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Liam J. Liburd

@liamliburd.bsky.social
2.4K followers 410 following 408 posts

Historian who works on Black British history and the history of whiteness and the white supremacist movement in 20th century Britain. Views those of someone living through interesting times.

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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
For my London-based or adjacent followers, I'm speaking at an event marking the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street next Tuesday evening. I'll be reflecting on the history of antisemitism and state racism among other things. Tickets are free!
bisa.bbk.ac.uk
The Battle of Cable Street ninety years on: the struggle against fascism and antisemitism, then and now | Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I never met him but John MacKenzie’s approach to the history of imperialism was a big initial influence on my work on the relationship between British fascism and British imperialism. Brilliant and highly readable work. Still back him over Porter.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Inconvenient historical truths worth remembering at present…
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Kristof Smeyers @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
6-year fully funded research and teaching assistant job at University of Ghent in the fields of English literature/cultural theory, history/translation history, linguistics, language acquisition, communication. Own projects are welcome! Details: jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-As...
jobs.ugent.be
Assistant English
Assistant English
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The only meaningful difference between the everyday racists with their “legitimate concerns“ and the white supremacist balaclava blackshirts is that the latter is prepared to admit the logical end point of their position.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Oh shit, Piddington *has* gone full UDI.
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BISA at Birkbeck @bisa-bkk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Join us on 6 Oct for a panel discussion on ‘The Battle of Cable Street ninety years on: the struggle against fascism and antisemitism, then and now’ with Nadia Valman, Liam Liburd (@liamliburd.bsky.social) and Joseph Finlay (@josephfinlay.bsky.social). Book here: bit.ly/4xoQuJC
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 10/09/2026
#OtD 10 Sep 1933 an attempted rally by Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists was broken up by 2000 anti-fascist locals in Stockton, England. They chased off fascists with pickaxe handles, stones, half bricks, and potatoes with razor blades inside stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8256...
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Ben Mechen @benmechen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Some fascinating Collaborative Doctoral Awards on offer here at the BL, including a great history of sexuality/book history/library history project relating to the Rund Collection of 19th/20thC erotic books and ephemera www.bl.uk/services/res...
bl.uk
Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards
Fully-funded and jointly supervised studentships across four developing research areas.
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Henry Miller @henryjmiller.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Highly recommended for ECRs with an interest in parliamentary history, broadly defined.
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Tionne Alliyah Parris @tionneaparris.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Hi folks, Putting out a message here to ask if there are any UK orgs *you* represent, or may know of, that would be interested in hosting a talk about my new book in 2027. I am keen to share the incredible history of Black women radicals with basically anyone who will listen!
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The British police have historically struggled to appreciate fascists as anything more than a colourful and fleeting public order disruption; despite what fascists themselves claim, they’ve generally been policed in a disproportionately accommodating manner.
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LeftLion Magazine Nottingham @leftlion.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Guess who's back? Goosey the Goose Fair goose has taken up its perch on the Mansfield Road roundabout once again, announcing the return of one of the largest travelling funfairs in Europe later this month. #GooseFair #nottingham #notts #nottslife #leftlion
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Brendan McGeever @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Battle of Cable Street ninety years on: the struggle against fascism and antisemitism, then and now. With Nadia Valman, Liam Liburd (@liamliburd.bsky.social) and Joseph Finlay (@josephfinlay.bsky.social). Join us at @bisa-bkk.bsky.social on 6/10. More info below: bisa.bbk.ac.uk/event/the-ba...
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I know its naive to expect better of the Labour Party if you have even a passing familiarity with their long history, but there is still something outstandingly depressing to watch them repeatedly abandon the goal of 'bread and roses' for simply 'more work'.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The problem can be summed up with one question: how many people who can name Jason Arday can name the plagiarising professor at the same institution who is still in post? How many people can name the VC criticised by name in an employment tribunal this week?
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Sam Wetherell @samwetherell.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Does anyone remember when, in 2023, Rachel Reeves, soon to become chancellor, was found to have plagiarised multiple parts of a book she published about economics from Wikipedia and it was barely a news story?
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Gabriel S. Jacobs @gsjphd.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
let's be real: plagiarism scandals in academia happen all the time (not because academics plagiarize a lot, but just because of how many millions of faculty there are around the world) and it is never general-public news unless the culprit is a member of a minority.
