Henrice Altink
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620009
- eISBN:
- 9781789623697
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620009.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Informed by Critical Race Theory and based on a wide range of sources, including official sources, memoirs, and semi-autobiographical fiction, this book examines multiple forms of racial ...
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Informed by Critical Race Theory and based on a wide range of sources, including official sources, memoirs, and semi-autobiographical fiction, this book examines multiple forms of racial discrimination in Jamaica and how they were talked about and experienced from the end of the First World War until the demise of democratic socialism in the 1980. Case studies on, amongst others, the labour market, education, the family and legal system will demonstrate the extent to which race and colour shaped social relations in the island in the decades preceding and following independence and convey that racial discrimination was a public secret – everybody knew it took place but few dared to openly discuss or criticise it. The book ends with an examination of race and colour in contemporary Jamaica to show that after independence race and colour have lost little of their power and offers suggestions to overcome the silence on race to facilitate equality of opportunity for all.Less
Informed by Critical Race Theory and based on a wide range of sources, including official sources, memoirs, and semi-autobiographical fiction, this book examines multiple forms of racial discrimination in Jamaica and how they were talked about and experienced from the end of the First World War until the demise of democratic socialism in the 1980. Case studies on, amongst others, the labour market, education, the family and legal system will demonstrate the extent to which race and colour shaped social relations in the island in the decades preceding and following independence and convey that racial discrimination was a public secret – everybody knew it took place but few dared to openly discuss or criticise it. The book ends with an examination of race and colour in contemporary Jamaica to show that after independence race and colour have lost little of their power and offers suggestions to overcome the silence on race to facilitate equality of opportunity for all.
John MacKenzie and Bryan S. Glass (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096174
- eISBN:
- 9781781708736
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096174.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This book represents one of the first attempts to examine the connections between Scotland and the British Empire throughout the twentieth century. As the century dawned the Scottish economy was ...
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This book represents one of the first attempts to examine the connections between Scotland and the British Empire throughout the twentieth century. As the century dawned the Scottish economy was strongly linked with the imperial, but by the end its economy, its politics and its society had been through major upheavals, which many connected with decolonisation. In the post-Second World War era, the speed of economic and social change accelerated. The press reflected interest in the Scottish military and the campaigns of decolonisation. Migratory activity moved into its final phase and Scottish imperial identities were modified at home and in the empire. Evaluations of Scottish heroic figures were transformed and Scottish politics moved into a new phase. The chapters, written by a group of distinguished scholars represent ground-breaking research on Scotland’s complex relationship with the British Empire. An introduction offers a significant historiographical statements on Scotland and empire in the tumultuous years of the twentieth century.Less
This book represents one of the first attempts to examine the connections between Scotland and the British Empire throughout the twentieth century. As the century dawned the Scottish economy was strongly linked with the imperial, but by the end its economy, its politics and its society had been through major upheavals, which many connected with decolonisation. In the post-Second World War era, the speed of economic and social change accelerated. The press reflected interest in the Scottish military and the campaigns of decolonisation. Migratory activity moved into its final phase and Scottish imperial identities were modified at home and in the empire. Evaluations of Scottish heroic figures were transformed and Scottish politics moved into a new phase. The chapters, written by a group of distinguished scholars represent ground-breaking research on Scotland’s complex relationship with the British Empire. An introduction offers a significant historiographical statements on Scotland and empire in the tumultuous years of the twentieth century.
Ruth Craggs and Claire Wintle (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
What were the distinctive cultures of decolonisation that emerged in the years between 1945 and 1970, and what can they uncover about the complexities of the ‘end of empire’ as a process? Cultures of ...
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What were the distinctive cultures of decolonisation that emerged in the years between 1945 and 1970, and what can they uncover about the complexities of the ‘end of empire’ as a process? Cultures of Decolonisation brings together visual, literary and material cultures within one volume in order to explore this question. The volume reveals the diverse ways in which cultures were active in wider political, economic and social change, working as crucial gauges, microcosms, and agents of decolonisation. Individual chapters focus on architecture, theatre, museums, heritage sites, fine art, and interior design alongside institutions such as artists’ groups, language agencies and the Royal Mint in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives, these contributions offer revealing case studies for those researching decolonisation at all levels across the humanities and social sciences. The collection demonstrates the transnational character of cultures of decolonisation (and of decolonisation itself), and illustrates the value of comparison – between different sorts of cultural forms and different places – in understanding the nature of this dramatic and wide-reaching geopolitical change. Cultures of Decolonisation illustrates the value of engaging with the complexities of decolonisation as enacted and experienced by a broad range of actors beyond ‘flag independence’ and the realm of high politics. In the process it makes an important contribution to the theoretical, methodological and empirical diversification of the historiography of the end of empire.Less
What were the distinctive cultures of decolonisation that emerged in the years between 1945 and 1970, and what can they uncover about the complexities of the ‘end of empire’ as a process? Cultures of Decolonisation brings together visual, literary and material cultures within one volume in order to explore this question. The volume reveals the diverse ways in which cultures were active in wider political, economic and social change, working as crucial gauges, microcosms, and agents of decolonisation. Individual chapters focus on architecture, theatre, museums, heritage sites, fine art, and interior design alongside institutions such as artists’ groups, language agencies and the Royal Mint in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Europe. Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives, these contributions offer revealing case studies for those researching decolonisation at all levels across the humanities and social sciences. The collection demonstrates the transnational character of cultures of decolonisation (and of decolonisation itself), and illustrates the value of comparison – between different sorts of cultural forms and different places – in understanding the nature of this dramatic and wide-reaching geopolitical change. Cultures of Decolonisation illustrates the value of engaging with the complexities of decolonisation as enacted and experienced by a broad range of actors beyond ‘flag independence’ and the realm of high politics. In the process it makes an important contribution to the theoretical, methodological and empirical diversification of the historiography of the end of empire.
