Moses Ochunu will discuss his new book, Boko Haram: The Past of the Present Upheaval (University of California Press, 2026).
This talk is in person. No pre-registration is necessary. Lunch will be served at the talk.
"Timbuktu Talks" is an annual lecture series featuring new books and research on Islam in Africa co-organized by ISITA at Northwestern and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Talk description: For many observers, the predation of Boko Haram, unsparing and venal in its manifestation, is shocking, and it seems to lack a local historical frame of reference that would help make it understandable. For others, Boko Haram’s self-declared jihad resonates within a long, local, contested historical memory of religious militancy. This book makes sense of these two seemingly contradictory perceptions. It explains Boko Haram’s simultaneous connection to, and disconnection from, a complex history of religious dissidence and militancy in Northern Nigeria. It also answers the question of where the militants came from, what inspired and motivated them, and whether there is a local history of militant religious rebellion that could both illuminate and challenge Boko Haram’s self-proclaimed jihad. The author analyzes the rise and evolution of the Boko Haram movement within and against the contentious religious pasts of Northern Nigeria.
Dr. Moses E. Ochonu is Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. He specializes in the modern history of Africa, with a focus on the colonial and postcolonial periods. Dr. Ochonu is the author of multiple books, including Colonial Meltdown: Northern Nigeria in the Great Depression (Ohio University Press, 2009); Colonialism by Proxy: Hausa Imperial Agents and Middle Belt Consciousness in Nigeria (Indiana University Press, 2014), which was awarded finalist for the Herskovits Prize in African Studies by the African Studies Association; Africa in Fragments: Essays on Nigeria, Africa, and Global Africanity (New York: Diasporic Africa Press, 2014); and Emirs in London: Subaltern Travel and Nigeria's Modernity (Indiana University Press, 2022).
Rebecca Shereikis
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