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Questions on the colonial past

Posted by Julia Huber at 2:51pm on Wednesday, 14th May 2003

The UK government is currently investigating claims that British colonial officials were responsible for a series of atrocities during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s. Click here to read full article.

I think this raises a variety of questions not only in regards to the way that former colonial powers deal with their past, but also about historical injustice and whether it can be redressed.

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On a separate but not entirely unrelated note, I recently went to a very thought-provoking seminar hosted by the Institute of Ideas called 'Human Remains'. To coincide with Museums and Galleries month, the debate was around the issue of repatriating human remains that are stored in museums around the world but were often 'acquired' from indigenous people in dubious circumstances. The debate highlighted some important issues about how the propriety and integrity of medical science has been seriously compromised by our colonial history. The question of how to appropriately acknowledge the crimes of the past, without becoming politically correct apologists for our ancestors could not adequately be resolved in 90 minutes but it did make for some very interesting discussion. Who owns the bones and why does it matter? To find out more see http://www.instituteofideas.com/Events/past/docs/remains.html
Posted by Lydia Howland  at 4:01pm on Wednesday, 14th May 2003

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