Colonialism and imperialism Books

Book SynopsisMoving the debate beyond the place of tactical intelligence in counterinsurgency warfare, Confronting the Colonies considers the view from Whitehall, where the biggest decisions were made. It reveals the evolving impact of strategic intelligence upon government under- standings of, and policy responses to, insurgent threats. Confronting the Colonies demonstrates for the first time how, in the decades after World War Two, the intelligence agenda expanded to include non-state actors, insurgencies, and irregular warfare. It explores the challenges these emerging threats posed to intelligence assessment and how they were met with varying degrees of success. Such issues remain of vital importance today. By examining the relationship between intelligence and policy, Cormac provides original and revealing in- sights into government thinking in the era of decolonisation, from the origins of nationalist unrest to the projection of dwindling British power. He demonstrates how intelligence (mis-) understood the complex relationship between the Cold War, nationalism, and decolonisation; how it fuelled fierce Whitehall feuding; and how it shaped policymakers' attempts to integrate counterinsurgency into broader strategic policy.Trade Review'An intelligent, authoritative and penetrating analysis of how spycraft impacts upon strategy. Rory Cormac reveals for the first time the secret role of intelligence in the twilight wars of British counter-insurgency. This book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the hidden world of low intensity conflict.' * Professor Richard J. Aldrich, author of GCHQ *'Whilst much of the story of Cold War intelligence has been chronicled by historians, the secret battles that went on in parallel to derive and assess intelligence on Britain's colonial struggles has not been sufficiently explored. Dr Cormac has filled that gap admirably. His thoroughly researched account provides new insights into how British government and its Joint Intelligence Committee handled the painful process of decolonization and disengagement from empire.' * Sir David Omand, former UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator and JIC member *'Cormac's book explores the links between the intelligence centre in London and what was going on in the colonies. It is the first to illustrate the role that intelligence played in decision making and does so in a coherent and persuasive fashion, destroying many of the myths about Britain's colonial past and the impact of intelligence. A riveting read that should appeal to a wide audience.' * Michael Goodman, King's College London, author of Learning from the Secret Past: Cases in British Intelligence History *

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Book SynopsisFocussing on the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA), A Revolutionary History delivers a fresh perspective on the ambitions, ideologies and practices of this influential organisation, formed by Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh and inspired by transnational anti-imperial dissent. It is a new interpretation of the activities and political impact of the north Indian revolution- aries who advocated the use of political violence against the British. Kama Maclean contends that the actions of these revolutionaries had a direct impact on Congress politics and tested its policy of non- violence. In doing so she draws on visual culture studies, demonstrating the efficacy of imagery in constructing - as opposed to merely illustrating - historical narratives. Maclean analyses visual evidence alongside recently declassified government files, memoirs and interviews to elabo- rate on the complex relationships between the Congress and the HSRA, which were far less an- tagonistic than is frequently imagined.

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Book SynopsisIn the last decade an Iraqi Army and an Afghan National Army were created entirely from scratch, the founding of which was deemed to be a crucial measure for the establishment of security and the withdrawal of Western forces from Iraq and Afghanistan. Raising new armies is always problematic, especially during an insurgency, but doing so outside the sovereignty of one's own state raises questions of legality, concerns about their conduct and the risk of an over-empowered local military. The recruitment of proxies, including former insurgents, or the arming of local fighters and auxiliaries, levies and militias, may also exacerbate an internal security situation. In seeking answers to this conundrum Rob Johnson turns to history. His book sets out how recruitment of local auxiliaries was an essential component of European colonialism, and how, in the transfer of power and security at the end of that colonial era, the raising of local forces using existing Western models became the norm. He then offers a comprehensive survey of the post-colonial legacy, particularly the recent utilisation of surrogates and auxiliaries, the work of embedded training teams, and mentoring. Rob Johnson is Departmental Lecturer in the History of War, University of Oxford, and author of The Afghan Way of War: Culture and Pragmatism, A Critical History, published by Hurst.Trade Review‘Rob Johnson is becoming a familiar figure in this Journal’s reviews, and deservedly so . . . this is a well-written, almost magisterial treatment of a complex subject.’ 'This extraordinarily rich, detailed and nuanced volume should be required reading in Western militaries.''An important and highly significant book on "burden-sharing" by Western military powers through the hiring of local allies -- at once relevant for history and for current military affairs. Johnson argues forcefully that Western governments’ assumption that they can achieve their aims with airpower and local forces alone is deeply misguided.' -- Jeremy Black, Professor of History, University of Exeter'"True to Their Salt" is an ambitious "grand narrative? treatment of the nature and experience of indigenous forces recruited by Western powers during the days of empire, and more recently. Embracing a diverse range of case studies, it offers a unique overview that will make it a standard work of reference.' -- Ashley Jackson, Professor of Imperial and Military History, King’s College London; author of 'The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction''In a major work Johnson sets out a provocative and compelling case for the use of indigenous forces as a 'force multiplier' in contemporary military operations but as he admonishes, only if we understand the pull/push forces that lead men to enlist, and only if we have the cultural knowledge that will allow us to make the most of this untapped cultural capital.' -- Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science; author of Rebooting Clausewitz: ‘On War’ in the Twenty-First Century'This book should be read by anyone -- politician, general, journalist or scholar -- who thinks that the current Western approach to conflict in the Middle East is going to result in the stabilisation of the region and the strengthening of allied governments. Johnson expertly dissects how local auxiliaries, Western special forces and airstrikes will not lead to a promised land without a greater investment in understanding the host societies in which the West is trying to operate. An excellent read.' -- Mike Martin, author of 'An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict'‘Densely researched and very well documented . . . provides a sharp analysis of the recruitment, deployment, and devolution of local forces in often unorthodox war contexts and security situations.’

