My initial research on peculiar history of Zanzibar’s so-called Prison Island as part of the Carceral Archipelago project began last year delving into the records in the National Archives and the British Library. Relying on Foreign Office correspondence, I was able to piece together some of the original documents of the construction of prison buildings […]
During a recent research trip to the State Library of Western Australia I had the opportunity to examine the journal compiled by William Smith, Surgeon Superintendent, on board the Merchantman’s second voyage to the Swan River Colony. [1] Leaving Portland on July 1st 1864, 257 convicted men were transported directly to Fremantle in a voyage […]
At the end of August, I visited Tsukigata, a small town in Hokkaido where the Kabato Central Prison was located from 1881 to 1919. The town was established in the year when the prison opened, and named after its first director, Kiyoshi Tsukigata. This town has unique sites that show the history of Hokkaido as […]
During the first week of September, members of our European Research Council funded project, Carceral Archipelago, attended the Fourth European Congress on World and Global History, held in Paris at the École Normale Supérieure. While at the Congress, a number of the project’s researchers had the exhilarating opportunity of presenting aspects of their research on a shared […]
“Reconsidering Southern African Studies from the Indian Ocean.” This challenge underpinned two wonderful days of discussion at the University of the Western Cape last week. As a conference, we wanted to explore what the burgeoning Indian Ocean historiography and literature means for southern African studies; including how land and sea might come together, in our […]
By Sarah Longair, Carceral Archipelago Project Researcher. Having been aware of the work of The Clink Charity, an innovative and exciting initiative which establishes restaurants in prisons, I was thrilled to hear that the latest one to benefit was HMP Brixton, not far from where I live. The Clink has been established with the aim […]
I have long been interested in Bermuda. Like the island that I studied for my PhD thesis, Mauritius, it has no indigenous population. It was settled during the age of European expansion, and developed using indentured servants from Europe and African slaves. In Mauritius the call for a new form of unfree labour in the […]
During my research trip to Seville in January 2014, and then again in March, I had the opportunity to visit the exhibition Pacífico: España y la aventura de la Mar del Sur (Pacific : Spain and the adventure of the South Sea). It was hosted in the magnificent building situated between the Cathedral and the Real […]
A few weeks ago, it was wonderful to have our first Carceral Archipelago project panel. The three postgraduates working on the project – Carrie Crockett, Kellie Moss and Katy Roscoe – showcased their progress so far in three twenty minutes papers at the School of History’s postgraduate conference at the University of Leicester. We were […]
We are excited to open the Call For Papers (CFP) for the Carceral Archipelago’s upcoming international conference, The Carceral Archipelago: Transnational Circulations in Global Perspective, 1415-1960, to be held in September 2015. Scholars of penal settlements and colonies from all over the world are warmly invited to submit proposals for papers and panels. […]
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