Empires of the Mind: The Colonial Past and the Politics of the Present (The Wiles Lectures)

The Empires Of The Future Would Be The Empires Of The Mind' Declared Churchill In 1943, Envisaging Universal Empires Living In Peaceful Harmony. Robert Gildea Exposes Instead The Brutal Realities Of Decolonisation And Neo-colonialism Which Have Shaped The Postwar World. Even After The Rush Of French And British Decolonisation In The 1960s, The Strings Of Economic And Military Power Too Often Remained In The Hands Of The Former Colonial Powers. The More Empire Appears To Have Declined And Fallen, The More A Fantasy Of Empire Has Been Conjured Up As A Model For Projecting Power Onto The World Stage And Legitimised Colonialist Intervention In Afghanistan, Iraq, And Syria. This Aggression, Along With The Imposition Of Colonial Hierarchies In Metropolitan Society, Has Excluded, Alienated And Even Radicalised Immigrant Populations. Meanwhile, Nostalgia For Empire Has Bedevilled Relations With Europe And Played A Large Part In Explaining Brexit. Empires Constructed And Contested -- Empires In Crisis : Two World Wars -- The Imperialism Of Decolonisation -- Neo-colonialism, New Global Empire -- Colonising In Reverse And Colonialist Backlash -- Europe : In Or Out? -- Islamism And The Retreat To Monocultural Nationalism -- Hubris And Nemesis : Iraq, The Colonial Fracture And Global Economic Crisis -- The Empire Strikes Back -- Fantasy, Anguish And Working Through. Robert Gildea, University Of Oxford. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 'The empires of the future would be the empires of the mind' declared Churchill in 1943, envisaging universal empires living in peaceful harmony. Robert Gildea exposes instead the brutal realities of decolonisation and neo-colonialism which have shaped the postwar world. Even after the rush of French and British decolonisation in the 1960s, the strings of economic and military power too often remained in the hands of the former colonial powers. The more empire appears to have declined and fallen, the more a fantasy of empire has been conjured up as a model for projecting power onto the world stage and legitimised colonialist intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. This aggression, along with the imposition of colonial hierarchies in metropolitan society, has excluded, alienated and even radicalised immigrant populations. Meanwhile, nostalgia for empire has bedevilled relations with Europe and played a large part in explaining Brexit. Review 'Empires of the Mind is a uniquely valuable account of the fate of the French and British empires.' William Roger Louis, University of Texas 'Accessibly written and genuinely comparative, Robert Gildea's new analysis of the lingering effects and bitter aftershocks of British and French colonialism is essential reading for anyone keen to understand where legacies of empire register in contemporary politics. A terrific read.' Martin Thomas, author of Fight or Flight: Britain, France and their Roads from Empire 'Empires of the Mind is an exhilarating comparative survey of British and French self-regard from competitive collaboration in the hecatombs of slavery, through Suez in 1956, to responses to immigrants from ex-colonies, Islamic fundamentalism and Brexit. Among many startling quotes we read Nigel Farage claiming Brits are different from Europeans. Robert Gildea shows that we are too alike.' Anthony Barnett, founder of openDemocracy Advance praise: 'The past never remains in the past, Robert Gildea skilfully reminds us as he recounts the brutal histories of both British and French colonial and neo-colonial ventures. This is a book that insists on the connections between what happens/ed 'out there' and what happens/ed 'in here' and helps us to think through that complex and dangerous entanglement, which continues to inform our contemporary politics today.' Catherine Hall, author of Civilising Subjects: Metropole and Colony in the English Imagination 1830–1867 Book Description Prize-winning historian Robert Gildea shows that how empires did not vanish after 1945 but were constantly reinvented as neo-colonialisms. He shows how postwar immigration from the former colonies provoked racism, segregation and exclusion in metropolitan Britain and France and how imperial nostalgia has bedevilled Britain's relations with Europe. Prize-winning historian Robert Gildea dissects the legacy of empire for the former colonial powers and their subjects