Impact case study database

The Digital Panopticon is a freely accessible website with over 300,000 users since 2017 (5.1). Described as a vital website for research (5.4) , user-beneficiaries ranged from family historians (“ To Australians, your project is of national significance. An eye-opening and jaw dropping project [about the] foundation of our nation”, 5.2); to government ministers (“ The project is nationally and internationally significant as it highlights the unique nature of the convict experience in Western Australia and provides a better understanding of our archives and history”, 5.3).

User-beneficiaries: pump-priming family history research

By freely sharing our research with the public on the successes and failures of the systems of transportation to Australia and imprisonment in the UK (something the Australian media described as the “Convict Ashes”, 5.4), we brought a huge body of data from beyond paywalls to family historians/genealogists. People used data in Digital Panopticon together with the online explanatory essays to support large numbers of personal and family research journeys (5.2). The results were transformative: “ Truly heart-breaking. This is no understatement. Thank you. Thank you. Your project will no doubt reach into many households in Australia and England” (5.2). Many had their family-stories challenged, confirmed, or explained, and were determined to carry on with their research. “ I am descended from ten NSW convicts. From the material it appears that after arrival in Australia the women were able to become, or to marry, moderately prosperous and, generally, respectable men … I am now considering how I can use the material I and others have gathered for historical projects.”  “ I have been a Civil Servant of some 40 years and worked in Prison Administration for six years I was also an Administrative Researcher to the Inquiry into the Efficacy of the NSW Police Administration. I have used Digital Panopticon to conclude that most transported convicts were far better off after their arrival in Australia.” (5.2).

Using Exhibitions from Liverpool to the wider world to change opinion

Whilst there was clearly considerable appetite for the website, interest in physical and online exhibitions which used the data was also significant. Partners at the University of Sheffield led on an exhibition ( Criminal Lives, December 2018 - May 2019) at the London Metropolitan Archives using data from Digital Panopticon sourced by Godfrey and Williams (Liverpool-based PDRA) (praised by The Lancet for its contemporary resonance to debates about contemporary penal reform). Godfrey and Price (Liverpool-based PDRA) then organised an exhibition showcasing the impact of punishment on people’s lives at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (5-12 March 2018) focusing on Liverpool-born prisoners to embed stories locally (3.2, 3.3, 3.4). Forty of the 3,000+ visitors from Merseyside (and wider afield in the UK and across Europe) who saw the exhibition left comments stating that their views of criminals were changed (“ *relevant and accessible to a wider audience; Brings dead people alive. What a fantastically informative exhibition – I shall never look at criminals in the same way!*” 5.5). We were subsequently invited to take the exhibition to Liverpool Legal Aid Offices to give a talk to staff as part of in-house training. The Diversity Champion in the Criminal Applications Section stated that after staff had witnessed the similarities in the lives of the Victorian and the modern poor, they had a greater appreciation of the difficulties faced by legal aid applicants today: “ I know we do the unconscious bias training in work, but I think in our role sometimes you can get certain perceptions of criminals. This exhibition reminds you that you can’t do that…it assists us in our day-to-day thinking as caseworkers” (5.6).

As a result of the success of this exhibition Godfrey was asked by National Trust Australia to construct a temporary exhibition at UNESCO world-heritage-site, Hobart Penitentiary Chapel, Tasmania . The co-produced exhibition and accompanying public lectures focused on the improvement of social policy towards offenders (“ a stunning success…one of the most popular historic experiences in Hobart” , becoming a top-10 tourist site in Hobart on TripAdvisor, 5.7). Following the 45% increase in footfall, the exhibition was made permanent. Using some of the existing images with new images of US convicts, an online exhibition was held at the Willson Center (part of the Uni. of Georgia which hosts exhibitions for students and general public), launched by an online public lecture on unconscious bias. As a result of this exhibition, in March 2020 Godfrey collaborated on a grant application with Alabama Department of Archives & History to digitize records of African American prisoners using the Digital Panopticon model. The project therefore continues to impact on the democratization of data in the UK, Australia and the US.

