and Oral History at University College London and a member of the Raphael Samuel History Centre.

Dr Astrid von Rosen is associate professor (docent) at the Department of Cultural Sciences, University of Gothenburg.