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Book SynopsisIn February 1937, following an abortive attack by a handful of insurgents on Mussolini's High Command in Italian-occupied Ethiopia, 'repression squads' of armed Blackshirts and Fascist civilians were unleashed on the defenceless residents of Addis Ababa. In three terror-filled days and nights of arson, murder and looting, thousands of innocent and unsuspecting men, women and children were roasted alive, shot, bludgeoned, stabbed to death, or blown to pieces with hand-grenades. Meanwhile the notorious Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani, infamous for his atrocities in Libya, took the opportunity to add to the carnage by eliminating the intelligentsia and nobility of the ancient Ethiopian empire in a pogrom that swept across the land. In a richly illustrated and ground-breaking work backed up by meticulous and scholarly research, Ian Campbell reconstructs and analyses one of Fascist Italy's least known atrocities, which he estimates eliminated 19-20 per cent of the capital's population.He exposes the hitherto little known cover-up conducted at the highest levels of the British government, which enabled the facts of one of the most hideous civilian massacres of all time to be concealed, and the perpetrators to walk free.Trade Review'[A] masterly history ... Ian Campbell has performed a tremendous service by rescuing from historical neglect and European propaganda the stories of the victims of 20th-century Italy's homicidal push for greatness.' - The National; 'A masterly examination of a hideous war crime which has never been so comprehensively researched. This forensic investigation is chillingly brought to life by the vivid memories of survivors whom the author has tirelessly tracked down. Campbell has done the world a great service by so clinically exposing such brutality.' - Keith Bowers, broadcaster and author of 'Imperial Exile: Emperor Haile Selassie in Britain 1936-40'; 'A detailed and fully documented account of one of the great under-reported atrocities of the twentieth century. Campbell makes a highly important contribution in exposing this extremely brutal yet virtually unknown episode. The entirely original testimony of surviving eyewitnesses adds striking vividness to this valuable book. Genuinely original.' - Christopher Clapham, Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge and author of 'The Horn of Africa'; 'Whilst the British and French were appeasing Mussolini, his blackshirts were slaughtering thousands of Ethiopians--a massacre completely ignored by the League of Nations. 80 years later, Ian Campbell's latest oeuvre is a concisely researched, well-documented and brilliantly written tribute to those forgotten victims of barbarous Italian Fascism in Ethiopia.' - Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate PhD, historian, bestselling author and political analyst; 'Ian Campbell's book is a chilling account of one of the most terrible crimes against humanity of the twentieth century: the massacre by occupying Italians over three days in February 1937 of thousands of Ethiopian citizens in Addis Ababa. Campbell reconstructs in meticulous detail, from a wide range of sources, including many eyewitness testimonies, the initial trigger for the massacre, its various stages, the responsibilities of different groups of perpetrators, and its legacy in later memory... The result is the most comprehensive and accurate account now available in any language of the Yekatit 12 massacre.' - David Forgacs, Guido and Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimo Professor of Contemporary Italian Studies, New York University; author of 'Italy's Margins'; 'This book rounds out the trilogy that Ian Campbell has worked on for such a long period of time. The first, The Plot to Kill Graziani, was a great success; the second, The Massacre of Debre Libanos, was another research feat. The third has all the makings of a blockbuster. It is a meticulously researched, brilliantly written and abundantly illustrated book. It is a must read for all those interested in the history of Fascism globally and in the modern history of Ethiopia.' - Shiferaw Bekele, Professor of History, Addis Ababa University; 'The February 1937 massacre by Fascist Italy of thousands of defenceless Ethiopian civilians stands as the first and least known genocide of World War II. Ian Campbell spent more than twenty years conducting research on that killing field, in which countless men, women and children were wiped out, and educated Ethiopians, community leaders and notables were systematically eliminated. It is good to have this authoritative synthesis of that horrifying event between two covers at last.' - Donald N. Levine, Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Chicago; author of Wax and Gold: Tradition and innovation in Ethiopian Culture and Greater Ethiopia; 'Campbell's detailed research, which cuts much new ground, provides the reader with a daily, almost hourly, picture of the infamous three days, enhanced by many photographic images not previously in the public domain.' - Richard K. Pankhurst, Professor of History, Addis Ababa University; author of 'The Ethiopians: A History', and 'Sylvia Pankhurst: Counsel for Ethiopia'

