Caroline M. Elkins

Caroline Elkins is Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and the founding director of Harvard’s Center for African Studies. She received her A.B., summa cum laude, from Princeton University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.  

Elkins’ research focuses on empire, violence, liberalism, and insecurity, with a particular focus on Africa and various regions of the former British Empire including parts of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Her first book, Imperial Reckoning:  The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya (Henry Holt, 2005) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2006.  It was also one of The Economist’s Best Books for 2005, an Editor’s Choice for The New York Times, a Waterstone’s Best Writer for 2005, and a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize for nonfiction. 

Elkins and her work have been profiled in newspapers and magazines around the world, including Newsweek, Time Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, and The Boston Globe, as well on various television and radio programs including Charlie Rose, CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC World News, NPR’s All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation, and BBC World Radio One and Radio Four.  She is a contributor to the New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, and The New Republic.  She and her research were the subjects of a BBC documentary titled “Kenya:  White Terror,” which won the International Red Cross Award at the Monte Carlos Film Festival. More recently, her research served as the basis for the historic Mau Mau reparations case, for which she was expert witness, in the High Court of London. The British government settled the case in June 2013 with an official apology and a large, cash settlement.

At Harvard Elkins was selected as a Walter Channing Cabot Fellow, elected as a member of the Faculty Council for Arts and Sciences, and inducted as an honorary member of the University’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter. She has also held numerous other fellowships and awards including those from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Scholars (Burkhardt Fellowship), Fulbright, the Social Science Research Council, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2003-04; 2012-13), the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Carr Center for Human Rights, and the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy. 

Professor Elkins' book Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire is forthcoming from Knopf in 2022. In addition, Imperial Reckoning and Elkins' role as expert witness in the Mau Mau case is currently being made into a major motion picture. 

Books

• Elkins, Caroline M., and Susan Pederson, eds. Settler Colonialism in the Twentieth Century: Projects, Practices, Legacies. New York, NY: Routledge, 2005. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2005. View Details
• Bhabha, Jaqueline, Margareta Matache, and Caroline M. Elkins, eds. Time for Reparations: A Global Perspective. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. View Details

Book Chapters

• Bhabha, Jaqueline, Caroline M. Elkins, and Margareta Matache. "History on Trial: Mau Mau Reparations and the High Court of Justice." In Time for Reparations: A Global Perspective, edited by Jaqueline Bhabha, Margareta Matache, and Caroline M. Elkins, 101–118. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "British Imperial Violence and the Middle East." In The Darker Angels of our Nature: Refuting the Pinker Theory of History & Violence, edited by Philip Dwyer and Mark S. Micale, 197–218. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Les mythes de l'impérialisme britannique." In Une histoire de la guerre: du XIXe siècle à nos jours, edited by Bruno Cabanes, 186–202. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2018, French ed. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Limitless Violence in Palestine." In Effervescent Adventures with Britannia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain, edited by Wm. Roger Louis, 261–272. Adventures with Britannia. London: I.B. Tauris, 2017. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "British Colonial Violence in the Era of the Cold War." In Decolonization and the Cold War: Negotiating Independence, edited by Leslie James and Elisabeth Leake, 257–283. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Colonial Legacies: Silenced Trauma and the Political Economy of Imperialism." In Reframing Contemporary Africa: Politics, Economics, and Culture in the Global Era, edited by Peyi Soyinka-Airewele and Rita Kiki Edozie. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2010. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Race, Citizenship and Governance: Settler Tyranny and the End of Empire." In Settler Colonialism in the Twentieth Century: Projects, Practices, Legacies, edited by Caroline M. Elkins and Susan Pederson. New York, NY: Routledge, 2005. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., and John Lonsdale. "Memories of Mau Mau in Kenya: Public Crises and Private Shame." In Dopo la violenza: construzioni di memoria nel mondo contemporaneo, edited by Alessandro Triulzi, 159–196. Napoli: L'ancora del Mediterraneo, 2005, Italian ed. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Detention, Rehabilitation, and the Destruction of Kikuyu Society." In Mau Mau and Nationhood: Arms, Authority, and Narration, edited by E. S. Atieno Odhiambo and John Lonsdale, 191–221. Oxford: James Curry Ltd., 2002. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Maritime Innovation and Nautical Science in the Early Modern World." In The Heritage Of World Civilizations. 5th ed., edited by Albert M. Craig, William A. Graham, Donald M. Kagan, Stephen Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials

• Fabbe, Kristin, Tarun Khanna, Caroline M. Elkins, Zeke Gillman, Eleni Kyrkopoulou, and Thomaz Teodorovicz. "Babban Gona: Great Farm." Harvard Business School Case 722-027, November 2021. (Revised February 2022.) View Details
• Khanna, Tarun, Caroline M. Elkins, and Joyce Kim. "Andela: Africa's AWS for Talent." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 322-063, November 2021. View Details
• Alcacer, Juan, Caroline M. Elkins, and Esel Çekin. "Agility Africa." Harvard Business School Case 720-357, October 2019. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., Prithwiraj Choudhury, and Tarun Khanna. "Kenya Railways: China's Belt and Road in Africa." Harvard Business School Case 319-109, June 2019. (Revised October 2019.) View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., Tarun Khanna, Vikram S. Gandhi, Karen G. Mills, and Leonard A. Schlesinger. "A Note on Contextual Intelligence." Harvard Business School Module Note 322-077, January 2022. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "A Note on Team Effectiveness." Harvard Business School Module Note 322-078, January 2022. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "FIELD Immersion." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 322-079, January 2022. (Revised January 2022.) View Details
• Khanna, Tarun, Caroline M. Elkins, and Joyce Kim. "iOpenEye: Theater and #MeToo in Nigeria." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 322-057, November 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline, Tarun Khanna, and Joyce J. Kim. "iOpenEye: Theater and #MeToo in Nigeria." Harvard Business School Case 321-111, January 2021. (Revised October 2021.) View Details
• MacCormack, Alan, Caroline M. Elkins, Allison H. Mnookin, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Joyce J. Kim. "A Note on Design Thinking." Harvard Business School Background Note 322-042, August 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., Tarun Khanna, and Joyce J. Kim. "Andela: Africa's AWS for Talent." Harvard Business School Case 321-113, January 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., Tarun Khanna, and Joyce J. Kim. "Bridge International Academies in 2020: Battling Headwinds to Solve Africa's Education Problems." Harvard Business School Supplement 521-048, November 2020. (Revised January 2021.) View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., and Hakeem Belo-Osagie. "'Africa Rising:' Understanding Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Complexities of a Continent." Harvard Business School Background Note 320-083, December 2019. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M., Juan Alcácer, Alpana Thapar, and Youssef Abdel Aal. "Edita: Making Choices in Uncertain Times." Harvard Business School Case 320-026, November 2019. View Details

Presentations

• Elkins, Caroline M. "Legacy of Violence and the British Empire." University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, September 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Legacy of Violence and the End of Empire." Random House Group Ltd., London, UK, October 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "The Hanslope Park ‘Migrated Archives’ and Their Impact on Our Understanding of End of Empire." University of London, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, UK, June 2021. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Decolonizing History: Method or Fact?" London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK, July 2021. View Details

Other Publications and Materials

• Elkins, Caroline M. "Ndiku Mutua and 4 Others and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Claim No. HQ09X02666: Witness Statement of Caroline Macy Elkins." Government Testimony, Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK, February 2011. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Ndiku Mutua and 4 Others and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Claim No. HQ09X02666: Witness Statement of Caroline Macy Elkins." Government Testimony, Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK, April 2011. View Details
• Elkins, Caroline M. "Ndiku Mutua and 4 Others and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Claim No. HQ09X02666: Witness Statement of Caroline Macy Elkins." Government Testimony, Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK, May 2012. View Details

Awards & Honors

Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya (Henry Holt, 2005).

Finalist for the 2006 Lionel Gelber Prize for Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya (Henry Holt, 2005).