Shohei Sato
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719099687
- eISBN:
- 9781526109781
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719099687.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This book is about the end of the British Empire in the Middle East. It offers new insights into how the relationship between Britain and the Gulf rulers that was nurtured at the height of the ...
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This book is about the end of the British Empire in the Middle East. It offers new insights into how the relationship between Britain and the Gulf rulers that was nurtured at the height of the British Empire affected the structure of international society as it remains in place today. Over the last four decades, the Persian Gulf region has gone through oil shocks, wars and political changes; however, the basic entities of the southern Gulf states have remained largely in place. How did this resilient system come about for such seemingly contested societies? The eventual emergence of the smaller but prosperous members such as Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates was not at all evident until 1971. Until then, nine separate states had stood in parallel to each other under British influence. At various points, plans were discussed to amalgamate the nine into one, two, three or even four separate entities. What, then, drove the formation of the three new states we see today? Drawing on extensive multi-archival research in the British, American and Gulf archives, this book illuminates a series of negotiations between British diplomats and the Gulf rulers that inadvertently led the three states to take their current shape. The story addresses the crucial issue of self-determination versus ‘better together’, a dilemma pertinent not only to students and scholars of the British Empire or the Middle East but also to those interested in the transformation of the modern world more broadly.Less
This book is about the end of the British Empire in the Middle East. It offers new insights into how the relationship between Britain and the Gulf rulers that was nurtured at the height of the British Empire affected the structure of international society as it remains in place today. Over the last four decades, the Persian Gulf region has gone through oil shocks, wars and political changes; however, the basic entities of the southern Gulf states have remained largely in place. How did this resilient system come about for such seemingly contested societies? The eventual emergence of the smaller but prosperous members such as Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates was not at all evident until 1971. Until then, nine separate states had stood in parallel to each other under British influence. At various points, plans were discussed to amalgamate the nine into one, two, three or even four separate entities. What, then, drove the formation of the three new states we see today? Drawing on extensive multi-archival research in the British, American and Gulf archives, this book illuminates a series of negotiations between British diplomats and the Gulf rulers that inadvertently led the three states to take their current shape. The story addresses the crucial issue of self-determination versus ‘better together’, a dilemma pertinent not only to students and scholars of the British Empire or the Middle East but also to those interested in the transformation of the modern world more broadly.
Kevin O'Sullivan
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780719086021
- eISBN:
- 9781781704905
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719086021.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
In the twenty years after Ireland joined the UN in 1955, one subject dominated its fortunes: Africa. The first detailed study of Ireland's relationship with that continent, this book documents its ...
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In the twenty years after Ireland joined the UN in 1955, one subject dominated its fortunes: Africa. The first detailed study of Ireland's relationship with that continent, this book documents its special place in Irish history. It describes the missionaries, aid workers, diplomats, peacekeepers, and anti-apartheid protesters at the heart of Irish popular understanding of the developing world. It chronicles Africa's influence on Irish foreign policy, from decolonisation and the end of empire, to apartheid and the rise of foreign aid. Adopting a fresh, and strongly comparative approach, this book shows how small and middling powers like Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and the Nordic states used Africa to shape their position in the international system, and how their influence waned with the rise of the Afro-Asian bloc. O’Sullivan details the link between African decolonisation and Ireland's self-defined post-colonial identity: at the UN, in the Congo, South Africa, Rhodesia, and Biafra – even in remote mission stations in rural Africa. When growing African radicalism made that role difficult to sustain, this book describes how missionaries, NGOs, and anti-apartheid campaigners helped to re-invent the Irish government's position, to become the ‘moral conscience’ of the EC. Offering a fascinating account of small state diplomacy and identity in a vital period for the Cold War, and a unique perspective on African decolonisation, this book provides essential insight for scholars of Irish history, African history, international relations, and the history of NGOs, as well as anyone interested in why Africa holds such an important place in the Irish public imagination.Less
In the twenty years after Ireland joined the UN in 1955, one subject dominated its fortunes: Africa. The first detailed study of Ireland's relationship with that continent, this book documents its special place in Irish history. It describes the missionaries, aid workers, diplomats, peacekeepers, and anti-apartheid protesters at the heart of Irish popular understanding of the developing world. It chronicles Africa's influence on Irish foreign policy, from decolonisation and the end of empire, to apartheid and the rise of foreign aid. Adopting a fresh, and strongly comparative approach, this book shows how small and middling powers like Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and the Nordic states used Africa to shape their position in the international system, and how their influence waned with the rise of the Afro-Asian bloc. O’Sullivan details the link between African decolonisation and Ireland's self-defined post-colonial identity: at the UN, in the Congo, South Africa, Rhodesia, and Biafra – even in remote mission stations in rural Africa. When growing African radicalism made that role difficult to sustain, this book describes how missionaries, NGOs, and anti-apartheid campaigners helped to re-invent the Irish government's position, to become the ‘moral conscience’ of the EC. Offering a fascinating account of small state diplomacy and identity in a vital period for the Cold War, and a unique perspective on African decolonisation, this book provides essential insight for scholars of Irish history, African history, international relations, and the history of NGOs, as well as anyone interested in why Africa holds such an important place in the Irish public imagination.
