The Kenyatta Trial as an International Legal Event: Decolonization, Civil Liberties and a Global History of Rebellious Lawyering

The paper argues that the international legal defense team assembled to defend Jomo Kenyatta during the Mau Mau insurrection was typical of its time, uncovering a hitherto ignored period of legal globalization, by showing how trials understood as “national events” in Asia, Africa and the Carribean were produced by an internationalist culture of civil liberties emerging from decolonization and the Cold War. Following Kenyatta’s lawyers as they move across jurisdictions defending unpopular causes and across time as they cope with the new postcolonial authoritarianisms, this project offers an alternate international history of rights emerging from Asia and Africa.

Note: This is a discussion based workshop of work-in-progress with the expectation that those attending have read the workshop materials. Please contact Jacquelyn E. Burt at ruppx077@umn.edu for a copy of the materials.