Book contents
- Curating the Colonial Past
- African Studies Series
- Curating the Colonial Past
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Struggle to Conceal
- 1 Protecting Bad Intel in a Dirty War
- 2 Secret-Keepers and Mythmakers
- 3 “Operation Legacy”
- 4 The Scramble for Kenya’s History and the Making of an Archival Limbo
- Part II Struggle to Reveal
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- African Studies Series
1 - Protecting Bad Intel in a Dirty War
from Part I - Struggle to Conceal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2025
Book contents
- Curating the Colonial Past
- African Studies Series
- Curating the Colonial Past
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Struggle to Conceal
- 1 Protecting Bad Intel in a Dirty War
- 2 Secret-Keepers and Mythmakers
- 3 “Operation Legacy”
- 4 The Scramble for Kenya’s History and the Making of an Archival Limbo
- Part II Struggle to Reveal
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- African Studies Series
Summary
Chapter 1 analyzes the recordkeeping practices established in Kenya during the Emergency through the reorganization of colonial intelligence services. This chapter explores the connection between the British paranoia against Mau Mau fighters in particular and Kikuyu-speaking peoples in general and the administration’s anxious obsession with recordkeeping and the maintenance of Emergency secrets. Following a discussion of key terms and contexts, such as the colonial concept of information management and the Emergency period, this chapter situates the “migrated archives” in the colonial politics of concealment.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Curating the Colonial PastThe ‘Migrated Archives' and the Struggle for Kenya's History, pp. 35 - 57Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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