Natalya Vince
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719091070
- eISBN:
- 9781781708675
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719091070.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
Between 1954 and 1962, Algerian women played a major role in the struggle to end French rule in one of the most violent wars of decolonisation of the twentieth century. Our Fighting Sisters is the ...
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Between 1954 and 1962, Algerian women played a major role in the struggle to end French rule in one of the most violent wars of decolonisation of the twentieth century. Our Fighting Sisters is the first in-depth exploration of what happened to these women after independence in 1962. Based on new oral history interviews with women who participated in the war in a wide range of roles, from members of the Algiers urban bomb network to women who supported the rural guerrilla, the book explores how female veterans viewed the post-independence state and its multiple discourses on ‘the Algerian woman’ in the fifty years following 1962, from the euphoria of national liberation to the civil violence of the 1990s. It also examines the ways in which these former combatants’ memories of the anti-colonial conflict intertwine with, contradict or coexist alongside the state-sponsored narrative of the war constructed after independence. Part of an emerging field of works seeking to write the post-independence history of Algeria, this book aims to go beyond reading Algeria through the lens of post-colonial trauma or through a series of politicised dichotomies pitching oppressed citizen against oppressive state, official commemoration verses vernacular memory or contrasting narratives of post-independence decline with post-colonial success stories. Instead, this book is about the contradictions and compromises of state-building and nation-building after decolonisation. Its wider conclusions contribute to debates about gender, nationalism and memory.Less
Between 1954 and 1962, Algerian women played a major role in the struggle to end French rule in one of the most violent wars of decolonisation of the twentieth century. Our Fighting Sisters is the first in-depth exploration of what happened to these women after independence in 1962. Based on new oral history interviews with women who participated in the war in a wide range of roles, from members of the Algiers urban bomb network to women who supported the rural guerrilla, the book explores how female veterans viewed the post-independence state and its multiple discourses on ‘the Algerian woman’ in the fifty years following 1962, from the euphoria of national liberation to the civil violence of the 1990s. It also examines the ways in which these former combatants’ memories of the anti-colonial conflict intertwine with, contradict or coexist alongside the state-sponsored narrative of the war constructed after independence. Part of an emerging field of works seeking to write the post-independence history of Algeria, this book aims to go beyond reading Algeria through the lens of post-colonial trauma or through a series of politicised dichotomies pitching oppressed citizen against oppressive state, official commemoration verses vernacular memory or contrasting narratives of post-independence decline with post-colonial success stories. Instead, this book is about the contradictions and compromises of state-building and nation-building after decolonisation. Its wider conclusions contribute to debates about gender, nationalism and memory.
Bill Schwarz
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
The chapter explores how Richard Wright, the great American author and black radical, in his concern with the dynamics of European decolonisation, envisaged the effects of the end of British rule ...
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The chapter explores how Richard Wright, the great American author and black radical, in his concern with the dynamics of European decolonisation, envisaged the effects of the end of British rule overseas. This brings to light some of the connections between British decolonisation and US Civil Rights. In order to do this I explain the centrality of black Paris to the making of Wright, and the influence of a generation of Caribbean intellectuals on his life, literature and politics. The chapter closes with a discussion of Wright’s reading of Nkrumah’s Gold Coast Revolution. This story highlights the transnational nature of decolonisation, as well as its intersections with Cold War politics.Less
The chapter explores how Richard Wright, the great American author and black radical, in his concern with the dynamics of European decolonisation, envisaged the effects of the end of British rule overseas. This brings to light some of the connections between British decolonisation and US Civil Rights. In order to do this I explain the centrality of black Paris to the making of Wright, and the influence of a generation of Caribbean intellectuals on his life, literature and politics. The chapter closes with a discussion of Wright’s reading of Nkrumah’s Gold Coast Revolution. This story highlights the transnational nature of decolonisation, as well as its intersections with Cold War politics.
Damian Skinner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
In 1961 Māori artist Ralph Hotere moved to London to study at the Central School of Art, subsequently settling in Vence, France, before he returned to New Zealand in 1964. He became part of a ...
