Why does aazadi (freedom) connote sedition in post-independence India? On the same day that Kanhaiya Kumar reclaimed this word in a stirring speech after his release from jail, Chitralekha Zutshi reflects on the usage and meanings of aazadi.
Historians’ Watch
Can the history of veiled women inform an ugly election campaign in Canada? Reflections of Students and Faculty
The current Canadian federal election campaign has given rise to heated debates over veiling and anti-Muslim attitudes. We asked a group of Canadian graduate students and their professors at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to share their thoughts.
‘Everyone here wants to help you’: International Co-operation, Refugee Rights, and the 1956 Hungarian Refugee Crisis
The UNHCR reported that in the first six months of this year 1,867 people died attempting the crossing, with the toll rising weekly throughout the summer to hit over 2,600 by the beginning of September.
Privatization and the Moral Origins of the Modern State
Ann Summers writes a powerful short essay on the moral origins and functions of the modern state, and the need for historians to defend them.
Who Cares What Historians Say?
The Eurosceptic clarion call recently issued by ‘Historians for Britain’ prompts Markus Daechsel of Royal Holloway to question the authority with which historians engage in current political debate.
Barbara Taylor: “Mental health professionals need to stand up & be counted”
The historian Barbara Taylor talks about the opportunity the 2015 UK general election campaign offers for a more informed debate about mental health provision.