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Book SynopsisWestern interventions today have much in common with the countless violent conflicts that have occurred on Europe's periphery since the conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century. Like their predecessors, modern imperial wars are shaped especially by spatial features and by pronounced asymmetries of military organisation, resources, modes of warfare and cultures of violence between the respective parties. Today's imperial wars are essentially civil wars, in which Western powers are only one player among many. As ever, the Western military machine is proving incapable of resolving political strife through force, or of engaging opponents with no reason to offer conventional combat, who instead rely on guerrilla warfare and terrorism. And, as they always have, local populations pay the price for these shortcomings. Colonial Violence aims to offer, for the first time, a coherent explanation of the logic of violent hostilities within the context of European expansion. Walter's analysis reveals parallels between different empires and continuities spanning historical epochs. He concludes that recent Western military interventions, from Afghanistan to Mali, are not new wars, but stand in the 500-year-old tradition of transcultural violent conflict, under the specific conditions of colonialism.Trade Review'An important book that offers a clear point of view on the violence inherent to imperialism, whether Western or not. Worth considering alongside high rates of violence in recent and current non-Western warfare.' -- Jeremy Black'[Colonial Violence] provides valuable insights on how environment, technology, race, fear, logistics, economics and other factors shaped the character of colonial clashes, and why empire is still a valuable mens of understanding organised violence in the contemporary world. [This book is] ambitious and challenging [and] will be of interest to scholars working in a variety of historical subfields.' -- H-Net'With its sophisticated analysis and thorough use of the scholarly literature on its subject, this is a study that nobody interested in the subject can afford to neglect.’'It is excellent that Dierk Walter's survey of colonial conflict has been translated into English. This is military history as it should be written: conceptually broad, chronologically ambitious, and -- above all - transnational. His case for continuity -- bridging colonial conquest, decolonisation, and recent interventions -- will provoke, as it should, but that is the hallmark of an important book.' -- Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War, Oxford University'Broad canvas syntheses that put violence at the heart of the West’s engagement with the wider world have been rare -- understanding and acceptance of the significance and consequences of its violence rarer still. Walter brings enormous comparative and summary power to its study, resulting in a highly readable and necessary work. "Colonial Violence" should stand as an elegant corrective, particularly in its emphasis on the continuity of violence through to the present day.' -- Ashley Jackson, Professor of Imperial and Military History, King’s College London; author of 'The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction''"Colonial Violence" offers a comprehensive, scholarly interpretation and synthesis of the pattern of military violence associated with imperialism since around 1600. Based on a wide and deep familiarity with imperial military campaigns and asymmetric conflict, its conclusions regarding the weakness of the imperial powers relative to their indigenous foes, the continuities in imperial campaigns over time and place, and the root cause of excessive violence in the imperial situation rather than in ideology, will surprise and challenge many readers. Well written and clearly organised, this study will doubtless become a standard account of imperial military violence.' -- Isabel Virginia Hull, John Stambaugh Professor of History, Cornell University'Walter, with forensic skill, comprehensively analyses the causes, courses, and consequences of colonial wars and violence. This startlingly good study should be read and thought over by all with an interest in Europe’s global imperial military reach over the past five hundred years.' -- David Killingray, Emeritus Professor, Goldsmiths London ‘An important book that offers a clear point of view on the violence inherent to imperialism, whether Western or not. Worth considering alongside high rates of violence in recent and current non-Western warfare.’ — -- Jeremy Black, Professor of History, University of Exeter

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Book SynopsisThe storm came on the night of 31 October. It was a full moon, and the tides were at their peak; the great rivers of eastern Bengal were flowing high and fast to the sea. In the early hours the inhabitants of the coast and islands were overtaken by an immense wave from the Bay of Bengal -- a wall of water that reached a height of 40 feet in some places. The wave swept away everything in its path, drowning around 215,000 people. At least another 100,000 died in the cholera epidemic and famine that followed. It was the worst calamity of its kind in recorded history. Such events are often described as 'natural disasters'. Kingsbury turns that interpretation on its head, showing that the cyclone of 1876 was not simply a 'natural' event, but one shaped by all-too-human patterns of exploitation and inequality -- by divisions within Bengali society, and the enormous disparities of political and economic power that characterised British rule on the subcontinent. With Bangladesh facing rising sea levels and stronger, more frequent storms, there is every reason to revisit this terrible calamity. An Imperial Disaster is troubling but essential reading: history for an age of climate change.Trade Review'A book which should be widely read... It demystifies the official disclaimer that these are 'natural calamities' for which the administration is not responsible, exposing how the British colonial administration's policies in nineteenth century Bengal destroyed the coastal environment that led to the devastating cyclone of 1876.' -- Sumanta Banerjee'Kingsbury’s book holds lessons from the past for a climate-changed world … meticulously researched … this thoroughly engaging book should be required reading for historians of South Asia, environmental historians and scholars of disaster studies. Written with an acute sensitivity and historically rich, it is a story of the present as much as a story of the past.’ -- Economic & Political Weekly'Kingsbury's book is a searing indictment of the British Raj' -- The Journal of Asian Studies'In the age of the Anthropocene, An Imperial Disaster complicates the distinctions usually made between natural and human disasters. This meticulously researched and lucidly presented account of the late nineteenth century Bengal cyclone, will be as relevant to historians of the Indian subcontinent as it will be to scholars thinking about Hurricane Katrina or the Australian wildfire.' -- Rochona Majumdar'A well-written, very readable book, based on many official records and newspapers. It is full of telling details and anecdotes and emphasises the official failures, neglect, misinformation, damaging ideology, and personal ambition of colonial rule during the 1870s.' -- Peter Robb'Narrated in beautiful prose and based on scrupulous scholarship, with an unerring eye for the apposite quotation, 'An Imperial Disaster' is microhistory at its best. It lays bare the imperial and human context of a natural disaster and reveals, equally shockingly, how no substantive lessons were learnt from it.' -- Dr Chandrika Kaul'Lucidly argued and meticulously referenced... the story of colonial apathy, greedy landlords and the ruthless laissez-faire policy of the state is vividly rendered against a background where thousands perished due to drowning and disease. The study is an important contribution to the economic and environmental history of India.' -- Vinita Damodaran