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 13/08/2026
How can historians use institutional archives to recover the lived experiences of disabled people? @lucyanne.bsky.social explores technological collaboration and disabled expertise in the General Post Office in early twentieth-century Britain.
historyworkshop.org.uk
A Tale of Two Signals
Lucy Jameson explores technological collaboration and disabled expertise in the General Post Office in early twentieth-century Britain.
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QMCBS @qmcbs.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Job alert - tenure track position in early/late mod British history & empire at Princeton: apply.interfolio.com/190698
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Modern British History Journal @mbhjournal.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
This year's Duncan Tanner Prize is now open! If you're a PGR/ECR working on an article on modern British history do consider entering! Deadline Sept 1st. #skystorians 🗃️ academic.oup.com/tcbh/pages/e...
academic.oup.com
The Duncan Tanner Prize
The Duncan Tanner Prize recognizes outstanding scholarship amongst postgraduate research students in Britain and abroad. Entrants submit an article manuscript.
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Dr Hannah J. Elizabeth @sexhistorian.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
We are looking for a fantastic person to join us at Strathclyde on a funded PhD studentship looking at the history of unorthodox health activism in the UK after 1948! www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/... #AcademicSky #HistMed
static.klipy.com
Camp Summer2023: We're Hiring
ALT: Camp Summer2023: We're Hiring
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Olivia Wyatt @oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
My article — “Black is Beautiful”: Gender, Pigmentation, and Political Blackness in Modern Britain — is now available to read! It reinserts the politics of complexion into our narratives of the Black Power and Black Women’s movements. #BlackBritishHistory academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
academic.oup.com
‘Black is beautiful’: gender, pigmentation and political blackness in modern Britain*
Abstract. By examining political literature, ephemera and oral histories, this article investigates the politics of pigmentation within the Black Power and
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LeftLion Magazine Nottingham @leftlion.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Sad to see the news of iconic Notts company Raleigh going into administration.  Originally founded in Nottingham in 1885, many generations of cyclists grew up riding Raleigh models including the Chopper, Grifter and Burner. #nottingham #notts #raleigh #bicycle #bikes
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Despise the notion dominant among education policy-makers that post-16 academic education can't *and shouldn't* be for working class people. Educating children into their social destiny, rather than on the basis of their individual potential or inclinations, will never be progressive. Dream bigger.
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Sol Gamsu @solgamsu.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
"If, then, we “full-time” intellectuals restrict our knowledge to those who have been fortunate enough to get full-time education and to work in universities, we are simply reproducing ... the unequal distribution of knowledge and education in our societies." www.bostonreview.net/articles/whe...
bostonreview.net
When We Are All Enemies of the State
A recently discovered 1974 speech by Stuart Hall on Walter Rodney—and why fascists fear ideas.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Really proud to be in this and glad it’s out in paperback!
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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
This comment on Ramsay MacDonald reminds me of someone: "He liked being Prime Minister… But behind lies the riddle I cannot solve. Take the most important question: in what did he, ultimately, believe? I do not know.” (From Mary Agnes Hamilton's Remembering My Good Friends)
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Richly-deserved prize for an excellent early-career historian.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
In fairness, I pass people in the street who remark in an oddly upbeat way about the hot weather as well. It’s loony.
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Matt Houlbrook @tricksterprince.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Very proud of this one: Incarcerated: Contemporary Photography from the Victorian Prison It's been a delight to work with @andyaitchison.bsky.social, Dominique Moran, Yvonne Jewkes, & Jennifer Turner. Seeing Andy's wonderful work in print is quite something. insidetime.org/newsround/in...
insidetime.org
‘Incarcerated’: Photographer Andy Aitchison launches book on Victorian prisons
Andy Aitchison has been taking photographs inside the UK’s prisons for over 20 years. His interest started in 2004, when the Big Issue asked him to photograph inside Victorian-built HMP Wandsworth.…
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Alice Marples @alicemarples.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
We have two new 12-month postdoctoral fellowship opportunities at the British Library! Applications open soon to co-design projects in the following areas: - Colonial Deposit and our Newspaper Collection - Local Large Language Models and Personal Born-Digital Archives www.bl.uk/services/res...
bl.uk
The Joanna and Graham Barker Fellowship Scheme
Two funded-fellowship opportunities for early career, postdoctoral researchers.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
My new short article is now out in no. 3-4, vol. 59 of @pop-jrnl.bsky.social. In the piece, I reflect on the experience of designing & delivering what was *probably* the first module on whiteness in modern British history in a UK university history department. The module is running again in 2026-27.
tandfonline.com
Working out whiteness in modern British history
Liburd’s Commentary considers the place of whiteness in the teaching and research of modern British history. It does so through a reflection on the experience of designing and delivering ‘The White...
