Five College African Studies : Caroline Elkins

Calendar > Lectures and Readings

12/07/2005
Caroline Elkins

Wednesday, December 7; 7:30pm
Neilson Browsing Room
Smith College

"Britain's Gulag: Colonial Violence during the 'Mau Mau' Emergency in Kenya"

Caroline Elkins, Hugo K. Foster Associate Professor of African Studies
Department of History, Harvard University
Author of: Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya.

Perhaps no field in current African historical research has received more attention over the past decade than the decolonization struggle in Kenya-what the colonial authorities termed "Mau Mau." Efforts to understand the multiple, complex dimensions of this struggle are fraught with debate, in part because the legacy of this period is critical to understanding contemporary Kenya. Caroline Elkins's work has been an important pillar in this ongoing discussion. Based on exhaustive archival and extensive oral research, her book provides a dramatic reassessment of the components and effects of British policy in Kenya during the 1950s-indeed her work forces us to change our entire understanding of British colonialism in Kenya and beyond. It demonstrates the extent of the "British Gulag" of detention/interrogation/torture camps across Kenya, and the extent of the transformations that British policy brought to the rural areas of Kenya, directly affecting perhaps a million people.

"Imperial Reckoning" casts a whole new light on the concept of the decolonization struggle in Kenya, showing that it was as much a British struggle to maintain control of a prized colonial territory, as it was a struggle of Africans to reclaim their own dignity and Independence. Imperial Reckoning will undoubtedly ignite a lively, even passionate debate in Britain and Africa on the nature and legacy of colonial rule; it will also raise questions on all such activity carried out in the name of the "civilizing mission." She will be speaking on her research on Wednesday, December 7, at 7:30 pm in the Smith College Neilson Browsing Room, in Neilson Library. All are welcome.

Free and open to the public

Sponsored by the African Studies Program and the Lecture Committee at Smith College, and the Five College African Studies Council.

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	Calendar > Lectures and Readings 12/07/2005 Caroline Elkins Wednesday, December 7; 7:30pm Neilson Browsing Room Smith College "Britain's Gulag: Colonial Violence during the 'Mau Mau' Emergency in Kenya" Caroline Elkins, Hugo K. Foster Associate Professor of African Studies Department of History, Harvard University Author of: Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya. Perhaps no field in current African historical research has received more attention over the past decade than the decolonization struggle in Kenya-what the colonial authorities termed "Mau Mau." Efforts to understand the multiple, complex dimensions of this struggle are fraught with debate, in part because the legacy of this period is critical to understanding contemporary Kenya. Caroline Elkins's work has been an important pillar in this ongoing discussion. Based on exhaustive archival and extensive oral research, her book provides a dramatic reassessment of the components and effects of British policy in Kenya during the 1950s-indeed her work forces us to change our entire understanding of British colonialism in Kenya and beyond. It demonstrates the extent of the "British Gulag" of detention/interrogation/torture camps across Kenya, and the extent of the transformations that British policy brought to the rural areas of Kenya, directly affecting perhaps a million people. "Imperial Reckoning" casts a whole new light on the concept of the decolonization struggle in Kenya, showing that it was as much a British struggle to maintain control of a prized colonial territory, as it was a struggle of Africans to reclaim their own dignity and Independence. Imperial Reckoning will undoubtedly ignite a lively, even passionate debate in Britain and Africa on the nature and legacy of colonial rule; it will also raise questions on all such activity carried out in the name of the "civilizing mission." She will be speaking on her research on Wednesday, December 7, at 7:30 pm in the Smith College Neilson Browsing Room, in Neilson Library. All are welcome. Free and open to the public Sponsored by the African Studies Program and the Lecture Committee at Smith College, and the Five College African Studies Council.