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Book SynopsisMuch of the recent surge in writing about the practice of nonviolent forms of resistance has focused on movements that occurred after the end of the Second World War, many of which have been extremely successful. Although the fact that such a method of resistance was developed in its modern form by Indians is acknowledged in this writing, there has not until now been an authoritative history of the role of Indians in the evolution of the phenomenon. Celebrated historian David Hardiman shows that while nonviolence is associated above all with the towering figure of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘passive resistance’ was already being practised by nationalists in British-ruled India, though there was no principled commitment to nonviolence as such. It was Gandhi, first in South Africa and then in India, who evolved a technique that he called ‘satyagraha’. His endeavours saw ‘nonviolence’ forged as both a new word in the English language, and a new political concept. This book conveys in vivid detail exactly what nonviolence entailed, and the formidable difficulties that the pioneers of such resistance encountered in the years 1905-19.Trade Review'Hardiman looks at the tangled web around the idea of ahimsaor non-violence both as a religious creed and its crossing over to the political domain at a time when organised mass mobilisation had just begun in India.''Hardiman demolishes the myth that Gandhian nonviolence succeeded in India because the colonial state observed the law. . . . This is a book every university should have in its library.'‘Provides new insights into India’s nationalist struggle during the first two decades of the 20th century . . . this book is required reading for those who wish to understand not only the central role Gandhi played in the Indian nationalist struggle but also the cooperation and contestation required of mass movements involving different social groups.’'Hardiman locates Gandhi in the little-known history of earlier Indian experiments with nonviolence, showing nonviolent resistance to be both creative and problematic, ambiguous and difficult, depending on the contexts in which it was practiced. A refreshing and illuminating approach.' -- Judith M. Brown'Hardiman brings his fierce capacity for scholarly focus to the formative period of India's freedom struggle. A vital and illuminating study of building strategy and a mass base, the honing of the practices of resistance, and the construction of a whole philosophy that has come to be called "nonviolence".' -- Akeel Bilgrami'An excellent contribution to the literature on nonviolent resistance.' -- April Carter'A valuable contribution to our understanding of the contested nature of nonviolence in India before the better-known Salt March. An important read for anyone who is interested in putting civil resistance in its historical context.' -- Erica Chenoweth

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Book SynopsisThe period between the two World Wars were troubling years for colonial empire. Individuals and organizations called for major reforms and an end to white supremacy and colonial rule, contributing first to local unrest and protest and then to anticolonial activity not only in Africa but the United States and Europe as well. In this compelling history, Jonathan Derrick recounts the opposition to British and French rule practised both by Africans living on the continent and by European anticolonialists and members of the Black Diaspora. He covers campaigns waged by an early incarnation of the ANC and other groups in South Africa who fought against legal and other aspects of white minority rule. He also analyses the Kikuyu protests against the settler regime in Kenya; Marcus Garvey's African American movement and its role in sparking interest in Africa; the Etoile Nord Africaine, formed mainly by Algerians in France, that called for the independence of French North Africa; protests led by European critics against forced labor in Kenya and French Equatorial Africa; and the activity of small militant groups like the Ligue de Defense de la Race Negre (LDRN) in France and George Padmore's International African Service Bureau (IASB) in Britain. Derrick also examines the role of the Comintern and Western Communist parties that were opposed to Western colonialism and ready to support militant action against it. He shows that, although colonial rulers greatly feared the specter of Communism in Africa, actual Communist activity was in fact quite small. The onset of the Second World War pushed colonial issues to the background, but as Derrick argues, in the long term the anticolonialists of the interwar era helped pave the way for later decolonisation.Trade ReviewA richly detailed, well-researched study of African political activism between the two World Wars ... an important contribution to an under-explored period in African history. Derrick presents a study that is valuable for both its breadth of information and the arguments it raises for the role of Africa in global anti-imperialism during the first half of the twentieth century. -- Benjamin Talton, International Journal of African History StudiesThis is an impressive and scholarly synthesis of a huge amount of historical data that succeeds in presenting a strong narrative of African agitation against colonial rule at the height of European imperialism. As such, this project makes a novel contribution to knowledge. -- Dr Robert Shilliam, Oxford University