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In 1961 Māori artist Ralph Hotere moved to London to study at the Central School of Art, subsequently settling in Vence, France, before he returned to New Zealand in 1964. He became part of a cultural moment that has been called ‘New Commonwealth Internationalism’, in which artists from British ex-colonies, fed by an anti-colonial awareness and an alliance to the processes of decolonisation happening internationally, reinserted the human condition into formalist modernism. Hotere’s paintings from this period make reference to the anti-colonial struggle in Algeria, and the human rights movement, along with other forms of 1960s protest. Applying the term ‘decolonisation’ to Hotere’s fine art illustrates the possibilities of indigenous modernism – and of creativity more broadly – as a decolonising process, while highlighting the need to understand decolonisation through a transnational lens. By articulating Hotere’s investment in the project shared by many native artists who went to London after the Second World War and revitalised late modernism with the issues of anti-colonial struggle, and in identifying how this was not necessarily shared by settler artists from New Zealand who followed the same trajectory, the different projects of decolonisation caught up in the moment of New Commonwealth Internationalism are made visible.Less
In 1961 Māori artist Ralph Hotere moved to London to study at the Central School of Art, subsequently settling in Vence, France, before he returned to New Zealand in 1964. He became part of a cultural moment that has been called ‘New Commonwealth Internationalism’, in which artists from British ex-colonies, fed by an anti-colonial awareness and an alliance to the processes of decolonisation happening internationally, reinserted the human condition into formalist modernism. Hotere’s paintings from this period make reference to the anti-colonial struggle in Algeria, and the human rights movement, along with other forms of 1960s protest. Applying the term ‘decolonisation’ to Hotere’s fine art illustrates the possibilities of indigenous modernism – and of creativity more broadly – as a decolonising process, while highlighting the need to understand decolonisation through a transnational lens. By articulating Hotere’s investment in the project shared by many native artists who went to London after the Second World War and revitalised late modernism with the issues of anti-colonial struggle, and in identifying how this was not necessarily shared by settler artists from New Zealand who followed the same trajectory, the different projects of decolonisation caught up in the moment of New Commonwealth Internationalism are made visible.
Rob Waters
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
The rise of Black Power in the black Atlantic world of the late 1960s transformed the cultural politics of decolonisation in Britain and the Caribbean. In the injunction to ‘think black’ was a demand ...
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The rise of Black Power in the black Atlantic world of the late 1960s transformed the cultural politics of decolonisation in Britain and the Caribbean. In the injunction to ‘think black’ was a demand to re-orientate and to understand differently the social relations of artistic production in a decolonising culture. The legacy of this period still partly determines the parameters of postcolonial and black cultural studies today. This chapter explores this transition through the Caribbean Artists Movement, an artists’ group whose existence spanned the rupture between this secondary politics of decolonisation and early anti-colonial artistic practices.Less
The rise of Black Power in the black Atlantic world of the late 1960s transformed the cultural politics of decolonisation in Britain and the Caribbean. In the injunction to ‘think black’ was a demand to re-orientate and to understand differently the social relations of artistic production in a decolonising culture. The legacy of this period still partly determines the parameters of postcolonial and black cultural studies today. This chapter explores this transition through the Caribbean Artists Movement, an artists’ group whose existence spanned the rupture between this secondary politics of decolonisation and early anti-colonial artistic practices.
David C. Wall
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
In a post-war world of austerity and privation, visions of plenty often held out the possibility of liberation and regeneration. But those visions just as frequently codified “plenty” as something to ...
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In a post-war world of austerity and privation, visions of plenty often held out the possibility of liberation and regeneration. But those visions just as frequently codified “plenty” as something to be mistrusted, if not gravely threatening. Sharing a deep ambivalence over the abundance they depict, artitsts John Bratby and Richard Hamilton, and film makers Brian Desmond Hurst and Basil Dearden, all employ an “aesthetics of plenty” that both contests and contains competing post-war impulses of desire and denial. Further, they each locate the body as the critical site for the playing out of ubiquitous anxieties of race, gender, nationhood and decolonisation. Their shared visions of abundance simultaneously invoke a desirous world of plenty in the most unsettling and ambivalent terms. Bratby’s painting Jean and Still Life in Front of Window (1954), Hamilton’s collage Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956), and the feature films Simba (Brian Desmond Hurst 1956) and Sapphire (Basil Dearden 1959) each offer competing and complementary points of rupture where the discourses of empire, race, class, the body, and the nation all meet as images of compelling abundance become images of troubling abandon.Less
In a post-war world of austerity and privation, visions of plenty often held out the possibility of liberation and regeneration. But those visions just as frequently codified “plenty” as something to be mistrusted, if not gravely threatening. Sharing a deep ambivalence over the abundance they depict, artitsts John Bratby and Richard Hamilton, and film makers Brian Desmond Hurst and Basil Dearden, all employ an “aesthetics of plenty” that both contests and contains competing post-war impulses of desire and denial. Further, they each locate the body as the critical site for the playing out of ubiquitous anxieties of race, gender, nationhood and decolonisation. Their shared visions of abundance simultaneously invoke a desirous world of plenty in the most unsettling and ambivalent terms. Bratby’s painting Jean and Still Life in Front of Window (1954), Hamilton’s collage Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956), and the feature films Simba (Brian Desmond Hurst 1956) and Sapphire (Basil Dearden 1959) each offer competing and complementary points of rupture where the discourses of empire, race, class, the body, and the nation all meet as images of compelling abundance become images of troubling abandon.
