Murphy, CJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5056-7879 and Lomas, DWB
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4254-2225
2014,
'Return to Neverland? Freedom of information and the history of British intelligence'
, The Historical Journal, 57 (01)
, pp. 273-287.
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Abstract
This article considers the use of the UK Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in order to explore the history of British intelligence. While the intelligence and security agencies are themselves exempt from the Act, releasing only such archival material into the public domain as they see fit, the article will argue that this does not mean that FOI cannot be used productively in this area. Rather, by adopting a wider definition of ‘intelligence’, as advocated by Wesley K. Wark in this journal in 1992, FOI can be used as part of a broader research strategy to secure the release of information that allows the archival study of intelligence to move beyond the material released by the agencies themselves. The article will illustrate this point by drawing on relevant examples of successful FOI requests, while also highlighting some of the related practical challenges and limitations that its use has revealed.
Item Type: | Article |
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Schools: | Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences |
Journal or Publication Title: | The Historical Journal |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
ISSN: | 0018-246X |
Depositing User: | S Rafiq |
Date Deposited: | 07 May 2014 15:31 |
Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2022 18:32 |
URI: | http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/31731 |
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