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Book SynopsisThis important study introduces the history and people of West Papua, tracing the origins of the international conflict surrounding their struggle for self-determination following the Second World War. Based on three decades of exhaustive research and focusing particular attention on the sham referendum of 1969 - which Indonesia dubbed 'The Act of Free Choice', an election rigged to legitimize Indonesian control over West Papua - Droogleever highlights the continuing impact of this injustice on Indonesia's most underdeveloped and poverty-stricken province.Trade Review"Nowhere else can one find a fuller or more creditable account." * International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter *"it is a book for politicians, historians, legal experts and, above all, for those who want to know about the weight of the weak in the events of the modern world. " * Inside Indonesia *“There is always merit in setting the record straight, no matter how much time has passed. For the Indonesian province of Papua, it has been a long and bloody 36-year wait. The Papuans have refused to accept the ‘Act of Free Choice’ by which they supposedly voted to join Indonesia in 1969. [This book], commissioned by the Dutch government, the former colonial ruler in Indonesia, unequivocally vindicates their stance.” * The Sydney Morning Herald *Table of ContentsPreface Illustrations Map: Netherlands New Guinea c. 1960 1 A Distant Corner of the Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East India Company (DEIC), Tidore and New Guinea The eastern frontier of the Netherlands East Indies Establishing control and exploring the interior Administrative policies up to the Second World War The Protestant and Catholic Missions The ‘mise en valeur’: business and colonists Looking back 2 The Shock of War West New Guinea during the Second World War The way back New Guinea under the Japanese occupation The restoration of government under Van Eechoud Echoes of the revolution 3 New Guinea as a Bargaining Tool Indonesia becomes independent The nationalists take the helm Political relations in the Netherlands The federal response Linggadjati; talks and clashes A poker game between Bandung, Yogya and The Hague Claims on New Guinea The Republicans’ wishes Malino and the Moluccan Commonwealth The Indo-European option and the Papuan cause Passing the Papuans from player to player Dutch moves East Indonesian aspirations Republican reactions Two Dutch pickets New Guinea and the Decree on the Government of Indonesia during the Period of Transition The removal of Tidoran home rule on New Guinea 4 Separation from Indonesia Minister Van Maarseveen steps into the limelight The covert hand of Hollandia The Round Table Conference Players from the side-lines Arguments, circumstances and motives 5 Locking Horns The Netherlands and Indonesia in the ‘status-quo’ year New Guinea in cold storage The Supomo mission Ali Sastroamidjojo’s offensive The Geneva Conference 6 Direct Rule from The Hague A new system of government Regaining momentum under Van Waardenburg Two Calvinist comrades in power For the sake of the Papuans’ education Changed conditions in Protestant circles The arrival of the American and Australian missions A new place for the Roman Catholics Education Language policy The hesitations of big business A development project under the colonial flag Territorial extension of the administration 7 The Dispute in an International Perspective The hounds are loose The superpowers and the place of the United Nations Consultations with Australia American guarantees An arms race at the equator The points of departure The Indonesian military build-up from 1958 onward The Karel Doorman’s odyssey 8 The Turning Tide in The Hague and Washington The crumbling home front De Quay takes office The first steps on the path to internationalization Minister Luns and the General Assembly of 1960 Tunku Abdul Rahman's mediation attempt Bright boys in Washington Further commotion on the home front The conception of the Luns plan The Luns plan in the General Assembly of 1961 9 The Metamorphoses of the Luns Plan The Dutch Cabinet’s definition of its position Talking under pressure The military situation American diplomatic assistance The dispute about the preconditions Washington’s ‘knock on the head’ Kennedy nails his colours to the mast Ambassador Bunker’s plan Back to Middleburg The New York Agreement The Indonesian approach Van Roijen and Malik get down to business The making of the New York Agreement The last hurdles 10 Democratization Under Bot and Platteel New Guinea; reactions of the government and the population The democratization of the administration Town and Regional Councils The New Guinea Council Forming Parties 11 Papua Blues The New Guinea Council and the political parties The forming of the National Committee: Flag and Anthem The Luns Plan in the New Guinea Council Bitter travel experiences Jitters in New Guinea The political stance of the Papuans in 1962 Contacts with the Eastern neighbours Contacts with African countries Members of the New Guinea Council visit The Hague A proclamation of independence? The final months under the red-white-and-blue 12 Under Jakarta’s Thumb The entry of the UNTEA Under one roof with the UNTEA and Indonesia Indonesia as temporary administrator Build-up to the plebiscite Between Delft, Manokwari and New York 13 The First Phase of the Act of Free Choice Preliminary manoeuvres The task of the United Nations The appointment of Ortiz Sanz Defining positions in The Hague, Jakarta and Washington Ortiz Sanz’s first steps Interim consultations in The Hague and New York The further development of the Indonesian plans Papuans in action Resistance Diplomacy 14 The Second Phase of the Act of Free Choice Luns, Udink and Malik to Rome The composition of the consultative councils Self-determination in practice Reporting to the United Nations Looking back in the Netherlands Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBritish imperialism was almost unparalleled in its historical and geographical reach, leaving a legacy of entrenched social transformation in nations and cultures in every part of the globe. Colonial annexation and government were based on an all-encompassing system that integrated and controlled political, economic, social and ethnic relations, and required a similar annexation and control of natural resources and nature itself. Colonial ideologies were expressed not only in the progressive exploitation of nature but also in the emerging discourses of conservation. At the start of the 21st century, the conservation of nature is of undiminished importance in post-colonial societies, yet the legacy of colonial thinking endures. What should conservation look like today, and what (indeed, whose) ideas should it be based upon? Decolonizing Nature explores the influence of the colonial legacy on contemporary conservation and on ideas about the relationships between people, polities and nature in countries and cultures that were once part of the British Empire. It locates the historical development of the theory and practice of conservation - at both the periphery and the centre - firmly within the context of this legacy, and considers its significance today. It highlights the present and future challenges to conservationists of contemporary global neo-colonialism The contributors to this volume include both academics and conservation practitioners. They provide wide-ranging and insightful perspectives on the need for, and practical ways to achieve new forms of informed ethical engagement between people and nature.Trade Review'Prepare to have your comfortable assumptions challenged.' Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 'This is an important book which argues conservationists to understand and move beyond the colonial baggage still influencing their work.' ECOS 'This book provides readers with a greater perspective on the history and significance of worldwide conservation policies that guide world leaders today when issues of sustainability are before them' Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and library volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden. Current Books on Gardening and Botany, June 2004. 'Decolonizing Nature presents current and future directions for conservation planning in the developed and developing worlds.' Brian H. King, University of Colorado, Boulder. Geographical Reviews.Table of ContentsIntroduction * Nature and the Colonial Mind * Decolonizing Relationships with Nature * The 'Wild', the Market, and the Native: Indigenous People Face New Forms of Global Colonization * Sharing South African National Parks: Community Land and Conservation in a Democratic South Africa * Devolving the Expropriation of Nature: The 'Devolution' of Wildlife Management in Southern Africa * Decolonizing Highland Conservation * Responding to Place in a Post-colonial Era: Reflections on the Australian Experience * When Nature Won't Stay Still: Conservation, Equilibrium and Control * Beyond Preservation: The Challenge of Ecological Restoration * Feet to the Ground in Storied Landscapes: Disrupting the Colonial Legacy with a Poetic Politics * Conclusions * Index

