Alan Lester
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alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester
@alanlester.bsky.social
16K followers 6.8K following 2K posts

British Empire Professor, University of Sussex. Co-editor, MUP Studies in Imperialism series. Views here own.
Blogs on politics of colonial history here: https://alanlester.co.uk Editor https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-truth-about-empire/ .. more

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Alan Lester is a British historical geographer and author who has worked for Sussex University since 2000. He was appointed Professor of Historical Geography in 2006. He is known for his research on imperial networks, colonial humanitarianism and imperial governance. .. more

Political science 40%
Sociology 34%
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alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · Apr 30
The podcast of David Olusoga and I discussing Empire & the rewriting of history:

howtoacademy.com/podcasts/dav...
HOW TO PODCAST | David Olusoga & Alan Lester - The Truth About the British Empire
David Olusoga and Alan Lester reveal the dark realities of the British Empire, and reflect on the importance of historians amid the resurgence of nationalism and misinformation.
howtoacademy.com

Reposted by Joanna L. Grossman

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
@frasernelson.bsky.social, it’s not the immigrants who are the problem here. It’s fascism. This headline is like saying that Hitler’s extreme tactics show what happens when the Jewish presence gets out of control.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
The Times today demonstrating how our media have normalised the perverse goal of reducing immigration for its own sake as common sense.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
6/6 Falsifying the history of the modern world empires provides content for the new fascists’ two minute hate. It produces a frenzy of grievance, anger and conviction without which the support base might rediscover that dreaded emotion, empathy.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
5/6 Miller shows us. The history of grievance has to be reversed. White Westerners have to believe that they, not the colonised, are the victims of history. How else can they bring themselves to endorse the hating, beating, expelling and killing demanded of the new world order?

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
4/6 And of course remittances (which are the main source of capital flowing to the Global South, not aid) arise because people are working in the West for the benefit of the West. But *why* lie like this?

alanlester.co.uk/blog/this-ho...
‘This House Believes Decolonisation Ended Empire in Name Only’
University of Exeter Debating Society 22nd Nov 2025 Argument for the Proposition Alan Lester The modern European empires were many things, but above all they were vehicles for the transfer of asset…
alanlester.co.uk

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
3/6 Of course, these empires did not make their colonies (other than the settler colonies) wealthy. It was the other way around. Of course aid flow to the Global South has been massively outweighed by debt payments, capital extraction and miss-invoicing that direct wealth to the West.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
2/6 Of course, the West did not just dissolve its empires. Europeans fought tooth and nail to retain them against anticolonial movements and, as the Suez crisis revealed, it was ultimately the withdrawal of support from the new American superpower that saw their demise.

Reposted by Chris Skedgel

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
1/6 The White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller here shows exactly *why* the new brand of fascists are so intent on lying about the West’s imperial past.

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Richard S.J. Tol, Will Jennings , and 39 more

anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 1d
The Norwegian Nobel Prize committee has been forced to make a statement, declaring that the prize cannot be transferred.
It's hard even to comprehend how stupid this has become

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d
Their rhetoric about their own citizens is almost indistinguishable

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 2d
Worth reading
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If Black contestants get a raw deal on The Traitors, that definitely is reality TV | Athena Kugblenu
We shouldn’t be surprised when our experiences on competitive TV shows or the football field are consistent with everyday life, says comedian and writer Athena Kugblenu
www.theguardian.com

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 2d
Good luck to the protestors against extreme authoritarian government in Iran and the USA.

Huge anti-government protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities, videos show www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Huge anti-government protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities, videos show
Rallies on major roads in the capital and in Iran's second city were peaceful and not dispersed by security forces.
www.bbc.co.uk

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 2d
34 witnesses to Farage’s pathological racism & antisemitism now. But the most telling comment from Farage is about Reform’s core support base.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 2d
Any news outlet that values truth should state unequivocally that US government officials are lying when they say that Renee Nicole Good tried to harm the ICE thug who killed her.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
How the ICE shooting in Minneapolis unfolded
BBC Verify breaks down how the shooting which killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis unfolded.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Alan Lester, Molly Scott Cato

sturdyalex.bsky.social
Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 2d
Just in case you think I am somehow exaggerating, this was their framing at the top of the hour, all morning.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 3d
What does it do to faith in a government when everyone can see for themselves, on video, that its Homeland Security Secretary is blatantly lying to them?

