Freedom Road and its intersections

16 Nov 2019, 10.00AM–5.00PM
Pathfoot
Freedom Road and its intersections

Image credit: Peter Mackay Archive, University of Stirling Archive and Special Collections

Following a very successful first workshop in June, the University of Stirling Archives and Division of History, Heritage and Politics would like to invite you to continue to explore the interconnections between liberation struggles/colonial governments across Southern and Central Africa. We heard from a wide range of projects in June which explored relations between nationalist groups in Malawi and Rhodesia, South Africa’s impact on the wider Southern African region, mercenary involvement in the Rhodesian war of independence and a biography of activist Peter Mackay to name but a few. Now we would love to expand on the coverage of the first workshop.

The theme of this series is taken from the Archive's collection on Peter Mackay which contains a comprehensive record of Mackay’s journalism, political activism, travel, photography and charitable work. It is a unique collection in part because of the large number of topics it deals with and its vast geographical coverage across Southern and Central Africa. The collection highlights in particular the many interconnections between the various freedom, liberation, anti-settler and pro-democracy struggles in Southern and Central Africa between the 1950s and the 1990s which more often than not get obscured by historical narratives that continue to focus mostly on country specific struggles and processes. The Mackay Archive documents some of these untold and unexplored interconnections in minute detail, including Mackay’s involvement in the ‘Freedom Road’ that ran between Francistown and Lusaka.

As the call for papers is ongoing, a full programme will be made available at a later date. The day will involve a tour of the Peter Mackay archive.

There is no charge for attendance of the workshop. We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Division of History, Heritage and Politics to cover catering costs.

We are unable to offer assistance with travel costs to the University of Stirling but owing to the generosity of the Stirling Fund we are able to offer accommodation to a limited number of participants. Please contact the organisers by 25th October if you require accommodation in Stirling.

For more information and to book your place please email Rose Al-Mulla: ra45@stir.ac.uk 

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