British Empire

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• SOURCE: Al Jazeera
  3/15/2023
  

  Brits Don't Need to Compare Refugee Policy to Nazis—British History is Cruel Enough

  by Priyamvada Gopal

  "As its government demonises undocumented people seeking shelter today, it is worth remembering that Britain has historically been more a refugee-making country than a refugee-taking one."

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• SOURCE: NPR
  1/7/2023
  

  How Barbados's Reparations Movement Found the International Spotlight

  The availability of clear records tying British families – like that of actor Benedict Cumberbatch – to Caribbean slavery has made the movement for reparations in Barbados and other island nations very visible, if not yet successful. 

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• SOURCE: The New Republic
  9/27/2022
  

  The Ostensibly Apolitical Nature of the Royals Explains Americans' Obsession

  by Suzanne Schneider

  The Royals appeal to an American fantasy of power without politics, in which civility and decorum conceal the process of determining a society's winners and losers. 

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• SOURCE: AlterNet
  9/10/2022
  

  Andrew Roberts Blows Up on MSNBC Over Queen's Link to Colonialism

  The British historian and host Ali Velshi butted heads over the mentioning of colonialism and its part in the late Queen's legacy. 

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• 8/14/2022
  

  Not All Roads Lead to Kashmir

  by Andrew Howard

  A recent tragedy on a historically contentious railway route shows that decisions about infrastructure development are made with symbolic and emotional considerations as well as pragmatic ones.

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• SOURCE: The Baffler
  

  Review Essay: The Bloody Business of the British Conquest of Nigeria

  by Adewale Maja-Pearce

  Self-serving stories of the civilizing mission of British Christianity paper over the brutality of colonialism. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  3/28/2022
  

  The British Empire Was Worse Than You Probably Think

  Historian Elizabeth Elkins's new book on the British Empire "contends that Britain’s use of systematic violence was no better than that of its rivals. The British were simply more skilled at hiding it."

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• SOURCE: Slate
  3/30/2022
  

  You Can't Teach "Pros and Cons" When it Comes to Empire

  by Priya Satia

  Far from encouraging critical thinking, the "balance sheet" approach to teaching historical atrocities like slavery or imperialism flatters the mythologies created by the powerful to excuse violence against others, says a historian of empire and parent of a high school student. 

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• SOURCE: Substack
  2/24/2022
  

  We, The Abuser State

  by Jules Gill-Peterson

  Texas's announcement of a policy defining some support for transgender youth as "child abuse" echoes the abuses of colonial authorities on gendered minority groups. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  11/29/2021
  

  Barbados Declares Republic, Rejects Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State

  Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced last year that the nation of 300,000 would become a republic by Tuesday, the 55th anniversary of its independence.

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  11/01/2021
  

  Records of 320,000 Punjab Soldiers from Great War Uncovered`

  The records have the potential to fill gaps in understanding and even dispel popular myths and misunderstandings about the participation of South Asian troops in the British military in World War 1. 

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• SOURCE: Reuters
  10/6/2021
  

  Britain's Financial Hub Confronts its Involvement with Slavery

  "Lloyd's and the Bank of England have each hired a historian to delve into their roles in the slave trade and are planning on publicizing the results in the next year."

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  8/18/2021
  

  The US Repeated Mistakes of the Past in Afghanistan

  by Ali A. Olomi

  "By flooding Afghanistan with payoffs, bribes and aid, the British created a system of endemic corruption in which local chieftains and favorable bureaucrats would enrich themselves while the rest of the country remained relatively poor."

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  8/16/2021
  

  Britain’s Idyllic Country Houses Reveal a Darker History

  About a third of the historic homes managed by Britain's National Trust have been linked to fortunes made through slavery and colonialism. The agency's efforts to present this history has been controversial. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  8/1/2021
  

  August 1 Was Emancipation Day in Britain, but Abolition Didn't Create Freedom

  by Padraic X. Scanlon

  Emancipation in the British West Indies was accompanied by policies that maintained the racial hierarchy necessary for profit through labor exploitation. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  6/29/2021
  

  Illusions of empire: Amartya Sen on what British rule really did for India

  by Amartya Sen

  The prize-winning international economist examines a tricky historical counterfactual: what would contemporary India be like had British colonialism never happened?

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• SOURCE: The Baffler
  5/5/2021
  

  Except for the Miracles

  by Olúfémi Táíwò

  "The deciding aspect of politics over these next crucial years will turn on battles against overwhelmingly powerful foes who will try to prevent radical redistribution of resources," writes Olúfémi Táíwò. The legacy of two radicals, in Ireland and Kenya, show the value of partial victory and learning from defeat. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/15/2021
  

  The Sun Never Set on the British Empire’s Oppression

  While nationalist leaders in postcolonial states win political support by invoking heroic struggle to defeat British imperialism, they are very happy to use the repressive laws of colonialism against dissidents today. 

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• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  3/21/2021
  

  Washington’s Delusion of Endless World Dominion

  by Alfred McCoy

  "While Washington had been pouring blood and treasure into desert sands, Beijing was making itself into the world’s workshop."

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  3/17/2021
  

  Why Can't Britain Handle the Truth about Winston Churchill?

  by Priyamvada Gopal

  "Churchill was an admired wartime leader who recognised the threat of Hitler in time and played a pivotal role in the allied victory. It should be possible to recognise this without glossing over his less benign side."