British Colonial Research Articles

Perception of Indian Society Towards Sports

Sports have played a significant role in shaping the perception of Indian society throughout history. From ancient origins where physical activities were valued as a part of cultural traditions to the influence of British colonialism introducing modern sports, India's sporting landscape has evolved and adapted to diverse cultural influences. This article explores the cultural significance of sports in India, emphasizing its historical journey and the impact of various eras on the nation's sporting ethos. Examining the present state of Indian sports, the article addresses the challenges faced by the nation, including inadequate infrastructure, gender biases, and commercialization, which hinder the growth of sports at the grassroots level. Despite these challenges, there is hope for a brighter future, as the government and other stakeholders invest in initiatives like 'Khelo India' to promote sports and identify talent from a young age.

Awatere’s Māori Sovereignty Reveals the Obscured Core of Capitalism

The effects of capitalism are ubiquitous; however, the core is obscured behind hegemonic power that serves to continuously disempower and exploit the vast majority of people and the environment. As the neoliberal project unleashes capitalism on a global scale (Neilson, 2020, 2021), Marx’s early prediction that capitalism would spread to the four corners of the globe is reflected in the domination of capitalism in this social formation. However, this domination is by no means a homogenous experience. White supremacy runs through the veins of capitalism, weaving assertions of white superiority through the terrain that is wrenched open by colonial projects. Capitalism as a mode of production was thrust upon Māori in Aotearoa. Capitalism displaced (and displaces) the Māori mode of production, a way of life that is fundamentally antithetical to the individualised, privatised, exploitative mode of production foisted upon these lands by British colonialists and their descendants.

A milestone in Canadian legal history

This review essay critically examines the first volume, covering the period from pre-contact until 1866, of a three-volume history of law in Canada. The essay assesses, in particular, how the book deals with Indigenous law and Indigenous-settler legal relations as well as the histories of private law and criminal justice in the French and British colonies that now constitute Canada. The book is an extraordinary achievement. It surveys a vast number of legal issues across the three foundational legal traditions in Canada (Indigenous, French, and English), draws together a huge array of scholarly works and primary sources, and presents an impressive number of new arguments and interpretations. The review essay also examines how the book highlights issues where more research is needed because crucial questions remain unanswered as well as areas where the book could be revised for a future second edition. Overall, the essay concludes that this is a must-read work for anyone interested in Canadian legal history and the histories of Indigenous-settler relations and colonization. This book is a milestone in the discipline of Canadian legal history and will be a standard work for generations of scholars.

An apologist for English colonialism? The use of America in Hobbes’s writings

ABSTRACT This paper challenges the colonial reading of Thomas Hobbes’s use of America. Firstly, by analysing all the references and allusions to America in Hobbes’s writings, I claim that Hobbes simply uses America to support his central theory of the state of nature, showing the fundamental significance of a large and lasting society to our being and well-being. Secondly, I argue that Hobbes’s use of America does not serve a second purpose that is similar to Locke’s justification of English land appropriation. Even extending such a Lockean colonial theme from Hobbes’s theory would fail due to Hobbes’s unique property theory. Lastly, with a more nuanced contextual analysis of Hobbes’s involvement in the Virginia Company and relevant textual analysis, I propose that Hobbes is not only not a supporter of English colonialism, but rather an opponent of the Virginia Company, imperial expansion, and colonial conquest. I am not denying the fact that later thinkers like Locke develop Hobbes’s notion of the American state of nature to justify European colonization in America. However, the received history should not be confused with Hobbes’s own writing purpose. Nor should we ignore Hobbes’s opposition to imperial expansion.

‘Mask must wear at all times’: top-down and bottom-up multilingual COVID-scape in Hong Kong as a prime site of epidemiological and public health knowledge (re)construction during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic brings to the fore language's primacy in crisis communication. Given our diverse world, how effectively vital information is conveyed multilingually may make or break a place’s anti-Covid battle. In the study, a locale’s Covid-related multilingual landscape (multilingual Covidscape) is conceptualised as a prime multilingual/mediated site of epidemiological and public health knowledge (re)construction, where pandemic-related information is (re)contextualised and communicated multilingually by various agents (including translators). A former British colony and global financial centre, China’s Hong Kong SAR represents a most cosmopolitan and diverse place in Asia, constituting a fertile ground for linguistic landscape (LL) research. Drawing on real-world data, this study explores the multilingual practices enacted in Hong Kong’s multilingual Covidscape. This interdisciplinary study illustrates how multilingual resources and repertoires are brought to bear in a global city’s pandemic communication. Beyond the traditionally ‘choreographed’ LL in Chinese and English, various multilingual practices are discussed at multiple levels.

