Liam J. Liburd
@liamliburd.bsky.social
2.2K followers 360 following 230 posts
Historian who works on Black British history and the history of whiteness and the white supremacist movement in 20th century Britain. Views those of someone living through interesting times.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
liamliburd.bsky.social
Thanks Hannah, this research is now approaching a possible History Workshop article (!) but it's nothing to do with what the book I'm supposed to be writing so this probably counts as procrastination.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
fabiolacreed.bsky.social
📙 Bluesky is the only platform where I haven’t circulated my book, as I’d recently joined and was waiting for the physical copy. So here it is (last book post, I promise) 📙

☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...
liamliburd.bsky.social
… like the Traditional Britain Group. For all that the machinery of the Conservative Party has blocked the electoral road to British fascist parties, elements within the party have also repeatedly appropriated aspects of their politics. None of this is foreign to the Conservative Party.
liamliburd.bsky.social
Something like Robert Jenrick has always been part of the Tory ecosystem from Major Evans-Gordon at the start of the 20thC; through William Joynson-Hicks in the 1920s; to Cyril Osborne in the 1950s; Powell, the Monday Club, and Keith Joseph in the 1960s and 1970s, to more recent initiatives…
liamliburd.bsky.social
I'm in episode one and if you're interested in the research behind my contribution, you can read about it here: academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...
sadiahqureshi.bsky.social
Now would be a great time to check out this BBC radio 4 series on the far right and racism in Britain by the amazing Camilla Schofield.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Britain's Fascist Thread
Camilla Schofield explores the unbroken thread of fascism in Britain.
www.bbc.co.uk
liamliburd.bsky.social
It's funny. I'd never thought of it before, but I wonder if the initial inspiration for that novel more or less came to him on that train journey. To some extent, the whole novel is about trying to sink into that sleepiness and, in the face of airborne horrors of another war, failing to do so.
liamliburd.bsky.social
There’s a good line reminiscent of this in his 1939 novel Coming Up for Air.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social
In honour of the 50th anniversary of the Chapeltown Bonfire incident, I’ll be talking about Black women’s community activism in Leeds at Leeds Beckett University.

⏰ 18:00 - 19:00
📍 Rose Bowl, City Campus
🎟️ bit.ly/480KUUD

#BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishHistory
50 years on: Caribbean women and the Chapeltown bonfire night incident 1975
Marking 50 years since the Bonfire Twelve, this talk explores the women's role in resisting racism and injustice in Leeds.
bit.ly
liamliburd.bsky.social
Ditto, in a metal cage with wheel. And if you forgot to submit the Turnitin version alongside this on time, you got penalised.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
hakeemjefferson.bsky.social
Political science has obsessed over polarization while largely neglecting extremism, and with few exceptions has been inattentive to the roots of it all—power, structures, and identities. Too many elites are just as unprepared. Thus, their takes are empty, trite, and naive.
liamliburd.bsky.social
At least if we’re talking about the Anglo-American context this seems to fit the bill.
liamliburd.bsky.social
Theres a more specific term for this - “white victimhood”.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
workingclasshistory.com
#OtD 17 Sep 1963 Raghbir Singh, a Sikh man, became the first person of colour to work on a bus in Bristol, England after a mass campaign forced the dropping of the "colour bar" by bosses and the TGWU union the previous month stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8946...
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
davidwearing.bsky.social
Let me elaborate my disagreement with @zackpolanski.bsky.social in a 🧵. The scenes on our streets are not "the consequences of decades of austerity" but of centuries of racism propagated by the British ruling classes to rationalise the social order they have constructed at home and abroad.
davidwearing.bsky.social
I'm genuinely grateful for the solidarity, irrespective of how rare this is from a politician. But fascism can't be reduced to displaced economic concerns. It doesn't stand up analytically, it won't help politically or strategically, and I really wish the left (of which I'm part) wouldn't do this.
zackpolanski.bsky.social
The scenes on our streets are shameful consequences of decades of austerity - government after government fanning the flames of anti migration instead of tackling inequality.

We can & must make different choices. Solidarity to all communities under attack. We stand together.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
davidwearing.bsky.social
I'm genuinely grateful for the solidarity, irrespective of how rare this is from a politician. But fascism can't be reduced to displaced economic concerns. It doesn't stand up analytically, it won't help politically or strategically, and I really wish the left (of which I'm part) wouldn't do this.
zackpolanski.bsky.social
The scenes on our streets are shameful consequences of decades of austerity - government after government fanning the flames of anti migration instead of tackling inequality.

We can & must make different choices. Solidarity to all communities under attack. We stand together.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
mrcwarwick.bsky.social
KPOW! ZAP! BLAM! WHAMF!

In 1979 the Anti-Nazi League published 'Action Pact', a comic showing schoolchildren Mike & Vince battling NF fascist lies together as the Justice Brothers

National & local ephemera, photos & more feature in the archives of the Leamington Anti-Racist, Anti-Fascist Committee
Front cover of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows Mike and Vince walking to school past racist graffiti and news of violence, imagining a future of camps, military curfews, banning of 'degenerate' music and 'repatriation' ships. Second page of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows Mike and Vince encountering "obnoxious propaganda" from the National Front at school and encountering violence against their community. Third page of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows Mike and Vince transforming into the Justice Brothers, countering fascist propaganda through truth delivered with punchy comic book sound effects. Fourth and final page of comic 'Action Pact', 1979, published by the Anti-Nazi League. It shows the "rattled fuhrer" taking refuge in a TV studio and being countered by the Justice Brothers and concludes with an appeal for action to counter racist lies.
liamliburd.bsky.social
The 'Ulsterfication of English politics' is a very good line.
liamliburd.bsky.social
The frightening thing about a lot of this is that I'm not sure that great numbers are being bussed in in general - though attendance at a lot of the protests is smaller than press reports make out.
liamliburd.bsky.social
The cynic in me wonders who is putting them up, but then I also look at the riots in Northern Ireland (and quite a few of more recent leading figures in Britain's white supremacist movements seem to have Northern Irish links) and also in Ireland (although obvs a separate situation) and I wonder.
liamliburd.bsky.social
British fascism has always struggled with this, as a movement with a mostly English membership and "point of view". They've repeatedly tried to foster links with other parts of the UK (especially NI) but these always felt more like satellites instigated from the centre than organic mobilisations.
rhyskamjones.bsky.social
"Four Nations Fascism", something a lot of people are trying very hard to make happen right now
Elon Musk retweeting Tommy Robinson advertising his September 13th rally, posting an AI slop video titled "Unite the Clans" in which men wearing hoodies representing Welsh, Irish, Scottish, English, and UK flags shake hands
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
netpol.org
Netpol @netpol.org · Sep 6
"Police on the wrong side of history for 100+ years"
Banner reads "Police on the wrong side of history for 100+ years", in front of a cop who looks like he sidelines in party entertainment.
Reposted by Liam J. Liburd
drdiongeorgiou.bsky.social
Having decided I want my public scholarship to be properly public, rather than behind a paywall, I've decided to make everything I've written for my newsletter - going back over two years - free to read for the foreseeable future.
The Academic Bubble | Dion Georgiou | Substack
Politics and culture from a contemporary historian‘s perspective. Click to read The Academic Bubble, by Dion Georgiou, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
academicbubble.substack.com