Module description
The idea of 'Decolonisation' emerged in the interwar period. In its original meaning, particularly after 1945, it described the break up of European empires, and the emergence of sovereign nation states in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. But since the 1980s we have begun to put together a more complex portrait of the ends of empire. Driven not only by the continued opening up of records relating to the post-war period, but also by new historical approaches and controversies, the historiography of the 'end' of empire has been one of the most rapidly-developing and exciting aspects of the literature on the history of British imperialism. Much of the new work has offered fresh interpretations of developments in former colonies, including the interaction between local and global change, anticolonialism, and insurgency and counter-insurgency. Recent research also explores the extent to which 'decolonisation' was a multiphasic process, entailing far more than 'flag independence'. In line with these newer understandings of decolonisation as a social, cultural and economic as well as political and constitutional process, historians have also broadened the geographical scope of their analyses to incorporate study of changing cultures of Britishness in a 'British world' centred on Britain and the 'old' Commonwealth countries of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. A significant body of recent work also addresses questions of decolonisation in Britain itself.
This course introduces you to these debates. The first part of the course puts British decolonisation into a global perspective, and provides an introduction to 'why' and 'how' after the second world war Britain came to experience such a dramatic transformation in its world role, examining debates surrounding the relative importance of international relations, domestic politics and economy, and anticolonialism in bringing about Britain's post-war retreat from empire. The course then proceeds to focus on several country case studies that together illustrate the diverse nature of British decolonisation and the very different processes --from negotiation to armed revolt -- by which former colonies attained their independence from Britain. The final part of the course explores the newly-emerging literature on changing cultures of Britishness in the 'British world' and the cultural, social, economic and political consequences of decolonisation in Britain itself. Students will be encouraged throughout to make comparisons between British decolonisation and the experience of other European empires.
Assessment details
1 x 3,500 words essay (100%)
Teaching pattern
10 x 2-hour weekly seminars