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Peter Gatrell

@pwgatrell.bsky.social
403 followers 654 following 25 posts

Historian - mainly researching refugee history in the 20c. … but it’s not just about refugees… oh, and still learning about what’s at stake then and now. Funded generously in the past by AHRC and Leverhulme Trust and enabled by UNHCR Records and Archives

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Reposted by Peter Gatrell
The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We're thrilled to be able to support six new early-career research Fellowships thanks to funding from the Wolfson Foundation. Applications open 21 October. Find out more: bit.ly/47fu2b0
bit.ly
The British Academy and Wolfson Foundation launch new search for exceptional early-career researchers as funding confirmed for new Fellowships
The British Academy is delighted to announce another round of funding from the Wolfson Foundation for early career research fellowships in the humanities and social sciences.
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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
A marvellous book that will stand the test of time. Mixed emotions on seeing it in print but not being able to congratulate Philippa in person.
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Alex Drace-Francis @alexdrace.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"Circulating Subjects: Sex Work and Migration in Russia, 1885–1935" - great (and sadly posthumous) book by our inspirational and much-missed colleague Philippa Hetherington @cornellupress.bsky.social cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
cornellpress.cornell.edu
Circulating Subjects by Philippa Hetherington | Hardcover | Cornell University Press
Circulating Subjects investigates the migration of women abroad for sex work from the 1880s through the 1930s, which Russian feminists, liberal jurists, and imperial bureaucrats worked together to def...
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Today we’re seeing a variety of these tawdry attempts to blame only Cambridge for Arday’s death, by putting a target on his back. As if those who chose to aim at that target - to destroy a black autistic man so they could win an EDI argument - are blameless. www.thetimes.com/article/jaso...
thetimes.com
Jason Arday, former Cambridge University professor, found dead
Academic at centre of plagiarism row was found unresponsive in Battersea. Police said his death was not believed to be suspicious
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Boyd van Dijk @boydvandijk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The UNHCR archives in Geneva are at risk; reading room already closed - and there's a much broader 'humanitarian archive emergency' ongoing with aid budget cuts. www.aretenews.com/unhcr-refuge...
aretenews.com
As aid funds shrink, archivists warn of risks to the humanitarian record
UNHCR's archives are a test case for humanitarians struggling to preserve institutional memory in an era of retrenchment.
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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The fallout began when “U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih chose [US career diplomat] Finerty over Simon Hankinson, a U.S.-backed candidate and former foreign service officer who has accused the UNHCR of pursuing “a mass ​migration agenda."“
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: Diplomatic efforts seek to avert Trump split with UN refugee agency, sources say
The Trump administration has in ​recent weeks weighed cutting ties with the U.N. refugee agency, prompting a campaign by diplomats and U.N. officials to persuade the United States to maintain ‌support...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It would be quite nice and quite collegial and quite effective (not to mention very good indeed for the UK) to join these arguments up with the evidenced-based arguments of (for example) the British Academy.
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Refugee Studies Centre @refugeestudies.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
On our blog, Peter Gatrell discusses what refugees around the world from the end of the First World War to the mid-1970s said of their experiences and considers the power of archives and refugees’ agency and creativity. www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/blog/refugee-voice…
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The irony of this man talking about his safety being under threat by investigative journalism when he actively stokes race riots.
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 26/06/2026
"The variety of historical evidence is nearly infinite. Everything that man says or writes ... can and ought to teach us about him. It is curious to note how many people, unacquainted with our work, underestimate the true extent of its possibilities." 'The Historian's Craft' (1949, trans 1954).
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
But remind me about that whole "two tier" policing bit where white supremacists actively engaged in an attempted pogrom to cause terror and achieve political ends were either ignored or charged with domestic criminal offences. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Pro-Palestine activists sentenced as terrorists over damage at Israeli arms factory in UK
Four found guilty will face tougher conditions as judge says actions were ‘designed to intimidate the UK government and a section of the public’
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Defend Our Juries @defendourjuries.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
They were all sentenced with terrorism connection, disapplying early release provisions. Charlotte Head 6 years Eleona Kamino 6 years Fatema Zainab Rajwani 5 years 8 months Samuel Corner 8 yrs 8 months They were not charged or convicted of a terrorism offence. Saving Lives Is Not Terrorism.
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Janine Gibson @janinegibson.ft.com · 28/05/2026
It’s a stupidly high bar but I believe this to be Craig Brown’s finest work
A page of parodic mail online headlines by Craig Brown from the current issue of Private Eye. Buy Private Eye it’s only £2.99.
