Before High Imperialism: Exploring the trans-imperial nature of British colonial violence in Australia, South Africa and India, 1857-1884

帝国主义盛行之前：探索 1857-1884 年英国殖民暴力在澳大利亚、南非和印度的跨帝国性质

• 批准号: 2595947
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2595947
• 关键词: Before; Imperialism; Exploring; trans; imperial

This project will examine the trans-imperial nature of British colonial violence and its importance to the maintenance of colonial rule in Australia, South Africa and India in the formative period 1857-1884. I will explore how colonial violence intersected and constituted a distinct and recognisably British character, despite the barriers of geographical distance and differing forms of colonial administration. This represents an ambitious trans-territorial approach, examining the flow of ideas and practices across imperial spaces and contributing to an 'entangled history' of British colonial violence. Given the urgent questions concerning the contemporary legacy of colonialism and the inherent violence of the British Empire, recently highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement and toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, this research will contribute to a deeper, more informed discussion on the nature of British colonial violence.By applying a trans-territorial approach to British colonial violence, this thesis will explore what distinguished it as British and colonial, examining transmission of ideas across the huge distances and differing administrative contexts that differentiate my case studies. The role of the state in violence in settler colonial Australia, non-settler India and the 'hybrid region' of South Africa will be considered together to explore the extent of a distinctively British form of violence, alongside different forms (counter-insurgency, industrial, structural, symbolic) within that framework. The extent and impact of intra-imperial knowledge transfers will be examined, alongside the application of the principles of genocide studies beyond the settler colonial context. This 'entangled' approach, or histoire croisée, offers an overdue counterpoint to historiographical focus on episodic violence. By recasting the debate in a transnational, pan-imperial context, the reception and learning effects produced can be examined. This project will contribute towards this emerging historiography, laying the foundations for additional scholarship on British colonial violence in its global setting.The timeline 1857-1884 delineates a distinct phase of colonialism prior to the onset of High Imperialism. Following the 1857 Indian Rebellion, violence became 'one of the founding narratives of the colonial state' (Wagner, 2019). The 1884 Berlin Conference and Scramble for Africa catalysed a new era of colonial violence driven by inter-imperial competition. This project focuses on the distinct preceding period, beginning with the 1857 Rebellion. It combines archival research with the methodologies of trans-imperial connection and genocide studies. This includes recent publications such as Dierk Walter's Colonial Violence, Michelle Gordon's Extreme Violence and the British Way and Jonas Kreienbaum's Sad Fiasco. Identified archival collections at The National Archives and British Library, including legal documents, private papers and digitised materials, allow access to primary sources pertaining to my case studies. By examining incidences of violence in each location and applying entangled, trans-imperial and genocide studies frameworks to my analysis, the project is achievable in the given time-frame.This project's entangled approach will contribute to a deeper discussion on the nature of violence in the British Empire. By exploring the extent of a distinctive form of British colonial violence across the geographical expanse and administrative complexity of the Empire, this project will contribute to contemporary questions around how we should consider and react to its legacy. In this introspective moment, an empirical study addressing the distinct character of British colonial violence is timely.

本项目将研究英国殖民暴力的跨帝国性质及其对1857-1884年形成时期澳大利亚、南非和印度维持殖民统治的重要性。我将探讨殖民暴力如何交织在一起，并构成了一个独特的、可识别的英国性格，尽管存在地理距离的障碍和不同形式的殖民管理。这代表了一种雄心勃勃的跨领土方法，考察了跨帝国空间的思想和实践的流动，并助长了英国殖民暴力的“纠结历史”。鉴于关于当代殖民主义遗产和大英帝国固有暴力的紧迫问题，最近黑人生命也是一场运动和爱德华·科尔斯顿雕像的倒塌凸显了这一问题，这项研究将有助于对英国殖民暴力的性质进行更深入、更知情的讨论。通过对英国殖民暴力的跨领土处理，本文将探索英国殖民暴力的不同之处，考察思想在巨大距离和不同行政背景下的传播，这些都是我的案例研究的不同之处。在定居者殖民的澳大利亚、非定居者印度和南非的“混合地区”，政府在暴力中的角色将被放在一起考虑，以探索一种独特的英国形式的暴力的程度，以及在该框架内的不同形式(反叛乱、工业、结构性、象征性)。将审查帝国内部知识转让的范围和影响，以及在定居者殖民背景之外应用种族灭绝研究的原则。这种“纠缠”的方法，或称历史记录，与历史学对间歇性暴力的关注提供了一种姗姗来迟的对立面。通过在跨国、泛帝国的背景下重新描述这场辩论，可以检验所产生的接受和学习效果。这个项目将有助于这一新兴的历史学，为在其全球背景下研究英国殖民暴力的更多学术奠定基础。1857-1884年的时间线描绘了高度帝国主义开始之前的殖民主义的一个独特阶段。1857年印第安人起义后，暴力成为“殖民国家的创始叙事之一”(瓦格纳，2019年)。1884年的柏林会议和争夺非洲，催生了一个由帝国间竞争推动的殖民暴力的新时代。这个项目的重点是从1857年起义开始的独特的前一个时期。它结合了档案研究与跨帝国联系和种族灭绝研究的方法论。这包括最近的出版物，如迪尔克·沃尔特的《殖民暴力》、米歇尔·戈登的《极端暴力与英国方式》和乔纳斯·克莱恩鲍姆的《悲惨的失败》。国家档案馆和大英图书馆已确定的档案收藏，包括法律文件、私人文件和数字化材料，允许访问与我的案例研究有关的主要来源。通过研究每个地点的暴力事件，并将纠缠、跨帝国和种族灭绝的研究框架应用到我的分析中，该项目在给定的时间框架内是可以实现的。该项目的纠缠方法将有助于对大英帝国暴力的性质进行更深入的讨论。通过探索一种独特形式的不列颠殖民暴力在帝国广袤的地理范围和复杂的行政管理中的程度，这个项目将有助于提出关于我们应该如何看待和应对其遗产的当代问题。在这个反思的时刻，一项针对英国殖民暴力鲜明特征的实证研究来得正是时候。