Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 18d

Great stuff but how about some history? Just for starters … Becky Taylor, Louise London, Tony Kushner and Katharine Knox, etc. etc.

Nicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 18d

Books I read while writing mine. If you're interested in small boats, migration, refugees, UK immigration and asylum, I'd recommend all of these. Anything to add?

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Nicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 18d

Books I read while writing mine. If you're interested in small boats, migration, refugees, UK immigration and asylum, I'd recommend all of these. Anything to add?

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Gwendal Piégais @gwendalpiegais.bsky.social · 23d

We bring together contributions on the European civil wars by Kimberly A. Lowe, @nathan-rousselot.bsky.social, Lia Brazil, Anna Lively, Alba Martínez, Mercedes Yusta, @panoskaragkounis.bsky.social, @elisabeth-piller.bsky.social @pwgatrell.bsky.social and John Horne. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Humanitarianism in an Age of Civil Wars: Europe, 1917-1949

Welcome to Cambridge Core

www.cambridge.org

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 24d

Just catching up with his reminiscences from March 2024 on YouTube - then still going strong at the age of 92. A scholar of enormous range. I’ll always be indebted to Al for his advice and support.

Juliane Fürst @jcaf.bsky.social · 25d

RIP Al Rieber, professor and teacher extraordinaire at many places but latest at CEU. His biography is worthy of a book. His reputation as an Mensch is legendary among students and colleagues. He will be missed, not least because he represented a time when Russian history was a happier place.

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Juliane Fürst @jcaf.bsky.social · 25d

RIP Al Rieber, professor and teacher extraordinaire at many places but latest at CEU. His biography is worthy of a book. His reputation as an Mensch is legendary among students and colleagues. He will be missed, not least because he represented a time when Russian history was a happier place.

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 25d

Joan Wallach Scott saying what needs to be said

Sandipto Dasgupta @sandipto.bsky.social · 26d

Over the last year, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Joan Scott. It was clear how much the experience of her father -- victim of McCarthyism -- shaped her as a scholar and person. This essay is a powerful testament to that.

www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...

A General Air of Anxiety - Boston Review

The Red Scare targeted my father. He taught me the meaning of resistance.

www.bostonreview.net

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Sandipto Dasgupta @sandipto.bsky.social · 26d

Over the last year, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Joan Scott. It was clear how much the experience of her father -- victim of McCarthyism -- shaped her as a scholar and person. This essay is a powerful testament to that.

www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...

A General Air of Anxiety - Boston Review

The Red Scare targeted my father. He taught me the meaning of resistance.

www.bostonreview.net

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 27d

Great topic, great scholar too!

HCRInstitute @hcrinstitute.bsky.social · 28d

📢New ESRC project

HCRI's Dr Antoine Burgard will lead “Who is a child? Determining age in British & French border policing, 1918–present” (2025–28).

The project explores how age shapes migration laws, policies & experiences.

Who is a child? Determining age in British and French border policing, 1918 to the present | Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute | The University of Manchester

www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk

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HCRInstitute @hcrinstitute.bsky.social · 28d

📢New ESRC project

HCRI's Dr Antoine Burgard will lead “Who is a child? Determining age in British & French border policing, 1918–present” (2025–28).

The project explores how age shapes migration laws, policies & experiences.

Who is a child? Determining age in British and French border policing, 1918 to the present | Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute | The University of Manchester

www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk

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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 29d

From spy planes to satellites, archaeology has long shared a sky with empire. What does that mean for the knowledge it produces?

Benjamin Thomas White (@btwhite.bsky.social) considers the colonial history of aerial archaeology.

The Bomber's View of the Past

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

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Elisabeth Piller @elisabeth-piller.bsky.social · Sep 9

Check out Peter Gatrell, John Horne and my (I know, I know, how did that happen?) article on European civil wars and the dialectic of humanitarianism 1914-1949, + the entire special issue edited by @gwendalpiegais.bsky.social and Robert Gerwarth www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Civil Wars and the Dialectic of Humanitarianism, 1914–1949 | Contemporary European History | Cambridge Core

Civil Wars and the Dialectic of Humanitarianism, 1914–1949

www.cambridge.org

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Sep 3

Ooh we've opened our call for small research grants. £10k for any humanities or social sciences research. Open to independent scholars. We use partial randomisation to allocate the funding: random allocation between all that meet the quality threshold
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants

The BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. These awards, up to £10,000 in value and tenable for up to 24 months, are provi...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

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Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · Sep 2

The special section from our 50th anniversary issue, The Responsibility of Intellectuals in the Age of Fascism and Genocide, is now online.

Robin D. G. Kelley revisits Noam Chomsky’s classic argument, with @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social, Jennifer Zacharia, and @martinoneill.bsky.social.

The Responsibility of Intellectuals in the Age of Fascism and Genocide - Boston Review

Speaking the truth and exposing lies is not enough.

www.bostonreview.net

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · Aug 31

Gorgeous Navajo rugs on display at the American Museum in Bath

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goldmartin @gillmartin.bsky.social · Aug 31

If only our media talked about the negative effects on society of tax avoidance
@bbcnewsnight.bsky.social
@bbcbreaking-bot.bsky.social
@channel4news.bsky.social
@itvnews.bsky.social

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · Aug 31

“Five (others) were detected and sent back on the vessel, another five were still at large”. A reminder perhaps to question the oft-asserted line about the UK’s “proud tradition of welcome” to refugees…

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · Aug 31

“Refugees are pouring into this country in this way” said a prosecutor who secured a conviction for five Dutch seamen “for aiding and abetting a Viennese refugee to land from a motor vessel”. The judge said “it is common knowledge that this practice has become rife”. The Guardian, 24 July 1939.

