British Empire

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

How did Britain – an island nation - establish imperial hegemony across the Global South? In what texts and contexts, did religious, racial, and ethnic identities define a ‘British world’? How have anti-colonial communities negotiated the processes of decolonisation, past and present? This module charts the evolution of the British Empire from the end of the Napoleonic wars to the aftermaths of the Second World War. It explores the inequalities of the British imperial experience from the white dominions of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to the colonial territories of India, Egypt, and South Africa. The course will examine themes such as slavery, state violence, immigration, nationalism, and multiculturalism from transnational perspectives. Students will interrogate contemporary debates on the memory of the British Empire through multidisciplinary sources, ranging from films such as James Bond to the street art of Banksy. Ultimately, this course asks, what is the legacy of the British imperial project to international relations, from the ‘gunboat diplomacy’ of the ‘scramble for Africa’ to the United Nations?