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Book SynopsisFrom 1955 onwards, when the anti-colonial movement split into competing ethnic sections, conflict between African and Indian Guyanese has held Guyana in a deadlock which has undermined all attempts at social and economic development. At its height exploding into civil war in the 1960s, the constant state of tension has led to rigged elections, authoritarian government, economic collapse and driven hundreds of thousands of Guyanese to emigrate. Even in the present, when for the first time for decades, free and fair elections can be held, winning and losing further divides the nation.Judaman Seecoomar's book offers an analysis of how Guyana has arrived at this impasse and suggests a process that could lead out of it. He identifies a history of authoritarian government where those who control the state (whether colonial governments in the past, those who seized power through rigged elections, or those who gained it by virtue of having the support of the ethnic majority), have responded to Guyana's cultural pluralism by suppressing or ignoring the interests of the minority. He argues that the failure to satisfy the human needs of all Guyana's ethnic groups is the root cause of conflict and only their satisfaction offers a means of harnessing all the nation's energies for development. He identifies the crucial needs as being those that relate to security, the recognition of cultural identity, participation in decision-making and the fair distribution of social rewards.The book looks to the developing practice of conflict resolution through strategies of collaborative problem solving. It argues that such a process would offer Guyana the means of finding constitutional and institutional arrangements acceptable to all ethnic groups. It provides both an account of the theoretical frameworks for such an approach and case studies of conflict resolution in action in Northern Ireland and in the Oslo talks between Israelis and Palestinians. It documents the initial attempts by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to broker talks between the main Guyanese political parties.In a world where internal conflict in multi-ethnic states is the major source of regional instability, this is a timely book.Judaman Seecoomar was born July 15 1932; he died March 26 2006. He had recently completed a PhD on inter-racial conflict in Guyana.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides an understanding of the kind of work that representations of African dictatorship do. It explores the contradictions that arise from postcolonial critics' simultaneous investment in aesthetics and in politics.Table of ContentsIntroduction: African Dictators and Postcolonial Critics 1. Two Readings of Henri Lopes's Le Pleurer-rire 2. The Truth about Amin' 3. Achille Mbembe and the Disorder of Discourse 4. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE 2018. Chrissie Docherty returns to the southern Africa of her childhood and tracks down Evelyn Fielding, the woman at the centre of an explosive scandal involving a traditional colonial officer and a gifted black African artist. Together, the two women uncover the secrets that shattered a remote expatriate outpost in the Zambian bush in the 1970s. Switching deftly between today and the recent past, and set against a background of tense post-colonial race relations, political turmoil and witchcraft, `Looking for Evelyn’ powerfully evokes the very special colours, sounds and smells of Africa.Trade Review`If you’re looking for a holiday book to transport you to Southern Africa, this is it.’ Scottish Daily Mail; `A moving, rich read that brings Africa to life.’ Sunday Mirror; `This year’s summer read…’ the National; “You can see, taste and feel the dusty red roads of the South African bush in this rich, evocative exploration of love, jealousy and betrayal in post-colonial Zambia in the 1970s.” – Jackie Copleton; “A haunting and intriguing tale about forbidden love against a backdrop of political turmoil.” Daily Record

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Book SynopsisCharlie Chaplin is on vacation in Asia in 1936 when Cambodians are challenging colonial exploitation. Chaplin must choose: lend his celebrity status to the anti-colonial cause or stay silent. Fictionalised around real events, this is a story about how an embittered Chaplin abandons his silent Tramp in order to find his own voice.