The History of Ethnicised Politics in Kenya and its Impact on the Management of the Country’s Public Affairs

This paper deploys historical analysis, conceptual analysis and critical reflection to examine the history of ethnicised politics in Kenya and its negative impact on the management of the country’s public affairs. It sets out with a conceptualisation of ‘ethnicised politics’. It then traces the growth of ethnicised politics in Kenya from the dawn of British colonialism to the present. Thereafter, it reflects on the five-pronged negative impact of ethnicised politics on the country, namely, the gross disparities in economic development along ethno-regional lines, the disproportionately limited economic opportunities for ethnic minorities, the stunting of the growth of issue-based politics, the stoking of violent inter-ethnic conflicts, and the vulnerability of highly urbanised persons and/or those born out of mixed marriages with no strong ethnic loyalties. It concludes that contrary to the widely-held view that Kenyans ought to abandon their ethnic identities in pursuit of ‘nation-building’, respect for the right to cultural identity and the promotion of inter-ethnic equity would make political mobilisation along ethnic lines less attractive.

Studies and Evaluation on the Translations of the Holy Qur'an in Bengali During the British Colonial Time in the Indian Sub-Continent

After the revelation of the Holy Qur'an, Almighty Allah commanded human society to study and think about the Qur'an. He encouraged human society to teach, preach and spread the teachings of the Qur’an. But because the language of the Qur’an is Arabic, if non-Arabs want to learn the Qur’an, they may have to learn the Qur’an by learning the Arabic language well or they have to translate the Qur’an into their mother tongue. This study was conducted to mention those who have been trying to make the Qur'an comprehensible to about three hundred million Bengali speakers at different times. This article features the earliest Bengali translations as part of a larger study. Many of these translators have tried to present the basic teachings of the Qur'an in an easy way for people to adhere to the basic spirit of the Qur'an. Many have succeeded in their endeavors. And some non-Muslims are also seen translating, who, rather than believing in the faith of the Qur'an, translate it to find out any weakness of the Qur'an as part of their own religious agenda. While there are many translations of the Qur’an in Bangladesh and proper cataloging of translations, the quality of translations and translators has not been evaluated in the past. Therefore, in this research, the translation work carried out in Bangladesh for the first time has been listed and evaluated.

The temporality of community sentiment on the Australian continent: mineral extraction, waste storage and Indigenous protest writing

ABSTRACT The Australian federal government has recently recommenced a previously paused process to select a site for a national nuclear waste storage facility despite significant opposition from Australian Indigenous communities and others. This article considers what some might understand as a contemporary issue by examining its relationship to previous events. It emphasizes how Western linear temporality facilitates disregard for negative community sentiment and the consigning of previous wrongs to the past. In contrast, Indigenous temporalities – where time is understood as immanent and space and time intermingled – emphasize positive relationships and require the remediation of past wrongs to support just futures. Thus, historical nuclear weapons testing in Australia, current plans for waste storage, and historical and ongoing ecological and social consequences of resource extraction are all related, reflecting the violence of British colonization and contemporary settler colonial governance. Using a literary studies approach, this article examines historically significant moments of Indigenous Australian protest writing regarding extractive industries, nuclear waste storage, and settler colonial governance, to show that some Indigenous communities in Australia have clearly communicated their negative sentiments. It argues for equitable relationships as a first step towards the restitution of past wrongs and the creation of just futures.

Programs Addressing Food Security for First Nations Peoples: A Scoping Review.

Access to food is a right that every individual must have to ensure a standard of living that is sufficient for maintaining good health and wellbeing. This review, developed and implemented by a team of First Nations and non-First Nations peoples, aimed to scope the literature on programs addressing food security for First Nations peoples in Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, and the United States of America. Collectively, First Nations groups share continued traumas, disadvantages, and devastation brought upon them as a result of British colonisation. Despite the impacts of colonial conquest, the resilience of First Nations peoples continues through the fight for self-determination, sovereignty, equity, and equality. Three databases and grey literature were searched from 2010. Two reviewers completed screening, data extraction, and critical appraisal. Nine food security programs were included in this review. Five were from the United States of America and four from Canada, with no program from Australia or Aotearoa/New Zealand meeting the inclusion criteria. The programs that appear to be most suitable for addressing food security for First Nations peoples were participatory in design, had community governance, integrated cultural knowledge and food systems to increase the accessibility and availability of cultural foods, incorporated educational components, and utilized collaborations among various agencies. Findings showed that while it is important to address short-term emergency food relief, the aim should be sustainable food security through a longer-term system and policy change underpinned by co-designed research and evaluation.

