Week 1 - Studying Empires - Debates
Throughout this unit we will be studying debates about the nature and impact of European imperial rule. Some of the disagreements that you will encounter in the lectures and readings from this unit include:
whether the European empires were - on balance - good, bad or neutral
the appropriate ethics and method for historical researchers who study empire
how the history of Empire should be remembered and taught today
whether one European imperial power was better than the others
whether white women were victims or agents of Empire
to what degree colonised peoples resisted or cooperated with imperial powers
whether white missionaries and humanitarians did more harm than good
who can or should write the history of empire
whether the British ended slavery for economic reasons or humanitarian reasons
to what degree European cultures were shaped by imperialism
what sources are reliable for writing the history of empire
whether European imperialism was fundamentally driven by ideological or economic motivations
to what degree we live in a post-colonial world
whether gender and sexuality are useful categories of analysis for the history of European empires.
Most - if not all - of these debates are not simply about the past. Rather they are about the way that the past informs and shapes the present. Throughout this unit, we encourage you to reflect on your own position in relation to the history of empire. What is the history of your own family and/or community? Have you benefited from or been disadvantaged by European imperialism? How has this shaped your awareness of the impact of Empire?
We also consider the writing of imperial history. For the most part, the academic history of the European empire has been written by those who have benefited from imperialism. In this unit we try to centre a different set of voices, listening to the past and present perspectives of those who experienced colonisation. We will discuss what kinds of sources can be used for writing the history of empire, what methods can be used to interpret these sources and who can or should write these histories.