Impacting on public debates

Since 2014, there has been considerable engagement with international public audiences. In 2015, Godfrey gave the Australia Day Address in London, attended by the Australian High Commissioner and Lord Mayor of the City of London (5.8) which led to Godfrey giving a private lecture to the Judges at the Central Criminal Court, who then used Digital Panopticon data for a theatre production, Trial and Error, at the Old Bailey ( Godfrey provided data from Digital Panopticon and co-authored the script; performances raised £30,000 for The Sheriffs’ & Recorder’s Fund which provides grants to aid the reform of ex-prisoners, 5.9). In May 2017 Godfrey organised a week of public lectures and *Findmypast-*supported family-history sessions in a Scottish bookshop (over 100 attendees). Godfrey and Williams introduced the website to the Australian public at the The Big Convict Debate at Fremantle Prison (5/2/2018, 300 attendees) which was held to mark the 150^th anniversary of the end of convict transportation to Australia. Published at the same time and authored by Godfrey and Williams, the Conversation piece on the last Western Australian convict was read by over 100,000 people (77% of readers were Australian). There followed a series of public lectures across Australia. A talk at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Perth attracted over 250 adult learners, community historians, local politicians and academics (“ We’ve never had so many people staying behind to ask questions”, 5.2) . State politicians and local people debated prison reform following a public lecture in Tasmania, and media interviews on national TV and radio helped to stimulate debates about the use of imprisonment (“ Professor Godfrey has convinced us that the debate over crime and punishment, reform and rehabilitation is as relevant today as it was two centuries ago”, Late Night Live, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 5.4). The ABC radio interview/public lectures were made available online; and in 2020, the ABC included Godfrey’s programme as one of nine prestigious “Big Ideas” in their series of “ the best of talks, forums, debates, and festivals held in Australia and around the world, casting light on major social, cultural, scientific and political issues”, 5.4).

Digital Panopticon also indirectly impacted on public attitudes, through providing data and inspiration for the cultural industries. Matthew Crampton, co-author of the play The Transports, performed across UK, stated that he came across the Digital Panopticon “when already deeply engaged in writing and telling stories about transportation [and that he] was able to make good use of this wonderful resource to find and trace individual cases from the Old Bailey to Australia. Particularly useful are the explanatory guides to different records The Digital Panopticon has helped me beyond being a useful resource. It has reinforced my belief that, so long as you make the information personal and relevant, you can lead casual observers willingly into highly detailed records. It is a fine place to start one’s research, plus, of course, an excellent resource for conducting that research (5.2 ).” In addition to Crampton’s use of the data, TV Companies have used Godfrey’s research findings to mould their programmes. Godfrey provided guidance on life-course offending to various film production companies ( Wall to Wall, IKON, Lion Films), later becoming consultant (providing research, advising on and writing scripts) for Series 13 of Who Do You Think You Are? Godfrey also providing on-screen interviews for four episodes (a weekly audience of over 6,000,000 saw the findings of Digital Panopticon used to explain the causes of criminality). Godfrey then worked with a Channel 5 production company, explaining how Digital Panopticon biographical data-linking can be used for non-Old Bailey cases, transforming academic research into accessible material which would appeal to a wide audience and providing source material/interviews broadcast in 2019 (5.2).

Creating active learners

By creating a website where students can engage directly with data, the Digital Panopticon has created active school- and undergraduate student researchers who are now able to design their own projects. It has become a central part of annually run research-led undergraduate modules in the UK, Australia and the US (5.10). This has helped to transform pedagogic practices using digital humanities to inform, challenge, and stimulate students; to provide an excellent teaching experience for tutors and learners; and to extend the boundaries of the possible with regard to the use of historical data in school and undergraduate settings. Undergraduates have seized the opportunity to manipulate and investigate data on their own, and to construct their own research: In HAA007 Convict Ancestors (300 students), University of Tasmania Diploma of Family history students (many non-traditional entry and adult-learners) are introduced to the Digital Panopticon and trained to search its collections to enrich the study of a single life course. Students on HAA105 Convicts in Context (210 students) are provided with a detailed online tour of the Digital Panopticon and shown how to use its features to do more complex searches. They then explore the lives of prisoners who share a particular characteristic (i.e. convicted of a particular crime, transported to Australia, or imprisoned in the UK), to use data to, really, make their own research. The freedom was enthusing and invigorating for students (“ HAA105 scored 98% approval”, 5.10).

