Gillian Mathys
@gillianmathys.bsky.social
Historian of Great Lakes | Associate Professor African history @ugent | Editor @CJAS_RCEA | Academic mom. I got very lucky.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/fractured-pasts-in-lake-kivus-borderlands/28EE1FFBB2BDDA8814964DD39656B959
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/fractured-pasts-in-lake-kivus-borderlands/28EE1FFBB2BDDA8814964DD39656B959
Pinned
Gillian Mathys
@gillianmathys.bsky.social
· May 20
My book Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu's Borderlands can now be pre-ordered with a 20% discount
www.cambridge.org/be/universit...
www.cambridge.org/be/universit...
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Applying or suggesting discriminatory rules, and/or affirming rights don't apply to migrants, whatever the logic or justification, undermines the demand or expectation that migrants should affirm 'universal' [sic] principles such as rights, equality and nondiscrimination
February 11, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Applying or suggesting discriminatory rules, and/or affirming rights don't apply to migrants, whatever the logic or justification, undermines the demand or expectation that migrants should affirm 'universal' [sic] principles such as rights, equality and nondiscrimination
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
I love this dialogical format - we paired, commented and asked each other questions - which really opens up the actual research process as it usually happens behind the relatively closed doors of seminars and conferences.
Proud to have been working closely together in dialogue with colleagues from Eastern European and European history on this wonderful format, thinking together on how as historians we can listen to subaltern groups speak, wherever they are:
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:24 PM
I love this dialogical format - we paired, commented and asked each other questions - which really opens up the actual research process as it usually happens behind the relatively closed doors of seminars and conferences.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Pour quelques semaines, chaque vendredi, je propose dans l’émission de @xaviermauduit.bsky.social sur @franceculture.fr une chronique sur l’histoire de l’Afrique.
3 minutes pour raconter l’histoire du Sahel et du Sahara et comment on l’écrit aujourd’hui.
www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
3 minutes pour raconter l’histoire du Sahel et du Sahara et comment on l’écrit aujourd’hui.
www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
En Afrique, comme ailleurs, les Européens ne sont pas les premiers explorateurs
Aucun espace terrestre n’était inconnu avant le regard porté par les Européens sur le continent africain. Dans toutes les régions du monde, des savants produisaient des connaissances dans leur propre ...
www.radiofrance.fr
January 31, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Pour quelques semaines, chaque vendredi, je propose dans l’émission de @xaviermauduit.bsky.social sur @franceculture.fr une chronique sur l’histoire de l’Afrique.
3 minutes pour raconter l’histoire du Sahel et du Sahara et comment on l’écrit aujourd’hui.
www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
3 minutes pour raconter l’histoire du Sahel et du Sahara et comment on l’écrit aujourd’hui.
www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Compleet in shock val van m’n stoel klomp gebroken niemand had dit zien aankomen
February 7, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Compleet in shock val van m’n stoel klomp gebroken niemand had dit zien aankomen
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
We're unprepared for AI's big threat.
It isn't just deepfakes. It’s a world where nothing is trusted, including real evidence.
I wrote in Poynter about fake images from MN, Trump's Maduro photo, and AI "enhanced" ICE agent faces.
Instead of labeling what's fake, we need ways to label what's real.
It isn't just deepfakes. It’s a world where nothing is trusted, including real evidence.
I wrote in Poynter about fake images from MN, Trump's Maduro photo, and AI "enhanced" ICE agent faces.
Instead of labeling what's fake, we need ways to label what's real.
The real threat of AI is the collapse of trust - Poynter
Why journalism needs to prove which images are authentic — not just label deepfakes
www.poynter.org
February 2, 2026 at 5:14 PM
We're unprepared for AI's big threat.
It isn't just deepfakes. It’s a world where nothing is trusted, including real evidence.
I wrote in Poynter about fake images from MN, Trump's Maduro photo, and AI "enhanced" ICE agent faces.
Instead of labeling what's fake, we need ways to label what's real.
It isn't just deepfakes. It’s a world where nothing is trusted, including real evidence.
I wrote in Poynter about fake images from MN, Trump's Maduro photo, and AI "enhanced" ICE agent faces.
Instead of labeling what's fake, we need ways to label what's real.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Dit stuk uit het essay (een wroetende poging, die bij voorkeur geen slappe AI-output is) van @fakeplasticruby.bsky.social in DM magazine is tegelijk hartverwarmend, akelig herkenbaar en confronterend, wraakroepend, wanhopig maar ook ook hoopvol. Misschien moeten we wat meer moeite doen.
