Professor Andrekos Varnava, FRHistS, FRSA (Ανδρίκκος)
@andrekosvarnava.bsky.social
3K followers 1.8K following 200 posts

Australian-Cypriot historian @flindersuniversity.bsky.social on Kaurna Yarta; expert on British empire, Cyprus, Armenia, migration; Editor-in-Chief @jich.bsky.social; poet; @YusufCatStevens fan https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/andrekos.varnava .. more

Professor Andrekos Varnava,, , is a dual national Cypriot–Australian writer and historian, who is best known for his work confronting controversial moments in modern history and their consequences. .. more

Political science 54%
Sociology 36%
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andrekosvarnava.bsky.social
Catch the talk that Mike Hajimichael and I gave at the AAEH in Auckland on 10 July titled 'Colonialism, EOKA and Ochlocracy in British Cyprus: The Mob Killing of Savvas Menikos in 1958'. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlte...
Professors Varnava and Hajimichael talk on the mob killing of Savvas Menikos in 1958 by EOKA.
YouTube video by Andrekos Varnava
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

andrekosvarnava.bsky.social
Read our new article!
evansmithhist.bsky.social
Very excited that my new article with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social has been published open access in @historicaljnl.bsky.social

'Transnational Whiteness and the Elite Backlash to Reforming the Australian Immigration Control System in the 1950s and 1960s'

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Transnational Whiteness and the Elite Backlash to Reforming the Australian Immigration Control System in the 1950s and 1960s by Evan Smith & Andrekos Varnava

Abstract: In the 1950s and 1960s, changes in the international situation, such as decolonization in Asia, led some Australians to question the usefulness of keeping the ‘White Australia Policy’, the basis for the country’s immigration system since Federation in 1901. Some argued that Australia’s international reputation, especially with newly independent countries in Asia and Africa, could be harmed by the maintenance of this policy. Events such as the Sharpeville Massacre in apartheid South Africa in 1960 caused further introspection into Australia’s racialized system. However, as pushes to reform the policy grew, others used international events to resist reforms. Using speeches by politicians and documents produced by policymakers, this article will show how events, such as the Notting Hill riots in Britain, the Little Rock controversy in the United States, and the Sharpeville massacre, were used as warnings about Australia potentially introducing similar ‘racial problems’ if it allowed more non-white migration. This article argues that these concerns tapped into a transnational whiteness that shared anxieties about decolonization, civil rights and non-white immigration in the post-war period, bringing a racialized solidarity forged at the turn of the twentieth century into the Cold War era.

evansmithhist.bsky.social
Very excited that my new article with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social has been published open access in @historicaljnl.bsky.social

'Transnational Whiteness and the Elite Backlash to Reforming the Australian Immigration Control System in the 1950s and 1960s'

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Transnational Whiteness and the Elite Backlash to Reforming the Australian Immigration Control System in the 1950s and 1960s by Evan Smith & Andrekos Varnava

Abstract: In the 1950s and 1960s, changes in the international situation, such as decolonization in Asia, led some Australians to question the usefulness of keeping the ‘White Australia Policy’, the basis for the country’s immigration system since Federation in 1901. Some argued that Australia’s international reputation, especially with newly independent countries in Asia and Africa, could be harmed by the maintenance of this policy. Events such as the Sharpeville Massacre in apartheid South Africa in 1960 caused further introspection into Australia’s racialized system. However, as pushes to reform the policy grew, others used international events to resist reforms. Using speeches by politicians and documents produced by policymakers, this article will show how events, such as the Notting Hill riots in Britain, the Little Rock controversy in the United States, and the Sharpeville massacre, were used as warnings about Australia potentially introducing similar ‘racial problems’ if it allowed more non-white migration. This article argues that these concerns tapped into a transnational whiteness that shared anxieties about decolonization, civil rights and non-white immigration in the post-war period, bringing a racialized solidarity forged at the turn of the twentieth century into the Cold War era.

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

jich.bsky.social
The first prizes will be awarded in Feb 2026 for articles published within the six issues of Vol 53, 2025.

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

jich.bsky.social
JICH will now award two annual prizes: The Stockwell-Burroughs Prize for Best Article; & the Murphy-Howe Prize for Best Postgrad Article.
Winners will be announced each Feb & receive £200 in book vouchers from @tandfresearch.bsky.social. Winning articles will become free access for 12 months.

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

jich.bsky.social
Check out the recent book review by Yianni Cartledge @yiannicart.bsky.social of 'Victorians and Modern Greece: Literary and Cultural Encounters' edited by Efterpi Mitsi & Anna Despotopoulou (Routledge, 2025): doi.org/10.1080/0308...
Victorians and Modern Greece: Literary and Cultural Encounters
Published in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2025)
doi.org

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

waitmanwbeorn.com
Absolutely correct. It was always about killing the subjects, not the money.

Because Humanities programs pay for themselves, unlike STEM etc.

www.chronicle.com/article/they...
They’re Killing the Humanities On Purpose
The crisis is not one of resources but of values.
www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

ottoenglish.bsky.social
When politicians start policing history, you're firmly in the realms of autocracy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/a...

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

drdemography.com
‘…I have not seen such a lack of vision, such a vacuum of ideas, such general disorganisation, nor such cavalier decision-making about institutions and programs built up through hard work over decades’ - Prof Frank Bongiorno (national treasure) on ANU cuts www.canberratimes.com.au/story/901516...
'Lack of vision', 'vacuum of ideas', 'disorganisation' accusation against ANU
Prominent professor tears into leadership at his own university
www.canberratimes.com.au

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

evansmithhist.bsky.social
Looking for any scholarly stuff on the demographic composition of contemporary Australian extreme right. Like gender, age, class, geography, etc

andrekosvarnava.bsky.social
That is a good question. I don't know if it adds up. We are mainly talking about church figures attached to the three bishoprics and archbishopric, and the merchants in the major towns, as well as their families.

andrekosvarnava.bsky.social
I see lots of propaganda again repeating the same myths about the events in Cyprus from July 1821. This talk sets that record straight. Chapter also published in a book for more updated version. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4i0...
Professor Andrekos Varnava, talk 'Cyprus and 1821: Myths, Realities, Forgetting and Remembering'
YouTube video by Andrekos Varnava
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

yougov.co.uk
Just 32% of those who would consider voting for a Corbyn-led party say it is the party they are most likely to consider voting for, including only 9% saying it is the only party they would consider voting for (of the main national parties)

yougov.co.uk/politics/art...

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava

evansmithhist.bsky.social
Facebook reminds me that it is five years since my book came out in the middle of the pandemic. Tough times to generate much fanfare! Social media was the main outlet.

Reposted by Andrekos Varnava