Abin Chakraborty
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
The process of decolonisation refers to both struggles against colonial authorities and those against local elites who acquired and abused power after independence. Such struggles often sought ...
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The process of decolonisation refers to both struggles against colonial authorities and those against local elites who acquired and abused power after independence. Such struggles often sought inspiration through transnational networks, as illustrated by the global resonance of the nationalist independence struggle in Vietnam since 1945, against French and American domination. This chapter focuses on Indian movements in support of Vietnam which began in Bengal even before the independence of India. Such processes intensified after independence as leftist politics in Bengal merged Vietnamese struggles with the idiom of the local agrarian struggles that operated as the fulcrum of leftist politics. Utpal Dutt’s Invincible Vietnam (1966) was not only a product of these political and cultural processes but also contributed to them. The play was part of Dutt’s programme of ‘revolutionary theatre’, designed to revive the native traditions of militant struggle through the creation of a transnational idiom of national and international revolutionary struggles. This chapter focuses on Invincible Vietnam within this context, and locates this as part of Dutt’s larger project of staging the subaltern, especially since his plays were performed in front of hundreds of peasants and workers.Less
The process of decolonisation refers to both struggles against colonial authorities and those against local elites who acquired and abused power after independence. Such struggles often sought inspiration through transnational networks, as illustrated by the global resonance of the nationalist independence struggle in Vietnam since 1945, against French and American domination. This chapter focuses on Indian movements in support of Vietnam which began in Bengal even before the independence of India. Such processes intensified after independence as leftist politics in Bengal merged Vietnamese struggles with the idiom of the local agrarian struggles that operated as the fulcrum of leftist politics. Utpal Dutt’s Invincible Vietnam (1966) was not only a product of these political and cultural processes but also contributed to them. The play was part of Dutt’s programme of ‘revolutionary theatre’, designed to revive the native traditions of militant struggle through the creation of a transnational idiom of national and international revolutionary struggles. This chapter focuses on Invincible Vietnam within this context, and locates this as part of Dutt’s larger project of staging the subaltern, especially since his plays were performed in front of hundreds of peasants and workers.
Michael Falser
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
The topos of inheriting the built legacy of the temples of Angkor (9th to 13th centuries CE) had been a vital element of the French-colonial civilizing mission in Cambodia from 1863 onwards. Yet this ...
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The topos of inheriting the built legacy of the temples of Angkor (9th to 13th centuries CE) had been a vital element of the French-colonial civilizing mission in Cambodia from 1863 onwards. Yet this claim on ‘cultural heritage’ (or cultural inheritance) was subject to a novel ideological twist when Cambodia became independent in 1953. The classic ‘salvage paradigm’ once practiced by the European colonial power was now appropriated by the newly independent, quasi-‘Neo-Angkorian’ nation state (1954–1970). In this chapter, three different scenarios of this process are discussed: first, the reinvention (as continuation) of the genealogical and religious tradition of the ancient Khmer kings as central element of a new Buddhist socialism of the Non-Aligned country of Cambodia; second, the revival of the grandeur of the built Angkorian antiquity in a modern-day architectural interpretation in vast building programmes for the new-old capital of Phnom Penh and the provinces under state architect Vann Molyvann; and third, the staging of various cultural performances and re-enactments è la Angkorienne within Sihanouk’s strategies of cultural diplomacy, both inside Cambodia with sound-and-light shows inside the Archaeological Park of Angkor, and around the globe through the king’s private Royal Khmer Ballet.Less
The topos of inheriting the built legacy of the temples of Angkor (9th to 13th centuries CE) had been a vital element of the French-colonial civilizing mission in Cambodia from 1863 onwards. Yet this claim on ‘cultural heritage’ (or cultural inheritance) was subject to a novel ideological twist when Cambodia became independent in 1953. The classic ‘salvage paradigm’ once practiced by the European colonial power was now appropriated by the newly independent, quasi-‘Neo-Angkorian’ nation state (1954–1970). In this chapter, three different scenarios of this process are discussed: first, the reinvention (as continuation) of the genealogical and religious tradition of the ancient Khmer kings as central element of a new Buddhist socialism of the Non-Aligned country of Cambodia; second, the revival of the grandeur of the built Angkorian antiquity in a modern-day architectural interpretation in vast building programmes for the new-old capital of Phnom Penh and the provinces under state architect Vann Molyvann; and third, the staging of various cultural performances and re-enactments è la Angkorienne within Sihanouk’s strategies of cultural diplomacy, both inside Cambodia with sound-and-light shows inside the Archaeological Park of Angkor, and around the globe through the king’s private Royal Khmer Ballet.
