Centre For The Study Of Modern And Contemporary History

In the eighth episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Anita Klingler about public discourses of violence in Britain and Germany in the interwar years, and whether the spectre of violence is once again haunting Europe. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the seventh episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Enda Delaney about new developments in the historiography of modern Ireland, the international network of the Irish diaspora, and the history of cognition. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the sixth episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Jeremy Dell about his research on West African Islam. Amongst other things, they discuss Jeremy's first encounters with West Africa via Paris and Dakar, as well as the importance of the history of African Islam within the wider context of the Islamic world. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the fifth episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Ismay Milford about her work on African anti-colonial activism in the decolonising moment of the 1950s and 60s. Amongst other things, they discuss transnational histories of activism, the usefulness of "space" as a historical concept, and whether we can learn anything about our present political crisis from postwar visions of the decolonised future. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the fourth episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Julie Gibbings about her research on modern Guatemala and her new book 'Our Time is Now: Race and Modernity in Postcolonial Guatemala'. They discuss how Julie got interested in Guatemala, what it means to work on a post-conflict society, and how indigenous knowledge can reshape our understanding of time and space. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the third episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Kate Ballantyne about her work on activism in the American South in the 1960s. They discuss what it means to be from "the South", whether histories of activism can be written by non-activists, and the relevance (or otherwise) of research on the 1960s to today's Black Lives Matter protests. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the second episode of our 'CSMCH Showcase' series, Emile Chabal talks to Joe Gazeley about his work on Malian foreign policy since the 1960s. Amongst other things, they discuss how Joe became interested in Mali in the first place, and what the history of Mali's attempts to gain sovereignty can tell us about the nature of post-colonial statehood. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In the first of our new series of short interviews with CSMCH members entitled 'CSMCH Showcase', Emile Chabal talks to Jake Blanc about his work on Brazil. Amongst other things, they discuss Jake's own biography and his experience of left-wing political engagement; the history of rural political movements; and the importance of looking at Latin America from the inside out. Produced by Mathew Nicolson.

In this interview, Kristoff Kerl (Koln) - who is one of our CSMCH-IASH Visiting Fellows this year - talks with Emile Chabal about his journey to becoming a historian, his current research on countercultures in the 1960s and 1970s, and the challenges of writing about radical politics and psychedelic drugs

In this talk, Sarah Badcock (Nottingham) explores the Russian revolutions of 1917 from a provincial perspectives. She argues that, although power was divided unevenly between centre and periphery, provincial Russia was a vital part of the revolutionary process. Her talk is followed by a short comment by Anna Lively (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in January 2020.

In this talk, Julie Gibbings (Edinburgh) explores the microhistories of the Guatemalan Revolution of 1944 and its aftermath. Focusing especially on the lives of families living on plantations in the Alta Verapaz region, she explains how affective and intimate relations reflected broader political trends. The talk is followed by a short comment by Julia McClure (Glasgow). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in November 2019.

In this talk, Jay Winter (Yale) explores the role of silence in traumatic memory, with particular reference to World War One and its aftermath. He argues that silence has been underestimated as a form of memory in relation to war and other moments of extreme violence. The talk is followed by a short comment by Paul Leworthy (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in November 2019.

In this talk, Julia Nicholls (King's College, London) discusses the development of the French revolutionary tradition in the years following the Paris Commune of 1871. She argues that revolutionaries in this period had a more complex relationship to France's revolutionary past than is commonly assumed. The talk is followed by a short comment by Emile Chabal.

In this talk, Paolo Gerbaudo (King's College, London) discusses the impact of social media on the public sphere and the consequences of social media for the functioning of our democracy. The talk is followed by a short comment by Rory Scothorne (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in October 2019.

In this roundtable discussion, a panel of four leading historians explore the history and meaning of revolution in the modern world. The panellists are Jim Livesey (Dundee), Jake Blanc (Edinburgh), Kalathmika Natarajan (Edinburgh), and Megan Hunt (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in September 2019.

In this interview, Ljubica Spaskovska (Exeter) - who is one of our CSMCH-IASH Visiting Fellows this year - talks with Emile Chabal about her doctoral research, her current projects, and life as a foreign academic in the UK.

In this talk, Olivier Estèves (Lille) talks about his new book on bussing and the desegregation of English schools in the 1960s and 1970s. Using a range of archival and interview material, he recounts the little-known story of the thousands of predominantly Asian children who were 'dispersed' to majority white schools in an effort to improve their 'integration' into English society. The talk is followed by a short comment by Tim Peace (Glasgow). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in April 2019.

In this talk, Stefanie Gänger (Köln) explores the history of 'cinchona' or 'Peruvian bark', one of the most widely used medicines of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She looks at how knowledge about the plant travelled across continents and found its way into the medicinal practices of slaves, paupers and nobles. The talk is followed by a short comment from Sarah Easterby-Smith (St Andrews). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in March 2019.

In this talk, Ben Smith (Warwick) explores the origins of US 'war on drugs'. He locates this in a series of moral panics on either side of the Californian border between US and Mexico in the 1950s. These moral panics had a profound impact on US and Mexican politics, as well as the relationship between the two states. The talk is followed by a short comment from Jake Blanc (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in March 2019.

In this talk, Akhila Yechury (St Andrews) tells the story of the French settlements in India in the 19th and 20th centuries. She explains how their unusual legal and historical status made them into sites of contested sovereignty and overlapping colonial systems. The talk is followed by a comment from Harshan Kumarasingham (Edinburgh). This is a recording of an event hosted by the CSMCH in February 2019.