Niels Boender
banner
nielsboender.bsky.social
Niels Boender
@nielsboender.bsky.social
🇳🇱 Historian - Postdoc at the University of Edinburgh looking at socioeconomic rights in Kenya and Tanzania - previously at Warwick, looking at Mau Mau legacies
Join me this Thursday (2:30 pm East Africa, 11:30 am GMT) as I give a (online) talk to the University of Nairobi's Research Seminar on my work on Kenyan decolonisation and the settlement schemes which transferred much white-owned land at independence.

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
December 2, 2025 at 11:31 AM
I'm very grateful to Itinerario, and especially to Drs Tim Livsey and Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo, for putting together this Special Edition that re-evaluates the notion of "late-colonialism". (2/4)
October 28, 2025 at 12:12 PM
and since then as a Co-Curator and Consultant working directly with the exhibition team. From the early brainstorming stages to the editing of the final script, the exhibition is a testament to the power of academic research to shape public history-making. 4/6
October 19, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Working on the exhibition involved extensive new collecting in these three countries, primarily centring on the voices of the remaining survivors of these conflicts. It was a great privilege to be a part of this, first as part of my AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership PhD from 2020-2024... 3/6
October 19, 2025 at 2:49 PM
...evolution in the IWM’s offering, for the first time giving serious consideration to the conflicts that marked the end of the British Empire. It evaluates how the end of the British Empire was a uniquely violent process, leaving legacies for these countries as well as for Britain itself... 2/6
October 19, 2025 at 2:49 PM
It's been incredible this week to see something that I, along with many others, have been working on for several years... "Emergency Exits: The Fight for Independence in Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus" exhibit at the Imperial War Museum in London. The exhibition represents a significant evolution... 1/6
October 19, 2025 at 2:49 PM
One for the diary! If you're in Nairobi, do come along to
the British Institute in East Africa to listen to me present some findings on the history of social security in the region. Alternatively, you can join online. 4 pm EAT on the 18th of September

Register here: biea.ac.uk/events/the-o...
September 10, 2025 at 1:44 PM
and an inheritor of the tradition of the Kikuyu Independent Schools Association. I explore attempts to resurrect the movement in the aftermath of Kenya's independence, in the context of efforts among political elites to reconcile post-Mau Mau grievances. Give it a read!
September 1, 2025 at 2:16 PM
It was a great pleasure to be part of this Special Edition on Decolonisation's Discontents, conceived at an excellent workshop in Boston in 2023. Do give @emleake.bsky.social's introduction and all the other contributions a read as well!
August 9, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Thrilled to finally announce the release of our edited collection - Homecoming Veterans in Literature and Culture. I am incredibly grateful to the brilliant contributors who have established 'Homecoming' as an analytical lense for understanding veterans' return

www.routledge.com/Homecoming-V...
March 28, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Had a really wonderful time at the @sochistorywar.bsky.social conference in Nicosia last week. Authentically a wonderful group of people - and in an incredibly fascinating (and relevant) location. Next year in Potsdam!
December 2, 2024 at 9:36 AM