Jean Smith
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
Focusing on the national museums of Ghana and Mali, this chapter examines the ways in which cultural heritage was dealt with in these institutions, alongside the modernisation projects of these ...
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Focusing on the national museums of Ghana and Mali, this chapter examines the ways in which cultural heritage was dealt with in these institutions, alongside the modernisation projects of these emerging nation states. The National Museum of Ghana occupied a complex conceptual space in the years preceding and following independence. By displaying material culture from across the nation, the museum participated in Ghana’s ongoing nation building. However, it also had a duty to avoid presenting the diversity of cultures in a divisive way to accord with Nkrumahist efforts to promote national unity as well as Pan-Africanism. In contrast, The National Museum of Mali suffered during the decolonisation era and was not recognised as a public space for displaying cultural heritage. For young Malians, the processes of transmitting cultural values from the state to the citizens were more successfully achieved by the hugely popular annual events (les semaines de la jeunesse) launched by the ‘pioneers’ in 1960 than by their own museums.Less
Focusing on the national museums of Ghana and Mali, this chapter examines the ways in which cultural heritage was dealt with in these institutions, alongside the modernisation projects of these emerging nation states. The National Museum of Ghana occupied a complex conceptual space in the years preceding and following independence. By displaying material culture from across the nation, the museum participated in Ghana’s ongoing nation building. However, it also had a duty to avoid presenting the diversity of cultures in a divisive way to accord with Nkrumahist efforts to promote national unity as well as Pan-Africanism. In contrast, The National Museum of Mali suffered during the decolonisation era and was not recognised as a public space for displaying cultural heritage. For young Malians, the processes of transmitting cultural values from the state to the citizens were more successfully achieved by the hugely popular annual events (les semaines de la jeunesse) launched by the ‘pioneers’ in 1960 than by their own museums.
Sophie Mew
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter uses the oral history narratives of six post-war British migrants to southern Africa to analyse the impact of decolonisation on individuals. With attention to performances of identity ...
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This chapter uses the oral history narratives of six post-war British migrants to southern Africa to analyse the impact of decolonisation on individuals. With attention to performances of identity such as accent, interior design and leisure, it traces shifts in the ways these migrants positioned themselves and made sense of political changes such as the 1961 South African declaration of Republic, the 1965 Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence and the onset of majority rule in Zimbabwe in 1980 and South Africa in 1994. Nostalgia, especially for the southern African landscape and wildlife, was a common theme in these accounts, one that provided a way to discuss the loss of settler cultures without reference to race or politics. The chapter highlights the dislocation experienced by these migrants as a result of decolonisation, and demonstrates the value of oral history evidence to understanding the distinct cultures of decolonisation.Less
This chapter uses the oral history narratives of six post-war British migrants to southern Africa to analyse the impact of decolonisation on individuals. With attention to performances of identity such as accent, interior design and leisure, it traces shifts in the ways these migrants positioned themselves and made sense of political changes such as the 1961 South African declaration of Republic, the 1965 Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence and the onset of majority rule in Zimbabwe in 1980 and South Africa in 1994. Nostalgia, especially for the southern African landscape and wildlife, was a common theme in these accounts, one that provided a way to discuss the loss of settler cultures without reference to race or politics. The chapter highlights the dislocation experienced by these migrants as a result of decolonisation, and demonstrates the value of oral history evidence to understanding the distinct cultures of decolonisation.
Viviana d’Auria
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
With a focus on ‘practised architecture’, this chapter contests the understanding of physical things as mere mirrors of social norms and economic interests, stretching the analysis of decolonisation ...
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With a focus on ‘practised architecture’, this chapter contests the understanding of physical things as mere mirrors of social norms and economic interests, stretching the analysis of decolonisation beyond political and economic narratives. The Volta River Project, a river basin development scheme conceived in late colonial Africa and vigorously re-cast as a postcolonial symbol, offers ideal terrain to expose conflicting ideas of decolonisation as they were enacted during and after Ghana’s lengthy ‘transitional’ phase. It presents the work of different architectural practices involved in the design of new industrial towns and resettlement villages, exposing their conflicting ideas about the temporalities and spatialities of decolonisation. Their overlap presents decolonisation’s increasingly transcultural and transnational nature, as it became more than a unilateral relationship between empire and colony. As former colonial influences began to fade away, architects re-imagined urban models, using the occasion to invest design with ideals of liberation, but also remained tied to evolutionary biases. Attempts at decolonising Ghana’s built and cultural environment also illustrate the tension between market-oriented self-help housing and the extension of government-led developmentalism, a tension which illustrates decolonisation’s major paradoxes, caught between nation-building and (critical) internationalism.Less
With a focus on ‘practised architecture’, this chapter contests the understanding of physical things as mere mirrors of social norms and economic interests, stretching the analysis of decolonisation beyond political and economic narratives. The Volta River Project, a river basin development scheme conceived in late colonial Africa and vigorously re-cast as a postcolonial symbol, offers ideal terrain to expose conflicting ideas of decolonisation as they were enacted during and after Ghana’s lengthy ‘transitional’ phase. It presents the work of different architectural practices involved in the design of new industrial towns and resettlement villages, exposing their conflicting ideas about the temporalities and spatialities of decolonisation. Their overlap presents decolonisation’s increasingly transcultural and transnational nature, as it became more than a unilateral relationship between empire and colony. As former colonial influences began to fade away, architects re-imagined urban models, using the occasion to invest design with ideals of liberation, but also remained tied to evolutionary biases. Attempts at decolonising Ghana’s built and cultural environment also illustrate the tension between market-oriented self-help housing and the extension of government-led developmentalism, a tension which illustrates decolonisation’s major paradoxes, caught between nation-building and (critical) internationalism.