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Economic History Society @echistsoc.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
More than twenty interviews with some of the leading figures in economic history in the last century are now available to watch on our website & YouTube channel. Interview with Dr Joan Thirsk: ehs.org.uk/multimedia/i... www.youtube.com/@EconomicHis...
ehs.org.uk
Interview with Dr Joan Thirsk - Economic History Society
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Sadiah Qureshi 🦈 @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
I have a prize lecture about extinction this Thursday evening at the Royal Society. I’ll also receive a medal. Tickets are free and it will also be steamed on YouTube. Booking and watching details here: royalsociety.org/science-even...
royalsociety.org
Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar prize lecture: Hope in the shadow of unnatural extinctions | Royal Society
Join us for the Royal Society Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture delivered by 2025 winner Professor Sadiah Qureshi.
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 11/05/2026
Also published today in Transactions: Peter Gatrell's article 'The "RefugeeWorld": A Twentieth-Century Retrospective' bit.ly/49nWmtg This is an article version of Peter's 2025 Prothero Lecture given in July last year. Now available free Open Access 1/2 #Skystorians
First page of Peter Gatrell's Transactions article, entitled The ‘RefugeeWorld’: A Twentieth-Century Retrospective.

Full abstract: In 1973 Sadruddin Aga Khan, the high commissioner of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency headquartered in Geneva, declared that refugees belonged to a ‘fourth world’. This article examines
the implication of this term by tracing the ways in which UNHCR engaged with refugees and what refugees made of UNHCR in the quarter century following its inception in 1951. External observers of the ‘refugee world’, including British journalist Robert Kee, criticised UNHCR’s tendency to defend its institutional interests and to make a priori assumptions about refugees. Drawing on its confidential individual case files, this article discloses the voices and perspectives of refugees who wrote to the organisation: those who came within UNHCR’s mandate
and those who hoped to access its assistance and protection but were excluded. Attention is then paid to those who sought refuge in communist states and to refugees in the third world who escaped colonial repression or became freedom fighters. The article concludes by demonstrating that some refugees challenged UNHCR to envisage an alternative refugee world or a world without refugees. This underlines the point that the world of refugees never constituted
a single realm of persecution.
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Andre Keil @andrekeil.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Important intervention by the @royalhistsoc.org, @ihr.bsky.social, History UK, and the Historical Association. I hope politicians will take note.
history.ac.uk
Protecting What Matters: A joint statement by the Historical Association, History UK, Royal Historical Society and the IHR
Protecting what matters: A joint statement by the Historical Association, History UK, Royal Historical Society and the IHR
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Natasha Walter @natashawalter.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
I’ve been hearing so much anger and disappointment from frontline workers about the BBC investigation into fraudulent asylum claims. One of the most damning responses has come from one of the experts they interviewed, solicitor Ana Gonzalez. It’s really worth reading her response in full:
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Aaron Blackshear @aaronblackshear.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Officer I have a different way of calculating blood alcohol percentage
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I had the opportunity to confront Pete Hegseth's bigoted spiritual mentor, Pastor Doug Wilson, and call him out on his history of hate, his misreading of the Bible, his hijacking of Jesus, and his cosplay Crusading. It was worth it.
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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/events/refug...
rsc.ox.ac.uk
Refugee voices in modern global history: reckoning with refugeedom
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Hungary: Orban loses historic election The new Private Eye is out now.
A photo of the front cover of issue 1673 of Private Eye magazine, with the caption “on shelves now.”
The main headline reads “HUNGARY: ORBAN LOSES HISTORIC ELECTION.” The central image shows Viktor Orbán standing on stage alongside JD Vance, both raising their arms in front of a cheering crowd with Hungarian and US flags in the background. A speech bubble reads, “Who says America can’t achieve regime change?”
A strapline at the bottom reads “HUGE TRIUMPH FOR MAGA (SURELY MAGYAR? ED.).”
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Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Today in Russia (so far): ▪️Russian human rights group Memorial designated an "extremist" movement; ▪️FSB says former Russian freelancer for RFE/RL detained, accused of treason; ▪️Masked security officers searching Moscow office of Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
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Helen King @helenking.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
As we mourn the great Averil Cameron, I point you to her autobiographical talk from 2017: on being working class and female in Ancient History wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/05/22/s...
wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk
Starting out in the 1960s, working class and female - WCC-UK
We are delighted that Professor Dame Averil Cameron has shared the text of the keynote speech that she gave at our 2017 AGM with us for publication on the blog. Her experience resonated with many in t...
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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Lovely review of the book in which I had a hand … I hope it will finds its way into university and college libraries 🤞🤞
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Ian Moss @ian.allenmoss.co.uk · 04/04/2026
I think everyone would agree that the police and MPs shouldn’t be shoplifting.
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HumanEuroMed @humaneuromed.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Francesca Rolandi’s article, “Between Blocs: Socialist Yugoslavia as a Pragmatic Player in the International Refugee Regime,” is now available: 👇 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @tandfonline.bsky.social
tandfonline.com
Between Blocs: Socialist Yugoslavia as a Pragmatic Player in the International Refugee Regime
This essay analyses how Yugoslavia’s unique geopolitical position between the blocs, after its 1948 split with Moscow, played out in its refugee policies. First, it investigates the way in which Yu...