At the University of Georgia, HIST 3775 students use Digital Panopticon to construct a research question and write up either a formal research proposal or a research paper: “ My students find it challenging to shift from the standard assignment of reading and discussing written sources to conducting data analysis and charting their own course to a research topic and thesis. Nevertheless, it is precisely this kind of novel, hands-on research project that encourages students to practice self-activated learning. Some students resist and struggle more than others but, by the end of the process, all of them have expressed their satisfaction with work which they can really call their own…the experience is transformative” (5.10).

Using Digital Panopticon in this way has not only transformed their undergraduate learning experiences and achievements, but has also provided a route to enrichment of their employment and post-education experiences: “…at least a dozen of the students who got their first taste of digital humanities research with Digital Panopticon have gone on to work in the Digital Humanities Center as participants in summer workshops, interns, or as teaching assistants…For the past three years students who prepared the strongest research essay using the Digital Panopticon won the History Department's Award for Best Digital Humanities Project” (5.10).

Inspiring learning and creativity in prisons

The use of Davies’ book City of Gangs in classes at HMP Barlinnie and HMP Low Moss grew out of a partnership between Glasgow’s Mitchell Library and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). Confident that Davies’ research would interest prisoners, the Principal Librarian for Reader Development at the Mitchell arranged for Davies to give a talk to 60 prisoners at Barlinnie in 2014 (5.1). A follow-up session with a prison reading group and creative writing class was attended by the Head of Learning and Skills for SPS. His feedback inspired the programme of classes based on City of Gangs delivered by Davies at the two prisons in 2019. The Head of Learning and Skills facilitated this with the Area Manager for SPS’s education provider, Fife College.

The Education Team Leader at Barlinnie described the outcomes of this programme as “remarkable” (5.2d). The immediate change she noted was the increased engagement in education that resulted directly from the programme: “I am so impressed at how well the guys have engaged with both yourself and the topic and all the [tutors] have said how motivated the guys are to come and contribute which (and trust me when I say this from many years’ experience) is no easy task and does not always happen!” (5.2a) The Education Team Leader showcased the programme at Fife College’s annual staff conference in September 2019 as an example of successful innovation in prison education (5.2d).

The beneficiaries of the classes delivered by Davies were the resident tutors and six groups of learners (four at Barlinnie: 36 men in total; two at Low Moss: 44), who worked with Davies over four weeks in August 2019. The groups read City of Gangs and examined legal files and press reports used in Davies’ research before analysing these sources in their own essays. Learners at Barlinnie used their participation in Davies’ classes to complete 140 qualifications, ranging from personal development awards to SQA Level 4 History ¬(5.2e–g). One class was inspired to produce a magazine, ‘The Auld Team’, for fellow prisoners. This contained extracts from Davies’ sources, a student essay and paintings by a prison art class (5.2m).

Resident tutors reported that participants in Davies’ classes gained increased confidence as well as critical reading and listening skills. Feedback from learners and tutors testified to exceptionally high levels of engagement (5.2a–n). Attendance at Barlinnie was over 80% (5.2d; normally 50%). Classes at Low Moss were relocated due to demand: double the number of anticipated learners arrived for Davies’ first session. One tutor who worked alongside Davies at Barlinnie described learner engagement in these classes as “amazing” (5.2e). She commented that learners were “surprised by their ability to read such a factual book,” adding that their confidence grew over the course of the programme (a comment echoed by all of the tutors involved). She noted that her group had shared information about the classes, and their copies of City of Gangs, around the prison’s halls, generating interest among prisoners who did not participate in education and boosting her own efforts to stimulate recruitment (5.2e).