US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
US immigration officer fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis
Trump says the woman was attempting to run over ICE agents. Local leaders disagree.
www.bbc.co.uk

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 3d
Exactly. I was just about to add the more serious point that everyone knows he’s a racist but the far right have now gained so much propaganda influence that millions do not care or actively endorse it.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 3d
Most Scots believe the Pope is a Catholic, the Earth is roughly spherical, the sky is normally blue, grass green and bears s**t in the woods, poll shows.

www.thenational.scot/news/2572065...
Most Scots believe Nigel Farage is a racist, poll shows
MOST Scots believe Nigel Farage is a racist, an exclusive poll for The National has found.
www.thenational.scot

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d
Epstein seems to have been relegated down the news agenda.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d
@rafaelbehr.bsky.social is spot on with this analysis of Starmer’s quandry and the need at least to reintegrate with Europe.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Is Starmer’s reluctance to criticise Trump smart tactics – or the sign of a man without a plan? | Rafael Behr
The PM won’t call out Trump over Venezuela, and won’t commit to Europe. His refusal to choose leaves vital choices for Britain to be made by others, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d
The man who craves the Nobel Peace Prize is potentially responsible for warfare across the globe on a scale we haven’t seen since 1945. Trump is removing the guardrails that have prevented millions more being killed in war.
The Great Unraveling Has Begun www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...
Opinion | The Great Unraveling Has Begun
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Adele Perry

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
The text of the argument I made in a recent debate about ongoing colonialism is relevant here: alanlester.co.uk/blog/this-ho...

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
This is just as significant as Maduro’s seizure. The inability of governments to collect tax from multinational companies is a key factor in the relative poverty of the Global South. Trump’s USA has gained extraordinary exemption from a scheme to mitigate it.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
US will be exempt from global tax deal targeting profits of large multinationals
Agreement finalised by the OECD waters down a landmark 2021 deal that set a minimum global corporate tax of 15%
www.theguardian.com

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
Good review of an excellent book by @carriegibson.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
‘There’s this whole other story’: inside the fight to end slavery in the Americas
The Great Resistance, an expansive new book by author and historian Carrie Gibson, brings together often unheard narratives to tell the bigger picture of a difficult time
www.theguardian.com

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
4. Finally I'm also pleased that so many (18-27%) responded to the question "Do you think that countries that were colonised by Britain are better off or worse off as a result?" with a "don't know." Because of course we can never know how they would have developed otherwise.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
the Empire's costs and benefits were geographically differentiated. Like all empires, Britons maintained theirs mainly to transfer resources and labour power from subordinated populations and regions for the benefit of metropolitan groups and their partners.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
Whereas Reform, the Tories, the Telegraph, the Spectator, GB News, the Mail etc all create a straw man, pretending that those who are aware of the empire's benefits are being overwhelmed by woke people who see empire as unmitigated atrocity, in fact most of the public appreciate that

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
3. Although the survey fell short of asking about awareness of demographic differences within these geographical components (e.g. elite v poorer Indians, Indigenous v settlers), this public view broadly coincides with specialist professional historians' understanding.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
2. But what interested and pleased me most is this: when those benefits and costs are broken down by region there's a general recognition that the empire's effects need to be disaggregated between its metropolitan centres / settler offshoots, and its colonies of exploitation.

alanlester.bsky.social
Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d
1. It's no surprise that younger people tend to be more critical of the Empire and Reform and Tory voters more protective of its virtues. Nor that, overall, older and more politically conservative people tend to think that it brought more benefits than harm overall.