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Des @desdelboy.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Tuesday
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Can anyone explain to me what the Blue Labour justification for this is? Who out there will vote Labour because Mahmood prevented a Sudanese Chevening Scholar? And to be honest, why won’t the PM simply overrule her?
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Nobody has ever been so lyrically yet thoroughly excoriated as in this piece. And yet, few people have ever deserved such a complete dismantling as the Prince formerly known as Andrew www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Andrew O’Hagan · Stay Classy: Mummy’s Favourite
The late queen can be held responsible for much, but nobody could accuse her of seeming to enjoy her role. For the...
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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Many thanks for sharing this very gratifying review of our book!
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Yael Schacher @yaelschacher.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
God what a travesty. Such a terrible waste. Ridiculous policy of reassessing refugees. Just let people live in Britain!
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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Goodwin lol more like Matt Badloss
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andyburnham.bsky.social @andyburnham.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
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Max Wilkinson MP @maxwilkinson.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
My response to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Sky News interview 👇
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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
"Eighty-two years after his execution by the Gestapo on June 16, 1944, the Jewish historian and resistance fighter Marc Bloch will be inducted into the Pantheon on June 23... His family requested that 'the far right, in all its forms, be excluded from any participation in the ceremony.'"
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Cambridge University Press @universitypress.cambridge.org · 02/02/2026
Amplifying voices in History and Area Studies with the Cambridge Amplify Fund 📣 “We champion dialogue, welcome diversity of thought, and celebrate representation,” commented Valarie Guagnini, Head of EDIB at Cambridge University Press. Read more about our new grant 🔗 cup.org/4rqznEq
Cambridge University Press books stacked. Text overlay reads: "Amplifying voices: A new grant to help under-represented scholars publish."
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Hidetaka Hirota @hidehirota.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Akira Iriye, one of the pioneers in the internationalization of U.S. history, passed away. RIP. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
asahi.com
Akira Iriye, leading historian of Japan-U.S. relations, dies | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Akira Iriye, a Harvard University professor emeritus and a leading scholar on the history of international relations, died on Jan. 27. He was 91.
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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
More than 200,000 Danish citizens have signed a petition to buy California as a response to Trump’s attempt to take Greenland. They say they will provide Californians with “rule of law, universal health care, fact-based politics, and a lifetime supply of Danish pastries.”
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roy1987.bsky.social @roy1987.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Happy to share my new Past & Present article: “Protecting Soviet Muslims: Muhajir Activism and the Minority Treaties, 1917–1934.” OA: academic.oup.com/past/advance...
academic.oup.com
Protecting Soviet Muslims: Muhajir Activism and the Minority Treaties, 1917–1934∗
Abstract. It is a historiographical convention to view interwar debates over the protection of vulnerable populations through the prism of ‘minority rights
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Toby Young - who now sits as Baron Young of Acton in the House of Lords following his 2024 political peerage from the Conservative Leader of the Opposition - has tweeted bemoaning "handing out honours to a motley crew of woke failures" in policing, the NHS and the National Trust
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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Credit where it’s due - to the anonymous reviewers!
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Peter Gatrell @pwgatrell.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
A great opportunity for researchers writing up a PhD thesis or recently completed in refugee history broadly defined - a friendly and supportive working environment and this year in … Vienna!
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
What an interesting coincidence.
THE amp
OF THe
Saints
109120-2/81 55
"THE CAMP OF THE SAINTS
is one of the most chilling books of this generation."
James J. Kilpatrick, Washington Star
JEAN RASPAIL
TRANSLATED BY NORMAN SHAPIROTrump's stupid FIFA peace participation trophy
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Young Roots @weareyoungroots.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
With your support through The Big Give, every donation is doubled — helping even more young people access friendship, guidance, and community. 🧡 Give today and make twice the impact.
donate.biggive.org
The Power of Youth Work – Big Give
We're raising funds to support young refugees, aged 14-18 yrs who are often dealing with trauma, isolation and a complex …
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Peter Mandler @petermandler.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
'Exiting the market' is such a crap euphemism. It's not like the 'university' will then go and apply all its assets to another market. Those assets (human and non-human) will be dispersed, wasted, destroyed. Un-creative destruction. Which we can't afford as a society.
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Susie Dent @susiedentwords.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’ (19th century): a puppet politician whose strings are pulled entirely by someone else.
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Scott @merseytart.com · 20/11/2025
Ok but this is totally something Charlotte Church would do
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 20/11/2025
"Palestinians experience the displacement of the 2020s genocide not as a singular event, but as part of a repeated cycle." Anne Irfan on the importance of writing Gaza's history.
historyworkshop.org.uk
Writing history in a time of genocide
Anne Irfan asks, what does it mean to write the history of a place as it is being destroyed before our very eyes?
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