Canada at a Crossroads

Rooted in Canada’s history as a British colony, the Criminal Code defence to “reasonable corrective force” remains in force today. In this article, I trace the history of Canada’s law, describe various attempts made to remove it, and present the many recommendations and calls for repeal issued over recent decades. While Canada has stood still, 65 countries have removed their legal defences and prohibited all corporal punishment of children. At this time, Canada has another opportunity to finally remove this archaic defence, as two Private Members’ Bills have been introduced in the House of Commons and the Senate, respectively. By seizing this opportunity, Canada will demonstrate its commitments to children’s rights to protection and dignity, and uphold its pledges to end violence against children and women in Canada.

History of Singapore’s Economic Miracle

The article reviews the monograph "Singapore: Economic History" by Mariya G. Osipova, research fellow of the Centre for Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The author has managed to show consistently, step by step, the economic development of Singapore during two centuries, disclose both objective and subjective circumstances that led to the transformation of Singapore from a British colony into an innovative and financial hub of the world. At the same time, M.G. Osipova can be called a pioneer in the study of Singapore's economic development in the post-Soviet academic space. It is noted that the value of the monograph is not only to disclose the mechanism of rapid economic growth of Singapore in a short historical period, but also to conclude that the main secret of its "economic miracle" is the creation of a unique national economic model, based on the careful consideration of specific historical conditions of development of Singapore society, its national, religious and cultural characteristics.

Dehumanization, A Mechanism of Colonialism Resulting in an Unbridgeable Gulf between the Colonizer and the Colonized: An Analysis of E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dehumanizing attitude exhibited by the British colonizers towards the native Indians in E.M Forster’s A Passage to India. The very attitude is responsible for widening the gap between the two groups. This paper investigates how the colonial mindset of the British characters leads them to view the Indian characters as inferior, subjects of subjugation which creates an unmitigated gap between the Anglo Indians and the native Indians in a colonial setting. Moreover, the ambivalent nature from both parties disrupts the meaningful relationship between the native Indians and the Anglo Indians. The colonizers never wanted to bring the colonized to their same standing that made the attempt of bridging the gap futile. In this qualitative study, textual references from the novel, A Passage to India have been investigated to unveil the impact of dehumanization resulting from colonization. This study has successfully presented the predicament of the colonized and the inhumane treatment of the British bureaucrats through the portrayal of a Muslim Indian doctor, Dr. Aziz, a British bureaucrat, Ronny Heaslop and some other characters. The paper has tried to trace out the reasons of unbridgeable gulf between the colonizers and the colonized resulting from dehumanization of the British colonizers. It has explored how the ambivalent relationship, superiority complex, racial discrimination and the bureaucratic compulsion have led to the collapse of social relationships creating hatred and distrust between the colonizers and the colonized.

Anti-Colonial Performance Traditions in Manipur: Perspectives from Shumang Kumhei Theatre

Post-colonialism has not brought to an end the perpetuation of colonial power structures and suppression. The ex-colonized countries still suffer from many forms of colonialism. In Manipur, a state located in the northeastern corner of India within the monsoonal tropics, complex political and cultural issues such as insurgencies, militarization and problems of Hinduization interweave through the post-colonial scenario. The rise of insurgencies after Manipur’s merger to the Indian Union in 1949, have resulted in armed conflicts within the state and have brought situations of turmoil and suffering to the people. Prior to British colonization, Hinduization had already begun in the 15th century and the ‘cultural insurgents’ of Manipur to this day consider it a lasting imperialist force which tries to subjugate and suppress the Indigenous culture and religion of the people of Manipur. In these circumstances, theatre, which is the closest medium to the people, evolved as a decolonizing agent by proposing self-determination and peace building. Hence, by taking the account of Manipur and its Indigenous Meitei theatre form of Shumang Kumhei, this paper attempts to discuss the power and purpose of theatre in situations where political, religious and cultural suppression still operate and colonial structures still function, now in neocolonial forms.

Anna Suranyi. Indentured Servitude: Unfree Labour and Citizenship in the British Colonies. States, People, and the History of Social Change 4. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2021. Pp. 288. $37.95 (paper).

Anna Suranyi. Indentured Servitude: Unfree Labour and Citizenship in the British Colonies. States, People, and the History of Social Change 4. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2021. Pp. 288. $37.95 (paper).