Catherine Eagleton
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
Designs on currency are often seen as markers of political change, with the change in images at independence seen as a visual representation of the new nation. However, most studies have explored ...
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Designs on currency are often seen as markers of political change, with the change in images at independence seen as a visual representation of the new nation. However, most studies have explored these issues in only one country, and focussed on the relationship between the new nation and its former colonial power. Here a comparative approach is taken, examining the design of coins for newly-independent Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to uncover the regional, as well as the domestic, international and transnational, dimensions of this change. Examining the process of designing and producing coins for these African countries, and the individuals and organisations (including the Bank of England and the Royal Mint) involved, shows that coin design and production changed only gradually during the period of decolonisation. It also demonstrates that the various political and commercial interests of the individuals and organisations involved affected the choices made about what images appeared on coins after independence. The chapter concludes by briefly considering the legacy of these debates in contemporary decisions about the designs for African currencies.Less
Designs on currency are often seen as markers of political change, with the change in images at independence seen as a visual representation of the new nation. However, most studies have explored these issues in only one country, and focussed on the relationship between the new nation and its former colonial power. Here a comparative approach is taken, examining the design of coins for newly-independent Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to uncover the regional, as well as the domestic, international and transnational, dimensions of this change. Examining the process of designing and producing coins for these African countries, and the individuals and organisations (including the Bank of England and the Royal Mint) involved, shows that coin design and production changed only gradually during the period of decolonisation. It also demonstrates that the various political and commercial interests of the individuals and organisations involved affected the choices made about what images appeared on coins after independence. The chapter concludes by briefly considering the legacy of these debates in contemporary decisions about the designs for African currencies.
Rachel Leow
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This essay argues that an examination of the cultural effects of decolonisation can yield a clearer appreciation of the combined role of both coloniser and colonised in the making of the postcolonial ...
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This essay argues that an examination of the cultural effects of decolonisation can yield a clearer appreciation of the combined role of both coloniser and colonised in the making of the postcolonial order. Taking an approach informed by Michel Foucault, Jean-François Bayart and Romain Bertrand, it shows that the ethnic tensions which erupted over questions of national language planning, multilingualism, and culture in postcolonial Malaya, and persist through to the present, cannot be explained away as a simple “colonial legacy” inflicted by British divide-and-rule policies. They must also be recognised as the result of a particular hegemonic configuration, produced and maintained through the agency of postcolonial subjects themselves.Less
This essay argues that an examination of the cultural effects of decolonisation can yield a clearer appreciation of the combined role of both coloniser and colonised in the making of the postcolonial order. Taking an approach informed by Michel Foucault, Jean-François Bayart and Romain Bertrand, it shows that the ethnic tensions which erupted over questions of national language planning, multilingualism, and culture in postcolonial Malaya, and persist through to the present, cannot be explained away as a simple “colonial legacy” inflicted by British divide-and-rule policies. They must also be recognised as the result of a particular hegemonic configuration, produced and maintained through the agency of postcolonial subjects themselves.
Ruth Craggs and Claire Wintle
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter sets out the key arguments of Cultures of Decolonisation. It begins by exploring the existing historiography of decolonisation, before explaining the value of the interdisciplinary and ...
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This chapter sets out the key arguments of Cultures of Decolonisation. It begins by exploring the existing historiography of decolonisation, before explaining the value of the interdisciplinary and transnational approach taken in the volume. It then delineates the authors’ approach to reframing the role of culture in decolonisation, highlighting three main arguments and strands of investigation. First, a claim is made for the agency of culture in a process more often understood through a political-economic lens; second, the value of focusing on the role of cultural institutions in decolonisation is emphasised; and third, the chapter contends that it is crucial to recognise the transnational and comparative character of cultures of decolonisation (and of decolonisation itself).Less
This chapter sets out the key arguments of Cultures of Decolonisation. It begins by exploring the existing historiography of decolonisation, before explaining the value of the interdisciplinary and transnational approach taken in the volume. It then delineates the authors’ approach to reframing the role of culture in decolonisation, highlighting three main arguments and strands of investigation. First, a claim is made for the agency of culture in a process more often understood through a political-economic lens; second, the value of focusing on the role of cultural institutions in decolonisation is emphasised; and third, the chapter contends that it is crucial to recognise the transnational and comparative character of cultures of decolonisation (and of decolonisation itself).