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Mallory Moore @sexabolition.blog · 16/06/2026
Looking at this and the revelations yesterday about the team behind the Keir Starmer arson attacks and far right pay ops around them, and it's hard not to notice the establishment would rather just not do anything systematic about the threat.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Was at the National Library of Scotland last week looking at the Police Federation's journal from the late 60s & 70s. Their reportage and commentary on demonstrations like Red Lion Square was strikingly uninterested in the fascists and absolutely venomous towards "lefty student demonstrators".
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Kieran Connell @kieranconnell.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
I have a piece in today’s Irish Times about the atrocities of last week in Belfast. The ethno-nationalist machine is tried and tested. How come the authorities are apparently so powerless to stop it? www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 10/06/2026
And yet some will still debate whether fascism is an appropriate term for what we're seeing... In fact, some mainstream elite are still hesitant to use far right which tells you everything you need to know about why we are where we are
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Rioters "momentarily enjoying the arbitrary power of both the traffic warden and the border official" (as Richard Seymour wrote of similar checkpoints in Middlesborough during the 2024 riots) illustrates alignment of "street" & "state" racism; this is explicit extraparliamentary border enforcement.
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Saima Nasar @saimanasar.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I’m really pleased to see my article on “The Asian Mother and Baby Campaign” in the @jbritishstudies.bsky.social Many thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding this research. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
The “Asian Mother and Baby Campaign”: Race, Healthcare, and Citizenship in late Twentieth-Century Britain | Journal of British Studies | Cambridge Core
The “Asian Mother and Baby Campaign”: Race, Healthcare, and Citizenship in late Twentieth-Century Britain - Volume 65
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
For those looking for some longer historical context about white supremacist politics in Northern Ireland, I heartily recommend Daniel Geary’s chapter in this fantastic edited collection: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526147073/
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
Manchester University Press - Global white nationalism
Global white nationalism - Browse and buy the Paperback edition of Global white nationalism by Daniel Geary
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
55 years after the Home Office became aware of staff in carceral institutions wearing fascist insignia, the problem remains. I’ve got an article coming out soon about the history of this in English prisons. ”Institutionalised fascism” remains difficult to separate from the “street variety”.
theguardian.com
Staff at immigration detention centre wore England flags, report finds
Chair of prisons and detention watchdog concerned about intimidating effect as wide-ranging and damning review published
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Sadiah Qureshi 🦈 @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Permanent lectureship in Modern British History at the University of Manchester. FT, £42-58k, closing date 30 June 26, starting Sept 26 onwards. For international people, this is equivalent to a tenure-track Assistant Lectureship. www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai... #SkyStorians
jobs.manchester.ac.uk
Lecturer in Modern British History (post-1800):Oxford Road
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Easy: England has become Ulster.
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Had such a good time at #MBS2026 both with our panel and also in the general conference atmosphere; it all went by too quickly!
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I know this is a very historian thing to say but a lot of journalists have extremely short memories. It should not be possible to cover accusations of “two-tier policing” without gesturing to the long history of white racists appropriating the injuries inflicted on people of colour by white racism.
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Runnymede Trust @runnymedetrust.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Fifty years on, Gurdip will always be remembered. On the night of 4 June 1976, Gurdip Singh Chaggar was out with his friends when he was killed in an unprovoked racist attack.
A march by the Southall Youth Movement to remember Blair Peach and Gurdip Singh Chaggar, June 1979. (C) Southall Youth Movement
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Sika @sikadm.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
It’s striking that MPs and the media are focused on how how “accusations of racism informed police thinking” rather than on how a “structural disregard for human suffering” shaped their response. Instead of interrogating institutional culture, their failures are conveniently blamed on EDI. #r4today
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Made me think of a quote from Angela Davis: “Fascism is a process, its growth and development are cancerous in nature. While today, the threat of fascism may be primarily restricted to the use of the law-enforcement-judicial-penal apparatus to arrest the overt and latent-revolutionary trends…”
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George Padmore Institute @gpadmoreinstitute.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Our archive collections include materials relating to activism supporting the black academic, activist and feminist Angela Davis. In the 1970s the Angela Davis Defence Committee was set up in the UK to bring attention to the imprisonment of Davis in America. Visit www.georgepadmoreinstitute.org
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Liam J. Liburd @liamliburd.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Going to miss the panel featuring my fantastic colleague, Jonathan Saha, this morning, but if you’re in town, go along!
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