January 31, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Dit stuk uit het essay (een wroetende poging, die bij voorkeur geen slappe AI-output is) van @fakeplasticruby.bsky.social in DM magazine is tegelijk hartverwarmend, akelig herkenbaar en confronterend, wraakroepend, wanhopig maar ook ook hoopvol. Misschien moeten we wat meer moeite doen.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
"Up to 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week". The West's normalisation of the mass death of black Africans (because that is predominantly who these people are) will never be less than devastating.
January 27, 2026 at 11:19 AM
"Up to 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week". The West's normalisation of the mass death of black Africans (because that is predominantly who these people are) will never be less than devastating.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Un petit-fils de déporté juif qui appelle à des « rafles » contre des étrangers en France (soutenant les actions de Trump, considérant les exécutions extrajudiciaires comme "des injustices inévitables").
L’inversion des valeurs est totale.
Le fascisme n’est pas à nos portes :
il est dans la maison.
L’inversion des valeurs est totale.
Le fascisme n’est pas à nos portes :
il est dans la maison.
January 25, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Un petit-fils de déporté juif qui appelle à des « rafles » contre des étrangers en France (soutenant les actions de Trump, considérant les exécutions extrajudiciaires comme "des injustices inévitables").
L’inversion des valeurs est totale.
Le fascisme n’est pas à nos portes :
il est dans la maison.
L’inversion des valeurs est totale.
Le fascisme n’est pas à nos portes :
il est dans la maison.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
"Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has rejected calls for the officers concerned to be suspended"
Thousands protest in Paris over death of immigrant worker in police custody - France 24
Thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday in protest at the death in police custody of 35-year-old El Hacen Diarra, whose violent arrest on January 14 was caught on camera. Paris police have launched…
www.france24.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:06 PM
"Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has rejected calls for the officers concerned to be suspended"
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Thousands protest in Paris over death of immigrant worker in police custody
Thousands protest in Paris over death of immigrant worker in police custody
Thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday in protest at the death in police custody of 35-year-old El Hacen Diarra, whose violent arrest on January 14 was caught on camera. Paris police have launched an internal investigation into what happened, but Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has rejected calls for the officers concerned to be suspended.
f24.my
January 25, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Thousands protest in Paris over death of immigrant worker in police custody
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
They cannot imagine caring about community that way bc they have this hyper-masculine, solitary and emotionless persona. They are warped by the violence and hate they are paid to push on a daily basis. The ppl of MN must be paid bc they can’t imagine caring that much for others w/o being paid.
James O'Keefe says he's never seen anything so organized as the anti-ICE movement, observers--he seems to think this term is code--everywhere he goes. Who is paying for it??? he demands to know. It's like he can't even imagine people caring for one another.
January 25, 2026 at 4:03 PM
They cannot imagine caring about community that way bc they have this hyper-masculine, solitary and emotionless persona. They are warped by the violence and hate they are paid to push on a daily basis. The ppl of MN must be paid bc they can’t imagine caring that much for others w/o being paid.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 AM
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Onderhandelen met de Taliban. Een regime dat België niet eens erkent- en met reden.
En dan dat vuige gelijkstellen van ‘zonder papieren’ en ‘crimineel’ nog, van mensen die je in de handen van díe organisatie gaat uitleveren.
Blijven uitleggen, Anneleen, want logica zit er niet meer bij.
En dan dat vuige gelijkstellen van ‘zonder papieren’ en ‘crimineel’ nog, van mensen die je in de handen van díe organisatie gaat uitleveren.
Blijven uitleggen, Anneleen, want logica zit er niet meer bij.
January 25, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Onderhandelen met de Taliban. Een regime dat België niet eens erkent- en met reden.
En dan dat vuige gelijkstellen van ‘zonder papieren’ en ‘crimineel’ nog, van mensen die je in de handen van díe organisatie gaat uitleveren.
Blijven uitleggen, Anneleen, want logica zit er niet meer bij.
En dan dat vuige gelijkstellen van ‘zonder papieren’ en ‘crimineel’ nog, van mensen die je in de handen van díe organisatie gaat uitleveren.
Blijven uitleggen, Anneleen, want logica zit er niet meer bij.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Met een Turkse of Marokkaanse naam zijn sollicitaties een stuk lastiger dan met een Belgische naam. Hoe minder Belgisch, hoe negatiever je door werkgevers gezien wordt, toont nieuw onderzoek van de Universiteit Gent.