Jane Hiddleston
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781380321
- eISBN:
- 9781781381533
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781380321.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This book analyses the work of six francophone intellectuals writing in the lead-up to the decolonisation of many of France's colonies in the 1950s and 60s. While figures such as Senghor, Césaire, ...
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This book analyses the work of six francophone intellectuals writing in the lead-up to the decolonisation of many of France's colonies in the 1950s and 60s. While figures such as Senghor, Césaire, Fanon, Amrouche, Feraoun and Kateb were all educated, indeed immersed, in French culture and language, they intervened in political debates surrounding decolonisation and sought to contribute to the reinvention of local cultures in a gesture of resistance to the ongoing French presence. Despite their pivotal role during this period of upheaval, however, their project was fraught with tensions that form the focus of this study. In particular, these writers reflect on the relation between universalism and particularism in intellectual work, and struggle to avoid the traps associated with an over-investment in either perspective. They also all learn from metropolitan French humanist thought but strive continually to reinvent that humanism so as to account for colonised experience and culture. Finally, their work readdresses the ongoing question of the relation between literature or culture and politics, and testifies to a moment of intense dialogue, and potential conflict, between contrasting but complementary spheres of activity.Less
This book analyses the work of six francophone intellectuals writing in the lead-up to the decolonisation of many of France's colonies in the 1950s and 60s. While figures such as Senghor, Césaire, Fanon, Amrouche, Feraoun and Kateb were all educated, indeed immersed, in French culture and language, they intervened in political debates surrounding decolonisation and sought to contribute to the reinvention of local cultures in a gesture of resistance to the ongoing French presence. Despite their pivotal role during this period of upheaval, however, their project was fraught with tensions that form the focus of this study. In particular, these writers reflect on the relation between universalism and particularism in intellectual work, and struggle to avoid the traps associated with an over-investment in either perspective. They also all learn from metropolitan French humanist thought but strive continually to reinvent that humanism so as to account for colonised experience and culture. Finally, their work readdresses the ongoing question of the relation between literature or culture and politics, and testifies to a moment of intense dialogue, and potential conflict, between contrasting but complementary spheres of activity.
Aaron Edwards
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780719084416
- eISBN:
- 9781781704738
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719084416.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Britain is often revered for its extensive experience of waging ‘small wars’. Its long imperial history is littered with high profile counter-insurgency campaigns, thus marking it out as the world's ...
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Britain is often revered for its extensive experience of waging ‘small wars’. Its long imperial history is littered with high profile counter-insurgency campaigns, thus marking it out as the world's most seasoned practitioners of this type of warfare. Britain's ‘small wars’ ranged from fighting Communist insurgents in the bamboo-laden Malayan jungle, marauding Mau Mau gangs in Kenyan game reserves, Irish republican terrorists in the back alleys and rural hamlets of Northern Ireland, and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Helmand province. This is the first book to detail the tactical and operational dynamics of Britain's small wars, arguing that the military's use of force was more heavily constrained by wider strategic and political considerations than previously admitted. Outlining the civil-military strategy followed by the British in Palestine, Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus, Aden, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, Defending the Realm argues that Britain's small wars have been shaped by a relative decline in British power, amidst dramatic fluctuations in the international system, just as much as the actions of military commanders and civilian officials ‘on the spot’ or those formulating government policy in London. Written from a theoretically-informed perspective, grounded in rich archival sources, oral testimonies and a reappraisal of the literature on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, Defending the Realm is the definitive account of the politics of Britain's small wars. It will be of interest to political scientists and historians, as well as scholars, students, soldiers and politicians who wish to gain a more critically informed perspective of the political trappings of war.Less
Britain is often revered for its extensive experience of waging ‘small wars’. Its long imperial history is littered with high profile counter-insurgency campaigns, thus marking it out as the world's most seasoned practitioners of this type of warfare. Britain's ‘small wars’ ranged from fighting Communist insurgents in the bamboo-laden Malayan jungle, marauding Mau Mau gangs in Kenyan game reserves, Irish republican terrorists in the back alleys and rural hamlets of Northern Ireland, and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Helmand province. This is the first book to detail the tactical and operational dynamics of Britain's small wars, arguing that the military's use of force was more heavily constrained by wider strategic and political considerations than previously admitted. Outlining the civil-military strategy followed by the British in Palestine, Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus, Aden, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, Defending the Realm argues that Britain's small wars have been shaped by a relative decline in British power, amidst dramatic fluctuations in the international system, just as much as the actions of military commanders and civilian officials ‘on the spot’ or those formulating government policy in London. Written from a theoretically-informed perspective, grounded in rich archival sources, oral testimonies and a reappraisal of the literature on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, Defending the Realm is the definitive account of the politics of Britain's small wars. It will be of interest to political scientists and historians, as well as scholars, students, soldiers and politicians who wish to gain a more critically informed perspective of the political trappings of war.