Book contents
- Curating the Colonial Past
- African Studies Series
- Curating the Colonial Past
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part IStruggle to Conceal
- Part IIStruggle to Reveal
- 5International Archival (B)Orders
- 6“The Memory of a Nation”
- 7Decolonization and the Struggle for Kenya’s “Migrated Archives”
- Conclusion
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- African Studies Series
5 - International Archival (B)Orders
from Part II - Struggle to Reveal
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 IStruggle to Conceal
- Part IIStruggle to Reveal
- 5International Archival (B)Orders
- 6“The Memory of a Nation”
- 7Decolonization and the Struggle for Kenya’s “Migrated Archives”
- Conclusion
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- African Studies Series
Summary
Chapter 5 provides an overview of the development of the International Council on Archives and its role mediating custodial disputes over colonial archives. This chapter, admittedly, interrupts the book’s narrative. Chronologically, it covers the late 1940s through the 1970s and largely examines the council’s main conferences during the period in order to trace the emergence of the notion of the “migrated archives” and debates over their custody. Like the role of international organizations themselves, this chapter is significant but somewhat detached from the realm of everyday activity surrounding Kenya’s “migrated archives.” However, as is demonstrated by the chapter, it provided important resources with which former colonies advocated the return of political documents as a matter of postcolonial sovereignty. These advocacy efforts were stalled by the reconfiguration of imperial hegemony upon which the International Council on Archives was based.
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- Curating the Colonial PastThe ‘Migrated Archives' and the Struggle for Kenya's History, pp. 167 - 199Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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