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Book SynopsisMahmud Modibbo Tukur's work challenges fundamental assumptions and conclusions about European colonialism in Africa, especially British colonialism in northern Nigeria. Whereas others have presented the thesis of a welcome reception of the imposition of British colonialism by the people, the study has found physical resistance and tremendous hostility towards that imposition; and, contrary to the "pacification" and minimal violence argued by some scholars, the study has exposed the violent and bloody nature of that occupation. Rather than the single story of "Indirect rule", or "abolishing slavery" and lifting the burden of precolonial taxation which others have argued, this book has shown that British officials were very much in evidence, imposed numerous and heavier taxes collected with great efficiency and ruthlessness, and ignored the health and welfare of the people in famines and health epidemics which ravaged parts of northern Nigeria during the period. British economic and social policies, such as blocking access to western education for the masses in most parts of northern Nigeria, did not bring about development but its antithesis of retrogression and stagnation during the period under study. Tukur's analysis of official colonial records and sources constitutes a significant contribution to the literature on colonialism in Africa and to understanding the complexity of the Nigerian situation today.

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Book SynopsisMahmud Modibbo Tukur's work challenges fundamental assumptions and conclusions about European colonialism in Africa, especially British colonialism in northern Nigeria. Whereas others have presented the thesis of a welcome reception of the imposition of British colonialism by the people, the study has found physical resistance and tremendous hostility towards that imposition; and, contrary to the "pacification" and minimal violence argued by some scholars, the study has exposed the violent and bloody nature of that occupation. Rather than the single story of "Indirect rule", or "abolishing slavery" and lifting the burden of precolonial taxation which others have argued, this book has shown that British officials were very much in evidence, imposed numerous and heavier taxes collected with great efficiency and ruthlessness, and ignored the health and welfare of the people in famines and health epidemics which ravaged parts of northern Nigeria during the period. British economic and social policies, such as blocking access to western education for the masses in most parts of northern Nigeria, did not bring about development but its antithesis of retrogression and stagnation during the period under study. Tukur's analysis of official colonial records and sources constitutes a significant contribution to the literature on colonialism in Africa and to understanding the complexity of the Nigerian situation today.With an Introduction by Prof. Michael J. Watts, University of California, Berkeley, USA.Trade Review"In this densely detailed and interpretatively nuanced study, Mahmud Modibbo Tukur lays bare the very foundations of the colonial state in what is now northern Nigeria. This is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the foundations of contemporary Nigeria and how we came to be what we are." - Prof. Abdul Raufu Mustapha, University of Oxford, UK.

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Book SynopsisSwitzerland has been globally connected and entangled with colonies established by the seafaring European nations in Africa, the Americas, and Asia since the 16th century. Colonial Switzerland's Global Entanglements offers a timely overview of this highly topical matter, placing a wide range of aspects in historical context and addressing as well questions of colonial continuities.Contributions by distinguished scholars and experts from various disciplines investigate questions such as the involvement of Swiss companies in the trade with enslaved people, Swiss mercenaries in the service of colonial powers, the colonial legacy of the country's missionary societies, and the research and collection of artefacts by Swiss scientists in former colonies. Light is shed also on the involvement of anthropological institutes at the universities of Zurich and Geneva in scientific racism.Conceived as an illustrated reader, this volume is both an invitation and a stimulus to explore and to engage critically with Switzerland's history of global interdependence.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThis book elaborates the politico-ideological viewpoints of Aurobindo, as displayed when he reigned as one of the major nationalist leaders defining Indian nationalism. Bidyut Chakrabarty examines Aurobindo's politico-ideological ideas during the period (1893-1910) when he was an active participant in the New Nationalist' or Democratic Nationalist' campaign, which started with the bifurcation of the Indian National Congress between the Moderates and Extremists (also known as the Revolutionary Nationalists) in its 1907 annual session, held at Surat.Chapters cover Aurobindo's distinctive ideas of nationalism, which he evolved in collaboration with his colleagues, especially Lal-Bal-Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal), and how he redefined the practice of nationalism. The book also demonstrates that unlike his predecessors, the Moderates, Aurobindo set out many strategies including boycott and passive resistance to execute the distinctive plan he designed to attain his politico-ideological goal. Other topics include the relatively less discussed aspect of Aurobindo's socio-political ideas, namely his unique model of education as an antidote to many of the crippling socio-cultural prejudices, and the importance of Bhagavad Gita in shaping Aurobindo's politico-ideological priorities.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisAs a former colonized nation, Indonesia has a unique place in the history of photography. A History of Photography in Indonesia: From the Colonial Era to the Digital Age looks at the development of photography from the beginning and traces its uses in Indonesia from its invention to the present day. The Dutch colonial government first brought the medium to the East Indies in the 1840s and immediately recognized its potential in serving the colonial apparatus. As the country grew and changed, so too did the medium. Photography was not only an essential tool of colonialism, but it also became part of the movement for independence, a voice for reformasi, an agent for advocating democracy, and is now available to anyone with a phone. This book gathers essays by leading artists, scholars, and curators from around the world who have worked with photography in Indonesia and have traced the evolution of the medium from its inception to the present day, addressing the impact of photography on colonialism, independence, and democratization.Table of ContentsIntroduction The Invention of Photography, the Nederlands, and the Dutch East Indies Journeys Completed and Journeys to Come in Indonesian Photography Portraits of Power The Dance Photographs of Walter Spies and Claire Holt: A Biographical Study Midcentury European Modernism and the March Towards Independence: Gotthard Schuh, Cas Oorthuys, Niels Douwes Dekker, and Henri Cartier-Bresson A Short History of IPPHOS Art Photography in Indonesia: J.M. Arastatch Ro’is, Tirsno Suardjo, and Zenith Magazine Reflections on Reformasi Photography (from the Vantage Point of the 2014 Elections) Journalistic Circus: A Look at Photojournalism in Indonesia and the History of the Antara Gallery of Photojournalism New Media Culture Development of Photographic Education in Indonesia MES 56: Souvenirs from the Past Hybrid Practices of the MES 56 Photography Collective Outsiders On Silence, Seeking, and Speaking: Meditations on Identity Through My Family Albums A City on the Move: Bandung Today Urban Parallax: Jakarta Street Photography on Instagram A Personal Note: The Ground Beneath My Feet

