Professor Pollyanna Ruiz's research

You Can Make History exhibition

Professor Pollyanna Ruiz is examining the impact of new technologies on the dynamics of inter-generational memory. This work focuses on the role played by ‘ordinary’ protesters and their understanding of protest as a cultural rather than a political practice. This research was funded by the Leverhulme Foundation.

Her interdisciplinary project You Can’t Move History is about the development of subaltern heritage in the skate spot beneath the South Bank Centre. It investigates the communicative divide between those whose everyday practices constitute city spaces and those charged with planning urban futures. This project was funded by the AHRC and produced an award-winning short film.

Her book Articulating Dissent: Protest and the Public Sphere looks at on the notion of subaltern counter-publics. It looks at pamphlets, zines and social networks, as well as samba bands, banners and masks. She also explores the way in which the police’s ability to categorise protesters as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is being undermined by new communications technologies.