Caroline Elkins: Difference between revisions
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Richard Dowden wrote a critical review of Elkins' book in [[The Guardian]]{{ref|dowden-2005}}. James Mitchell, in a highly critical review of the book, said 'I shudder for those of her students who expect academic rigour: Elkins doesn't let facts stand in the way of a good rant.'{{ref|mitchell-2005}} |
Richard Dowden wrote a critical review of Elkins' book in [[The Guardian]]{{ref|dowden-2005}}. James Mitchell, in a highly critical review of the book, said 'I shudder for those of her students who expect academic rigour: Elkins doesn't let facts stand in the way of a good rant.'{{ref|mitchell-2005}} |
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David Elstein has also noted severe shortcomings in Elkins' methodology and conclusions. Elstein contends that her casualty figures are derived from an idiosyncratic reading of census figures and a tendentious interpretation of the fortified village scheme. |
David Elstein has also noted severe shortcomings in Elkins' methodology and conclusions. Elstein contends that her casualty figures are derived from an idiosyncratic reading of census figures and a tendentious interpretation of the fortified village scheme. |
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== Related links == |
== Related links == |
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Revision as of 15:47, 8 February 2007
Caroline Elkins (born 1969) is an associate professor of History at Harvard University. She studies the colonial encounter in Africa during the twentieth century. In 2006, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for her book on British treatment of the Kikuyu in Kenya, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya.She is currently Policy Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government in the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University, USA.
Biography
Caroline Elkins graduated, summa cum laude, with a major in History from Princeton University. She received her Master's and Doctoral degrees in History from Harvard. The BBC documentary Kenya: White Terror was based on Elkins and her controversial research. She teaches courses on modern Africa, protest in East Africa, human rights in Africa, and British colonial violence in the 20th century.
Criticism of Elkins' work
Elkins' work was criticized by historian Lawrence James in The Sunday Times as being a one-sided account of the Mau Mau Uprising. In an article in The Guardian, James, in turn, was criticized for "whitewashing the history of the British empire".[1]
Nicholas Best, acknowledging that "there can be no excuse for what happened" in Kenya, questioned Elkins' detention and casualty figures as ludicrous and accused Elkins of being selective in her sources[2].
Richard Dowden wrote a critical review of Elkins' book in The Guardian[3]. James Mitchell, in a highly critical review of the book, said 'I shudder for those of her students who expect academic rigour: Elkins doesn't let facts stand in the way of a good rant.'[4]
David Elstein has also noted severe shortcomings in Elkins' methodology and conclusions. Elstein contends that her casualty figures are derived from an idiosyncratic reading of census figures and a tendentious interpretation of the fortified village scheme.
Related links
- Caroline Elkins' faculty web page at Harvard
- David Elstein on Elkins' methodological shortcomings
- David Elstein on Elkins' errors
- Mau Mau Uprising
- Fitz R S de Souza
References
- ^ Murray, Andrew. "In the realm of the senseless". The Guardian, date=2006-06-19.
{{cite news}}: Missing pipe in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Best, Nicholas (2005-01-16). " They died cursing the British". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Dowden, Richard (2005-02-05). "State of shame". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Mitchell, James (2005-04-14). "Beyond mischievous fictions, there's blood and barbarity". The Star. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)