About This Book
The voices in the title of this book can redress the gaps in archival institutional memory. These archives can include the stories of the voiceless, such as animals, to provide a more comprehensive record of activist groups’ impact on society. Gratitude is given to the activist group Direct Action Everywhere, based in the USA with chapters worldwide, for informing the research in this book.[1] I also thank the archival experts at Monash University in Australia for their guidance in transforming theory into practical strategies for capturing underrepresented voices in archival collections.
This book is written from the perspective of an activist archivist, having insight into a sliver of activism in the animal liberation community. Where activism is referenced throughout this book, feedback on the applicability of assumptions made to broader groups and context is open and editable for comment in a collaborative community archival appraisal matrix (discussed in chapter 10). Also in this same chapter are downloadable templates to guide the testing and application of Critical Functional Appraisal in broader social movement contexts. The breadth and depth of activism across the globe may be resistant to a cookie cutter approach to archiving, so the theoretical underpinnings and examples for the animal activism context are designed as a springboard for future development in more activist groups and communities in future.
A critical approach in this writing acknowledges activists and animals as marginalised, aligning with post-colonial readings of history yet remaining incommensurable with them. This is a perspective intertwined with Eurocentrism, acknowledged but not yet overcome in much research concerning the disruption of anthropocentric archiving and storytelling.[2] The vignettes and cases discussed in this book are particular to the transnational relationship between Australia and the USA.
This book is designed in two parts.
Part 1 describes the theoretical grounding for the ideas in this book, stemming from archival concepts and theories and theorists whilst combining sources at the intersection of activism and academia.
Part 2 applies continuum modelling to a new kind of archival appraisal specific to activist communities. With interactive exercises to challenge students and activists to help break down the complexity and logic of refined versions of the Records Continuum Model. Templates are included for use and re-use by activists, archivists and community groups to develop and adapt for their own context.
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AI generated image in Adobe Firefly using keywords from Dr. Katherine Jarvie-Dolinar ’s research materials.
Suggested citation
Jarvie-Dolinar, Katherine. 2025. Archiving the Voices of Change. RMIT Open Press <https://rmit.pressbooks.pub/archivingvoicesofchange/>
Suggested attribution
“Archiving the Voices of Change,” by Dr. Katherine Jarvie-Dolinar, RMIT University Library is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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Editiors
With thanks to the editorial team: Dr. Elizabeth Daniels, Bowen St. Press students from Semester 2, 2024 & RMIT librarians Ian Kolk, Mark Parsons & Joanna Gillespie.
- Jarvie, Katherine. 2023. “Radical Recordkeeping – Re-Thinking Archival Appraisal.” Monash University. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.26180/23512005.v1 ↵ ↵
- Saha, Jonathan. 2021. “Introduction.” In Colonizing Animals, 1–27. Cambridge University Press. ↵
Critical functional appraisal (CFA) emphasises the analysis and understanding community functions and activities that produce records. This method, with its critical focus on power dynamics, social justice, and rights in recordkeeping. The CFA considers the broader social and political context in which records are created and used. In the context of animal activist communities, critical functional appraisal can help identify and preserve records that reflect the experiences and challenges of these individuals, groups and movements, ensuring that their voices and efforts are represented and valued in the long term.
For insight into the history of transnational animal rights activism see: Villanueva, Gonzalo. 2018. A Transnational History of the Australian Animal Movement, 1970-2015. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Records Continuum Theory and the Records Continuum Model (Upward, 1996) are complementary frames for addressing societal grand challenges such as social justice imperatives (Gilliland & McKemmish, 2012, 106). This framing is described here as critical continuum research. A community of academics and educators are
… going beyond the apparent to reveal hidden agendas, concealed inequalities and tacit manipulation (Evans et al., 2017, 2) …
to explore multidimensional accounts of archives and recordkeeping and question societal dynamics for a fairer world. Continuum scholars seek to reveal established power and exclusion in an archival multiverse (Gilliland & McKemmish, 2014). The archival multiverse is a “plurality of evidentiary texts: developed by a person, community or group for memory-keeping” (Gilliland & McKemmish, 2012, 106-7). To ensure equitable societal representation, continuum research progresses analysis of practices beyond narrow and exclusionary archival narratives and systems in institutional and collecting archives (Gilliland & McKemmish, 2014). Records Continuum Theory and the Records Continuum Model (Upward, 1997) provide a foundation for exploring societal functions in a multitude of ways and contexts.
References
Evans, Joanne, Sue McKemmish and Greg Rolan. 2017. “Critical Approaches to Archiving and Recordkeeping in the Continuum.” Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, 1 (2): 1–38.
Gilliland, Anne, and Sue McKemmish. 2012. “Recordkeeping Metadata, the Archival Multiverse, and Societal Grand Challenges.” In International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications, Kuching Sarawak, 3–7 September 2012.
Gilliland, Anne and Sue McKemmish. 2014. “The Role of Participatory Archives in Furthering Human Rights, Reconciliation and Recovery.” Atlanti: Review for Modern Archival Theory and Practice, 24: 79–88.
Upward, Frank. 1997. “Structuring the Records Continuum (Series of Two Parts) Part 2: Structuration Theory and Recordkeeping.” Archives and Manuscripts, 25 (1): 10–35.