Introduction: "The Ideology of English Colonization: From Ireland to America" Fifty Years Later

Introduction: "The Ideology of English Colonization: From Ireland to America" Fifty Years Later

Shifting Perspectives on the Ideology of English Colonization: From Rhetoric to Reality

Shifting Perspectives on the Ideology of English Colonization: From Rhetoric to Reality

Reflections on the Golden Jubilee of the Publication of "The Ideology of English Colonization: From Ireland to America"

Abstract: Taking the opportunity of a seminal article's fiftieth anniversary, Audrey Horning, Peter Mancall, Hiram Morgan, and Rory Rapple discuss the impact of Nicholas P. Canny's 1973 William and Mary Quarterly article, "The Ideology of English Colonization: From Ireland to America," on scholarship on both sides of the Atlantic. Alison Games provides an introductory essay for the Forum, and Canny provides a response.

Factors Affecting the Office of Justice of Peace in Punjab, Pakistan: A Critical Study

Justice of the peace is a public officer introduced by British colonists during their expedition to colonize, in various regions. This research carried out a study about the inevitable role of justice of the peace and the challenges faced by public while attaining the benefits of the law duly prescribed in Pakistan. A mixed research approach was deployed having questionnaires, observations and interviews. These tools were applied on a number of institutions like aggrieved person, police personnel, advocates, public prosecutors and justices of the peace. Some questionnaires were also prepared separately for all the above mentioned entities and some observations also made to put the truthfulness of those answers in check. Interviews were also conducted in the same vein which helped in drawing a clearer diagram in this regard. According to the obtained analysis, 95% of the people believe in the fact that police system needs a serious overhaul. On the contrary, 90% to 95% police officials themselves consider the role of justice of the peace a burden on them. 90% of advocates feel the power of justice of the peace as justifiable. 82% justices of the peace were found satisfied with their system. However, 90% to 95% Justices of the Peace shows their desire of feeling the need to improve the system. A shocking 97% of people were actually found aggrieved. On the analysis structured and unstructured interviews, 94.5% people were found as actual victims.

THROUGH THE OPTIC OF EDWARD SAID'S ORIENTALISM, UNMASKING IDENTITY; EXAMINING THE IDEAS OF "SELF" AND "OTHER" IN AHMED ALI'S TWILIGHT IN DELHI

My heart aches to see you fight for chairs; Only poor masses are crushed with open arms by bears. I saw many deaths in houses and houses in deaths, But thou made me unable to breathe. We are drowning up to the neck in our blood; No one is there to come, see and judge masses smeared with mud Never ever tell the truth to live a life, Dumb, deaf, and blind can live here. (Farman Ullah) Informed by the close reading of the novel Twilight in Delhi (1940) by Ahmed Ali during and under the impact of colonization from the perspectives of sociopolitical aspects of the extraordinary situation that has been faced by common people through ordinary words. The present study aims to examine the novel Twilight in Delhi, how the "“Self”" and the "“Other”" interact within the historical backdrop of British colonialism and the "massacre and destruction in Delhi in 1857" (Yahya: 2013) as it is portrayed in the book Twilight in Delhi. It contends that prejudice, an imbalance of power, and oppression characterize this relationship. The research looks at the negative effects of this uneven dynamic, such as violence, theft, and cultural fusion. The novel's author gives the colonized Indians a voice by denouncing British colonial power and urging resistance to it. The conclusion emphasizes the necessity to confront and end colonial dominance while highlighting the harmful impacts of the "“Self”" and "“Other”" connection.

THROUGH THE OPTIC OF EDWARD SAID'S ORIENTALISM, UNMASKING IDENTITY; EXAMINING THE IDEAS OF "SELF" AND "OTHER" IN AHMED ALI'S TWILIGHT IN DELHI

My heart aches to see you fight for chairs; Only poor masses are crushed with open arms by bears. I saw many deaths in houses and houses in deaths, But thou made me unable to breathe. We are drowning up to the neck in our blood; No one is there to come, see and judge masses smeared with mud Never ever tell the truth to live a life, Dumb, deaf, and blind can live here. (Farman Ullah) Informed by the close reading of the novel Twilight in Delhi (1940) by Ahmed Ali during and under the impact of colonization from the perspectives of sociopolitical aspects of the extraordinary situation that has been faced by common people through ordinary words. The present study aims to examine the novel Twilight in Delhi, how the "“Self”" and the "“Other”" interact within the historical backdrop of British colonialism and the "massacre and destruction in Delhi in 1857" (Yahya: 2013) as it is portrayed in the book Twilight in Delhi. It contends that prejudice, an imbalance of power, and oppression characterize this relationship. The research looks at the negative effects of this uneven dynamic, such as violence, theft, and cultural fusion. The novel's author gives the colonized Indians a voice by denouncing British colonial power and urging resistance to it. The conclusion emphasizes the necessity to confront and end colonial dominance while highlighting the harmful impacts of the "“Self”" and "“Other”" connection.