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Book SynopsisThis is an important collection of essays focusing on pre-colonial trade and African-European interaction, looking at western Africa between Senegal and Sierra Leone. It spans the whole pre-colonial period between the first Portuguese voyages of discovery and the transition to legitimate commerce in the 19th century.Trade ReviewOverall, the collection successfully engages with important themes concerning the creation and maintenance of intercontinental exchanges, and the development of Creole communities. It is possible to overdo concepts such as the Black Atlantic, suggesting a false unity through a perceived shared geography; this book wisely avoids that trap, by gathering particularistic, detailed studies with rich individual biographies, and giving them cohesion through the overarching theme of brokers. * Anne Haour, English Historical Review *Historians of coastal West African societies, of the slave trade, and of transnational interchange within the Atlantic commercial world will find solid evidence and interesting interpretations in these essays. It is clear that the contributors have read each other's work from the intelligent cross-referencing included ... well worth reading. * Kenneth Morgan, The Economic History Review *This is an important volume, bringing together junior and senior scholars who use new data to bring the debate on brokerage and its cultural and economic relevance into the pre-twentieth-century period...Scholars interested in African, Atlantic, and early modern history must read this significant volume. * Mariana Candido, Luso-Brazillian Review *Brokers of Change is a welcome addition to the under-represented field of pre-colonial Africa that presents Western Africa as a coherent space of insular and riverine connectivity. * Ghislaine Lydon, Early Modern History *Table of Contents1: AFRICAN-EUROPEAN RELATIONS; 2: THE ATLANTIC DIMENSION; 3: THE INSULAR ATLANTIC; 4: TRADE IN SLAVES AND COMMODITIES; 5: "POST-SLAVERY"

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Book SynopsisGomes's Viagem..., written in 1648, presents in rare detail the relations of the Portuguese creole community with the African population of south-central Africa.Trade ReviewAs I read it, I could not stop imagining myself using Gomes's text to discuss with my students the strengths and weaknesses of the written document as a historical source, and what, even in the same document, might count as primary and secondary source. In this way, both the independent researcher and the guided student of pre-colonial African history will benefit from this book. * Festo Mkenda SJ, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Glossary List of maps List of Illustrations Introduction Portuguese text of the Viagem... English Translation of the Viagem...

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Book SynopsisTells the story of Johannesburg's MuseumAfrica, a South African history museum that embodies one of the most dynamic and fraught stories of colonialism and postcolonialism, its life spanning the eras before, during, and after apartheid. This title focuses on racism and its institutionalization in South Africa.Trade Review"There is something fresh, rewarding, and even courageous in Sara Byala's approach. She not only manages to reconstruct the history of MuseumAfrica but also demonstrates quite clearly that none of the new museums in South Africa today were created without some institutional (or bureaucratic) connection to it." (Christopher B. Steiner, Connecticut College)"

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Book SynopsisThe nineteenth century marked the high point of imperialism, when tsarist Russia expanded to the Pacific and the sun was said never to set on the British Empire. The author explains imperialism through an analysis of the institutions of both the expanding state and its targets of conquest.Trade Review"Innovative, interesting, and important. Leo J. Blanken speaks to one of the oldest issues in international relations - the source of imperial behavior - and does so with a novel and well-written argument that is embedded in a very popular emerging school of research. Rational Empires will be seen as a model of how to employ some of the latest developments in the rational choice literature to international politics." (David M. Edelstein, Georgetown University)"

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Book SynopsisDescribed as an exchange of gifts, a system of banking or a struggle for prestige, the potlatch is one of the founding concepts of anthropology. This book shows that the potlatch was invented by the 19th-century Canadian law which sought to destroy it, generating a batch of potlatch papers.

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Book SynopsisExamines how early modern England transformed itself into the centre of a worldwide empire. This work argues that the new study of geography played a crucial role in fuelling England's imperial ambitions, and that it helped create an ideology of empire which made imperialism possible.

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Book SynopsisThe phrase "the Black Legend" was coined in 1912 by a Spanish journalist in protest of the characterization of Spain by other Europeans as a backward country. Challenging this stereotype, this book contextualizes Spain's tarnished reputation by exposing colonial efforts of other nations whose interests were served by propagating the Black Legend.

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Book SynopsisShedding light on a fundamental tension in liberal theory, this book reaches beyond post-colonial studies to revise the reader's conception of Britain's 19th-century grand liberal tradition and the conception of experience with which it is associated.

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