This was echoed at Low Moss, where a group of men visited the prison’s Learning Centre for the first time to attend one of Davies’ classes. The Area Manager for Fife College reported that: “The men who attended from [this] Hall, 6 in total, never leave the Hall due to acute mental health issues. They heard about the project from their regular tutor and were keen to get involved. Coming to the Learning Centre to hear Andrew was a significant achievement for the men, who overcame their own personal issues to engage with the class” (5.2i).

In addition to these educational classes, Davies worked for four weeks with a ‘work party’ of ten prisoners to serialise the life story of the leader of the Billy Boys (one of Davies’ key sources) for Barlinnie’s radio station, ‘Barbed Wireless’. The Radio Tutor reported: “It’s only occasionally that we get projects to work on that can involve several students at once, and they’re always invaluable as they help facilitate team building skills, amongst others. Your project was arguably the best that we’ve worked on—everybody, bar none, got involved with different aspects, from reading & recording passages to making adverts and the eventual finished feature. It really helped them to develop their skills, both as team players and on their own initiative … it’s been great to give them a real project to work on” (5.2h). Feedback from the work party stressed their enjoyment of the project—a significant response given their prior experiences of education (every member of the group had been excluded from school). The ‘life story’ approach prompted the work party to reflect on their own experiences, and to view their own stories as worth recording. Learner evaluations were extremely positive (“I got inspired by the book, it gave me the motivation to write my own book so I took a lot in”: 5.2n). Responses to the broadcasts among the wider prison population were “very positive” (5.2h).

Reviewing Davies’ project, the Head of Learning and Skills for SPS identified learners “critically reflecting on their own experiences” as a key benefit (5.2l). The project has had a lasting legacy: Davies’ material has been embedded in the history curriculum at Barlinnie and continues to be used by the radio work party. The prison’s Education Team Leader is eager to re-run the project once COVID restrictions are lifted (5.2j–k).

Inspiring and informing television documentary and drama

The Secret History of My Family episode on ‘The Salford Scuttlers’ (BBC 2, 2016; 1,230,000 viewers: 5.3e) was derived from Chapter 14 of The Gangs of Manchester (“We have thoroughly enjoyed reading your book”; “It has really opened up another avenue of enquiry for us”: BBC Researcher, 5.3a–b). Davies acted as consultant for the episode (5.3d). Davies’ account of Glasgow’s Billy Boys and their leader, Billy Fullerton, in City of Gangs provided the creative springboard for the fictional portrayal of the Billy Boys in series 5 of Peaky Blinders (BBC 1, 2019). The Assistant Script Editor at Tiger Aspect Productions told Davies that the production team had relied heavily on his account (5.3f): “your book was so incredibly useful during the preliminary research stages!” 5,900,000 UK viewers watched the Billy Boys’ first appearance in the series (5.3g). The broadcast of series 5 of Peaky Blinders further boosted interest in Davies’ educational classes at Barlinnie and Low Moss. Learners in both prisons used their new historical knowledge acquired from City of Gangs to critique the television drama in conversations with fellow prisoners. As one member of Barlinnie’s radio work party observed: “Much truth can be changed around for TV” (5.2n). This encapsulates the critical thinking among participants in Davies’ classes, repeatedly noted by the resident tutors.

Inspiring and informing creative works and commercial uses

The Gangs of Manchester informed a host of creative works, including a novel and two commercial theatre productions. Angel Meadow (2014) by ANU productions was commissioned to launch HOME, Manchester’s new theatre, cinema and arts complex. Cast members developed their characters directly from Davies’ research. One of the actors told the British Theatre Guide that Davies’ book was “the first thing I got hold of” when researching his part: “I focused on one character in the book … The Gangs of Manchester was a great help” (5.4b). Angel Meadow sold-out (1,800 tickets: 5.4c), won ‘Best Production’ and ‘Best Ensemble Production’ at the 2015 Manchester Theatre Awards (5.4d), and was described by the Daily Telegraph as “too fierce to dismiss … a superb piece of programming” (5.4e). Director Louise Lowe was nominated for ‘Best Director’ at the 2014 UK Theatre Awards (5.4f).