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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Aug 30

📣 Call for participants 📣

Have you ever used any History Workshop Journal articles in your teaching practice? If so, we would love to hear from you!

Please let us know by sending an email or feel free to DM.

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · Aug 28

‘In the final months of the Sunak government, the number of crossings continued to increase. But not because the “hostile environment” was insufficiently hostile.’

Georgie Newson on why the UK’s latest ‘one in, one out’ policy won’t work, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/au...

Georgie Newson | ‘One in, one out’

When it was revealed earlier this month that the number of people who had reached the UK on small boats since Labour...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · Aug 27

Fantastic achievement Sadiah - so pleased for you!

Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · Aug 27

Absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar medal by the @royalsociety.org for my research on science, race, and empire, including my book Vanished. An enormous thanks to everybody who made this possible, especially the Royal Society.
royalsociety.org/medals-and-p...

Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture | Royal Society

This prize lecture is given on a subject relating to the history of science, philosophy of science or the social function of science.

royalsociety.org

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Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · Aug 27

Absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar medal by the @royalsociety.org for my research on science, race, and empire, including my book Vanished. An enormous thanks to everybody who made this possible, especially the Royal Society.
royalsociety.org/medals-and-p...

Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture | Royal Society

This prize lecture is given on a subject relating to the history of science, philosophy of science or the social function of science.

royalsociety.org

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Laura Hammond @laurahammond.bsky.social · Aug 20

Great and timely piece by my colleagues Giorgia Dóna, Charlotte Sanders & Paolo Novak: As protesters and politicians call for the closure of asylum hotels, what are the alternatives? #migration #asylumseekerhousing #immigration theconversation.com/as-protester...

As protesters and politicians call for the closure of asylum hotels, what are the alternatives?

Long-term use of hotels poses numerous challenges to those living there.

theconversation.com

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Uilliam Mac ᚒᚔᚂᚂᚔᚐᚋ @uilliammac.bsky.social · Aug 10

The number of people arrested in UK Labour's deranged authoritarian crackdown has risen to 532.

The average age of those arrested is 54. 147 of the people arrested are aged between 60 and 69.

The Met counter-terror unit is working flat out bringing charges against them.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

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HCRInstitute @hcrinstitute.bsky.social · Jul 31

🌍 Two new edited volumes featuring HCRI's Prof. Bertrand Taithe are set to be published with @manchesterup.bsky.social!

🧵 Humanitarian Handicraft: History, Materiality and Trade.
💉 Medical Care and Intimacy in the Long Second World War, 1931–1953.

🔗 www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/n...

Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press is known globally as a publisher of Humanities and Social Sciences research. We currently publish over 170 books each year, as well as seven journals.

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

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Jo Laycock @jolaycock.bsky.social · Jul 3

It was lovely to hear Peter Gatrell (who supervised my PhD a billion years ago) give the @royalhistsoc.org Prothero lecture yesterday. His emphasis on the very human elements, and dilemmas, of doing historical research was both reassuring and thought-provoking.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · Jul 8

I've been sent an advanced copy of Maria Cristina Galmarini's new book: Soviet Internment: Memory, Nostalgia and the POW Experience @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyhist.bsky.social #Russianshorts An excellent book and fascinating story. Out mid-September www.bloomsbury.com/uk/soviet-in...

The cover of Maria Cristina Galmarini's book Soviet Internment: Memory, Nostalgia, and the POW Experience.

The back cover of the book, including blurb

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The Historical Journal @historicaljnl.bsky.social · Jul 24

📘New issue out now!

Special Issue on 'The Refugee Political in the Age of Imperial Crisis, Decolonization, and Cold War, 1930s–1950s', edited by Milinda Banerjee (@standrewshist.bsky.social) & Kerstin von Lingen (@univie.ac.at)

👉Read open access here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🗃️ 20thc

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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · Jul 22

In her first act as the new President of The British Academy, Professor Susan J Smith FBA has today written to the Prime Minister to warn that cuts and contractions are damaging the UK’s higher education system www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/new-aca...

New Academy President urges Prime Minister to strengthen and champion UK’s world-leading universities as higher education crisis deepens

In her first act as the new President of The British Academy, Professor Susan J Smith FBA has written to the Prime Minister to warn that cuts and contractions are damaging the UK’s higher education sy...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

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will o’the wisp pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · Jul 22

it is uncontroversial but essential to point out that these “people smuggling gangs” are a creation of deliberate govt policies that destroyed all safe legal routes to asylum

Picture shows an overloaded black inflatable boat, with many people perched on it in the water.

Underneath the headline reads “Gang leaders and fake passport dealers to be named in smuggling sanctions
The government says individuals throughout the networks smuggling people into the UK will be targeted.”

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History & Policy @historyandpolicy.bsky.social · Jul 18

Wonderful news this morning that @clairelanghamer.bsky.social the director of @ihr.bsky.social has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy. Warmest congratulations to Claire! www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...

Professor Claire Langhamer confirmed as new British Academy Fellow

IHR Professor Claire Langhamer has been appointed a British Academy Fellow

www.london.ac.uk

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