Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2011
  • Article
  • Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Alchemy of Evidence: Mau Mau, the British Empire, and the High Court of Justice

By: Caroline Elkins
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:18
ShareBar

Abstract

Restorative justice in various forms is a phenomenon that has swept across the globe over the last three decades. Most recently, it is unfolding in the High Court of Justice in London where five Kenyans have filed a claim against the British government, alleging that they suffered acts of mistreatment and torture at the hands of British colonial and military personnel. Three revisionist Mau Mau historians have served as advisors and expert witnesses for the claimants. Judicial procedure and the positivist stance of the court have framed their production of evidence and its reading. This article will examine the production of the historians’ witness statements, and the impact that the recent Hanslope Disclosure has had upon their work. The discussion is framed within the broader context of Mau Mau revisionism and the critiques that ensued after the publication of Imperial Reckoning and Histories of the Hanged.

Keywords

Colonialism; History; Lawsuits and Litigation; United Kingdom; Kenya

Citation

Elkins, Caroline. "Alchemy of Evidence: Mau Mau, the British Empire, and the High Court of Justice." Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 39, no. 5 (December 2011): 731–748.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Purchase

About The Author

Caroline M. Elkins

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • January 27, 2024
    • New York Times

    Critics of D.E.I. Forget That It Works

    By: Caroline M. Elkins, Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss
    • November 2022 (Revised October 2024)
    • Faculty Research

    'A Marshall Plan for Africa': James Mwangi and Equity Group Holdings

    By: Caroline M. Elkins, Debora L. Spar, Zeke Gillman and Julia M. Comeau
    • June 2022
    • Faculty Research

    FIELD Immersion 2022: Chattanooga, Tennessee

    By: Caroline M. Elkins and Tom Quinn
More from the Author
  • Critics of D.E.I. Forget That It Works By: Caroline M. Elkins, Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss
  • 'A Marshall Plan for Africa': James Mwangi and Equity Group Holdings By: Caroline M. Elkins, Debora L. Spar, Zeke Gillman and Julia M. Comeau
  • FIELD Immersion 2022: Chattanooga, Tennessee By: Caroline M. Elkins and Tom Quinn
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.