Scuttlers, by award-winning playwright, Rona Munro, was commissioned by Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre Company and performed in 2015 (39 performances; total audience: 18,589: 5.5c). Munro centred her script on Chapter 9 of The Gangs of Manchester, acknowledging her debt to Davies’ research (5.5a), while Davies wrote an 1,800-word companion piece for the programme (5.5d). Along with the cast and production team, Munro joined a guided walk based on Davies’ book (devised and led by a Manchester tour guide: 5.5j). Subsequent productions of Scuttlers (2015–17) include: City & Islington College; RADA; Wakefield Theatre Royal; Dublin Academy of the Arts; and North East Scotland College (5.5e–i). ‘Scuttler Gangs of Manchester’ tours attracted 700 participants (Oct. 2013–2019: 5.5j–m).

Novelist Emma Hornby acknowledged her reliance on The Gangs of Manchester when researching her fictional account of scuttlers, Manchester Moll (2017). She confirmed (5.6): “your book was the only in-depth work I have come across on the subject … You really bring the era, the people and emotions, to life in your book and give a real sense of the time. Works such as your[s] are invaluable to novelists.” Commercial uses include a range of t-shirts by clothing manufacturer, Good Measure (2016: 5.7a–b), while White Rabbit Creative, a design and marketing agency, announced their relocation to new offices in 2017 by creating prints “based around the scuttlers theme” (and acknowledging their use of Davies’ research: 5.7d).

Enhancing public understanding through broadcast and social media

Davies’ work has been widely discussed on social media, amplified by Davies’ own media appearances. His BBC History Extra podcast on ‘peaky blinders’ (2019) attracted 119,701 listens. His related article on Glasgow’s Billy Boys for the History Extra website was viewed 35,067 times (5.8a). The hip-hop artist, Akala, has been a prominent user of Davies’ research, repeatedly citing both The Gangs of Manchester and City of Gangs when discussing gangs and ‘knife-crime’ on Twitter and on television (5.9a–g). He uses Davies’ findings to show that these are not ‘black’ problems, since they pre-date the growth of black communities in Britain’s cities. He cited Davies on Channel 4 News in 2019 (5.9d). An interview segment tweeted by Channel 4 attracted 2,400,000 viewers, 25,924 retweets and 52,352 likes (5.9f). Akala retweeted it to his own 211,700 followers, citing Davies’ books. One follower responded: “The [mainstream media] love to fetishize black on black crime like [it’s] something particularly unique to our dna. The Glasgow point destroys that whole agenda stone dead!” (5.9g).

Immediate beneficiaries of Downham’s research include game developers and documentary makers, who seek to develop fresh, research-led narratives for their audiences. Downham’s input deliberately challenges long-held stereotypes of vikings promoted by the far right (e.g. Nordic Resistance Movement, Soldiers of Odin) which see vikings as haters of peace, living in societies where peoples of different ethnicities did not mix, where only men played important roles.

Creating an Inspirational Database for Assassin’s Creed

Downham’s research and expertise was sought by Ubisoft for their latest game, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, released in November 2020. The Assassin's Creed franchise has massive international reach. Ubisoft holds a significant place in the global gaming market, which was valued at USD151.55 billion in 2019. Previous instalments of Assassin’s Creed have sold over 140,000,000 copies, yet Valhalla exceeded the initial sales records of all previous versions of the game, with over 3,500,000 copies sold in its launch week. It achieved UK Number 1 and US Number 2 sales chart positions in December 2020.

In June 2018, early in the development process, Ubisoft commissioned Downham to write 50 illustrated articles (over 100 pages) on topics of her choice relating to late 9th century England. While much of the game is based in fantasy, the developers sought to create an immersive historical experience. Ubisoft stated that the set of 50 illustrated articles that Downham provided formed an "inspirational database" which was used "to provide scholar-based elements of historical content and inspiration to our production teams. Dr Clare Downham’s work has contributed to achieve both objectives.” (5.1).

