Where is the Seeker Who Searches for Another? Decolonial Approaches to Digital Public History

Abstract

This article delves into the role of public history within the context of suppressed and erased colonial pasts, underscoring the importance of individuals in actively shaping, uncovering, documenting and disseminating history. The period from the late 1940s–1960s marked a pivotal transition for the British Empire, as numerous colonies gained independence. This shift in sovereignty from colonial rule to sovereign nations unveiled deep apprehensions regarding the potential use of Britain’s historical actions and documents by newly independent governments. Operation Legacy was a clandestine initiative by British colonial authorities to destroy or hide records that could tarnish the British government’s image or compromise secret intelligence. The ethical ramifications of this operation, and its impact on the construction of memory and knowledge, remain a contentious issue for many in former colonies who are still striving to piece together their colonial history and seek justice for past wrongs. By highlighting the experience, methodologies and challenges of the Museum of British Colonialism collective, the article explores what a framework for decolonial public history may look like in a digital age. Decolonial public history requires negotiations that are continuously shaped by interrogating multiple sources, employing multiple mediums, engaging diverse audiences, and constantly reflecting and refining one’s own process and methodology. Inspired by Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s influential work Devil on the Cross, which portrays resistance to colonialism as a communal and interconnected endeavor, the article reflects on the character Wariinga’s query: “Where is the seeker who searches for another?” It concludes with thoughts on how digital public history can achieve decolonial significance and effectiveness, not merely through technological means, but by centering human connections and extensively building communities of practice across multiple frontiers.