Onderzoek legt discriminatie bij sollicitaties bloot: ‘Gemengde namen hebben zeer negatieve invloed’
www.demorgen.be
January 24, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Met een Turkse of Marokkaanse naam zijn sollicitaties een stuk lastiger dan met een Belgische naam. Hoe minder Belgisch, hoe negatiever je door werkgevers gezien wordt, toont nieuw onderzoek van de Universiteit Gent.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
This also means that explaining colonial violence with reference to racism as a sort of irrational ideology that makes colonialism something fundamentally different from capitalism falls flat
The whole thing about the discussion whether fascism is irrational (and also that colonial violence was „rational“ vs the Holocaust being „irrational“) is that it seems to lack a fundamental understanding that capitalist rationality is very much irrational.
January 19, 2026 at 11:18 AM
This also means that explaining colonial violence with reference to racism as a sort of irrational ideology that makes colonialism something fundamentally different from capitalism falls flat
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Our discipline, Conflict Studies, is in trouble. Wolfram and I try to explain the reasons. Comments welcome!
In the new @dissentmag.bsky.social issue, out today, @yguichaoua.bsky.social and I diagnose the crisis of conflict studies in a piece that is part intellectual history, part personal experience.
What was conflict studies for? And what can its travails tell us about how wars have changed?
What was conflict studies for? And what can its travails tell us about how wars have changed?
The Demise of Conflict Studies - Dissent Magazine
An entire industry specializing in mediation, peacekeeping, disarmament, and transitional justice has become largely obsolete.
dissentmagazine.org
January 13, 2026 at 7:30 AM
Our discipline, Conflict Studies, is in trouble. Wolfram and I try to explain the reasons. Comments welcome!
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Une petite vidéo pour présenter la trajectoire et l’œuvre du savant sahélien du 19e s., al-Hajj Musa, réalisée par les équipes de l'@ehess.fr
Notre idée rendre accessible aux historiens et historiennes des sources en langue africaine pour enrichir nos récits du passé
youtu.be/PQvwf6XhFcU?...
Notre idée rendre accessible aux historiens et historiennes des sources en langue africaine pour enrichir nos récits du passé
youtu.be/PQvwf6XhFcU?...
L'histoire méconnue du savant al-Hajj Musa
YouTube video by EHESS
youtu.be
January 8, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Une petite vidéo pour présenter la trajectoire et l’œuvre du savant sahélien du 19e s., al-Hajj Musa, réalisée par les équipes de l'@ehess.fr
Notre idée rendre accessible aux historiens et historiennes des sources en langue africaine pour enrichir nos récits du passé
youtu.be/PQvwf6XhFcU?...
Notre idée rendre accessible aux historiens et historiennes des sources en langue africaine pour enrichir nos récits du passé
youtu.be/PQvwf6XhFcU?...
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
The extremely easy capture of tech leaders, platforms, and initiatives by fascists interested in shutting knowledge production down should force us to rethink digitization as a sufficient or secure strategy for maintaining access to knowledge.
This story reminds us that:
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
a) Not everything has been digitized
b) Not everything digitized is accessible to the public
Also: What's happening at NASA is part of a broader trend of library closures in government & industry. (Even university libraries are moving away from physical books & journals)
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
January 6, 2026 at 9:06 PM
The extremely easy capture of tech leaders, platforms, and initiatives by fascists interested in shutting knowledge production down should force us to rethink digitization as a sufficient or secure strategy for maintaining access to knowledge.
Africa (the Italian African Studies journal) is back, now fully open access, and they published one of the first reviews of my book Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu's Borderlands. It's written by Luca Jourdan and it's very generous.
Our first ancestor appeared in 1946. Our immediate progenitor ended its course in 2010. We've been back in press since 2019 and, today, we enter this space with our first issue in full open access!! Africa VII/1, 2025 is out and freely available here! www.viella.it/libro/979125...
#Africa #Afrique
#Africa #Afrique
Africa. N:S. VII/1, 2025.
www.viella.it
January 5, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Africa (the Italian African Studies journal) is back, now fully open access, and they published one of the first reviews of my book Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu's Borderlands. It's written by Luca Jourdan and it's very generous.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
.@kristoftiteca.bsky.social 💯
"I.p.v. te vragen of enorme fortuinen moreel te verantwoorden zijn, prijst EA miljardairs die hun geld ‘effectief’ besteden. Doneren wordt een morele vrijbrief die vragen over belastingontwijking, marktmacht of uitbuiting neutraliseert."
www.demorgen.be/meningen/waa...