Elements of the game reflect Downham’s input, complementing Ubisoft’s interest in challenging negative stereotypes. Ubisoft pointed out in December 2020 that “Video games have the power to promote the values of diversity and inclusion” (5.1). Downham’s database articles included the topics of Women and Masculinity. These challenge the view that only heterosexual male vikings had agency. Subsequently the main protagonist in Valhalla can be played as a man or a woman, and the character can have a same-sex sexual encounter. Downham's database articles also criticised simplistic portrayals of vikings as violent xenophobes, with articles on Ethnicity, Towns, Trade, Crafts, etc. Consequently, in the game the protagonist must establish a village and develop cross-cultural alliances as well as fight. As noted on Ubisoft's launch website: “Violence won’t be the only tactic for getting what you want.”

The historian and inspirational content designer based at Ubisoft’s headquarters in Paris wrote that Downham’s input “constitutes a unique resource” for the game’s development and praised Downham’s “broader focus on characters… which gives more diversity and complexity”. In June 2020, Downham was invited to give an online lecture to the entire Valhalla development team in France and Canada. It was followed by a Q&A session providing research-based answers to specific developer needs. Participant comments included “Best History Class Ever” (5.1). Overall Downham’s input from 2018 to 2020 has influenced Valhalla’s challenge to stereotypes of vikings, creating a richer and more diverse view of the past.

Valhalla’s impact is reflected in online reviews praising its historical content (5.2). According to PC Gamer the game can “prod the rigidity of Norse culture and traditions with surprising nuance” and Valhalla is better than earlier Assassin’s Creed games at “telling an engaging story” of the past. NME praises the game for “transforming historical tales … for the first time in years AC feels essential again”. GRYonline reports “AC Valhalla allows us to immerse ourselves in the world of Nordic vikings on an unprecedented scale” and “shows this peaceful side of the vikings”. The level of gender equality in the game has also received positive commentary. Eurogamer notes “female Eivor is the canon experience for all your Norway and England adventures”. Downham's research has contributed to the historically informed content and helped to create storylines within the game that have garnered widespread acclaim.

Shaping TV and radio documentaries

Downham has worked with documentary makers and other media producers as user-beneficiaries to explicitly inform the way they represent cross-cultural and gender relations in the Viking Age. As consultant on the BBC’s King Alfred and the Anglo-Saxons: Aethelflaed (5.3) Downham appeared in the programme discussing female leadership in the Viking Age (3.6). The programme has been broadcast 12 times since 2014, most recently on 25 February 2020 (507,973 viewers). The head of the production company Michael Wood reported: “it has been the single most influential series on TV about the Anglo-Saxon/Viking era." He stated that Downham’s interview "gave a different take on the whole story, getting the audience to think about a story which at that point had never been told in the popular media”. As a spin-off, in 2018 Downham was interviewed for and fact-checked the top-listed BBC news item Aethelflaed: the warrior queen who broke the glass ceiling (5.4).

Downham was consultant and co-presenter for 1 of 4 episodes of The Real Vikings for History Canada, made to accompany the hugely successful Vikings drama series. The series, which challenged the notion that vikings were a single nation (3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6), reached 1,800,000 viewers in the USA and 1,100,000 in the UK when it aired in 2016. It was re-aired on the History Channel in 2018. In the director’s view, Downham’s role “was crucial… Without Clare's participation, we would not have been able to tell the story” (5.5). An article citing Downham’s interview, Who was Viking Warrior Ivar the Boneless? was published by howstuffworks.com on 23 September 2020.

Downham was consultant and interviewee for PBS / Channel 4’s Lost Viking Army (USA) / Britain’s Viking Graveyard (UK) (5.6). The director wrote, "Your expert contribution… imparts key information at a critical point in the film". Downham led the narration of the movements of viking leaders between Britain and Ireland. Released for an international audience in 2019, the documentary has since been released as an educational DVD, pitched at an adult audience.

