Mass Observation
An archive of everyday life, thought and feeling in Britain
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The Archive is a result of the work of Mass Observation. This social research organisation was founded in 1937 and aimed to create an ‘anthropology of ourselves’. The team recruited a team of investigators and a panel of volunteer writers to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. This original work continued until the early 1950s.
Hands form a third of the summer 2025 directive:
we are interested to hear how writers experience their hands in day-to-day life. We would like to know how people use them and their feelings about this, but also their relationship with the hands of others.
Glorious and fascinating and boring.