"I.p.v. te vragen of enorme fortuinen moreel te verantwoorden zijn, prijst EA miljardairs die hun geld ‘effectief’ besteden. Doneren wordt een morele vrijbrief die vragen over belastingontwijking, marktmacht of uitbuiting neutraliseert."
www.demorgen.be/meningen/waa...
Waarom ‘effectief goeddoen’ ons moreel armer maakt
Kristof Titeca is professor aan de Universiteit Antwerpen (Instituut voor Ontwikkelingsbeleid). Hij geeft kritiek op het fenomeen effectief altruïsme.
www.demorgen.be
December 2, 2025 at 10:26 AM
.@kristoftiteca.bsky.social 💯
"I.p.v. te vragen of enorme fortuinen moreel te verantwoorden zijn, prijst EA miljardairs die hun geld ‘effectief’ besteden. Doneren wordt een morele vrijbrief die vragen over belastingontwijking, marktmacht of uitbuiting neutraliseert."
www.demorgen.be/meningen/waa...
"I.p.v. te vragen of enorme fortuinen moreel te verantwoorden zijn, prijst EA miljardairs die hun geld ‘effectief’ besteden. Doneren wordt een morele vrijbrief die vragen over belastingontwijking, marktmacht of uitbuiting neutraliseert."
www.demorgen.be/meningen/waa...
Please join us for our Lecture series in Global and regional History. First meeting, next week, Eric Jennings with "A global history of vanilla". For more on the lecture series: see www.grh.ugent.be/activities/
Unfortunately the lecture with Joachim Goma-Thethet had to be cancelled.
Unfortunately the lecture with Joachim Goma-Thethet had to be cancelled.
November 7, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Please join us for our Lecture series in Global and regional History. First meeting, next week, Eric Jennings with "A global history of vanilla". For more on the lecture series: see www.grh.ugent.be/activities/
Unfortunately the lecture with Joachim Goma-Thethet had to be cancelled.
Unfortunately the lecture with Joachim Goma-Thethet had to be cancelled.
Reposted by Gillian Mathys
Jongens en meisjes, de organisatie die het dichtst bij mijn hart ligt, Een Hart Voor Vluchtelingen, heeft middelen nodig met het oog op de winter.
Met het weghalen van de middelen voor de daklozen door ons Anneleen, zitten ze in de shit.
Alle info op de prent en hier 👇
eenhartvoorvluchtelingen.be
Met het weghalen van de middelen voor de daklozen door ons Anneleen, zitten ze in de shit.
Alle info op de prent en hier 👇
eenhartvoorvluchtelingen.be
October 26, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Jongens en meisjes, de organisatie die het dichtst bij mijn hart ligt, Een Hart Voor Vluchtelingen, heeft middelen nodig met het oog op de winter.
Met het weghalen van de middelen voor de daklozen door ons Anneleen, zitten ze in de shit.
Alle info op de prent en hier 👇
eenhartvoorvluchtelingen.be
Met het weghalen van de middelen voor de daklozen door ons Anneleen, zitten ze in de shit.
Alle info op de prent en hier 👇
eenhartvoorvluchtelingen.be
The deadline for submitting a paper, panel or round table for the Biannual CRG African History is nearing. This year it's at Ghent University, and we'll be happy to welcome you!
aegis-eu.org/collaborativ...
aegis-eu.org/collaborativ...
CRG African History | AEGIS - African studies in Europe
aegis-eu.org
October 12, 2025 at 8:37 PM
The deadline for submitting a paper, panel or round table for the Biannual CRG African History is nearing. This year it's at Ghent University, and we'll be happy to welcome you!
aegis-eu.org/collaborativ...
aegis-eu.org/collaborativ...
Hello, I wrote a book. I am going to talk about it soon with Godefroid Muzalia and Koen Vlassenroot. You are all welcome on November 6 at the Egmont Institute in Brussels, but you'll have to register.
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
Fractured Pasts in Lake Kivu’s Borderlands - Egmont Institute
Prof. Dr. Gillian Mathys’ latest book provides an in-depth and historically grounded explanation of the ongoing conflict in East-Congo, beyond commonly assumed reductive narratives. As a historian wit...
www.egmontinstitute.be
October 10, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Hello, I wrote a book. I am going to talk about it soon with Godefroid Muzalia and Koen Vlassenroot. You are all welcome on November 6 at the Egmont Institute in Brussels, but you'll have to register.
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...
www.egmontinstitute.be/events/fract...