Downham’s research on cross-cultural contacts informed TG4 Ireland's documentary on a Viking Age battle, Cluain Tarbh, first broadcast in 2014 and rebroadcast numerous times (5.7). The producer stated by email: "I consulted a number of your publications … which helped inform the shooting scripts and the shape of the series". Downham’s interview critiqued representations of the battle as an ethnic conflict between bad pagan vikings and good Christian Irish, showing that vikings and Irish fought on both sides. It helped attract “above average viewing figures, and considerable critical acclaim”. A review in History Ireland magazine (April 2014) noted “substance is provided by an engaging range of experts: Clare Downham … amongst others". A spin-off was Downham’s involvement in the 2014 Clontarf millennium celebrations in Ireland. The chief researcher for Trinity College Dublin's Emperor of the Irish exhibition in 2014, which “was seen by approximately a quarter-of-a-million people”, states:  “Dr Downham's published work was an important influence on my design, particularly with regard to setting the story of the exhibition within its international cultural context” (5.7).

Downham’s research has helped radio producers, most recently underpinning episode one of the BBC Radio 4 (and World Service) series, “How the Irish Shaped Britain”. Her interview in 2020 focused on viking interactions across the Irish Sea, and started the series at West Kirby, a site of Hiberno-Scandinavian settlement in the Wirral. The producer wrote: “Your knowledge and research have been … extremely important … Quite apart from the learned input you have had in our programme, it was also fascinating to … dispel some myths about the period (and about the Vikings)” (5.8). The interview referenced the intermingling of different ethnic groups in the Viking Age (3.3).

Downham’s impact on producers, directors and writers has been to shape narratives and help attract large audiences using fresh storylines that offer a striking departure from well-established but simplistic tropes of the Viking Age.

Challenging far-right portrayals of vikings

Downham’s research on viking identities and trans-national contacts has influenced public debate, especially her article Vikings were never the pure-bred master race white supremacists like to portray in The Conversation (29 September 2017, 240,000 reads, 65,800 shares on Facebook). It was based on her earlier research (3.1, 3.2, 3.3). The article was reprinted through various news outlets (e.g. Metro Online, Yahoo News, Newsweek) and republished in Dutch (InnerSelf) and Danish (videnskab.dk). It was critiqued in the White Supremacist publication American Renaissance indicating that her research is perceived as a threat to alt-right representations. Both positive and angry personal messages were sent from members of the public via Facebook and academia.edu, showing the article had importance to readers, e.g. “thank you for your well written article… keep up the good work” (Facebook messenger 17 November 2017). Downham’s work was subsequently cited in publications challenging extreme right-wing views. A link to the Conversation article is given in Time magazine's White Supremacists Have Weaponized an Imaginary Viking Past. It's Time to Reclaim the Real History (12 April 2019) to support the statement “they were not homogenous seafarers as is often imagined”. Other citations of Downham’s article include the article White Supremacists are misappropriating Norse mythology on the University of Alberta’s journalism site Folio (5.9).

Downham’s work was used in the making of the Al-Jazeera documentary Vikings vs Neo-Nazis: Battling the Far Right in Sweden (broadcast in March 2020, and since gaining 37,000 YouTube views). The director writes: "Your article and the other academics work really gave some solid grounding for the film and the director’s statement". Downham’s Conversation article is quoted and linked in the online Filmmaker’s View alongside the statement “Clare … argues that rather than the marauding smash-and-grab thugs portrayed in popular culture, Vikings sustained long-term peaceful interactions with foreign peoples, based on trade” (5.10).

Downham’s research has influenced gaming and media companies especially in Western Europe and North America. Her work has enabled producers to develop multi-faceted research-based interpretation of the past to challenge simplistic understandings of the vikings. Her work has shaped presentations of cross-cultural contacts and women in the Viking Age. Downham’s publications have also been used by writers and documentary makers specifically to develop a counter-narrative to dangerous and inaccurate stereotypes which have been peddled by far-right groups on an international stage.