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After the British World

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Abstract

Within the expanding field of global history, historians often conceive of distinct integrated ‘worlds’: discrete if permeable cultural units capable of coherent study. Some are defined exogenously through factors such as oceanic geography, others are conceived of endogenously through the cultures and identities of their adherents. In this context, this article critically assesses the recent voluminous literature on the British world: a unit increasingly distinguished from British imperial history and defined by the networks and identities of global Britishness. The article argues that the British world, while making valuable contributions to the historiography of empire and of individual nations, fails ultimately to achieve sufficiently clear definition to constitute a distinctive field of study and neglects the crucial concerns of imperial history with politics and power, while flattening time, space, and neglecting diversity. While highlighting many key concerns, other methodologies such as settler colonialism, whiteness studies, or revivified imperial history are better placed to take these on than the nebulous concept of a world. More broadly, an analysis of the British world highlights the problems inherent in attempting to define a field endogenously through a focus on identity.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 15, 2016
Online Publication Date Feb 13, 2017
Publication Date Jun 1, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal The Historical Journal
Print ISSN 0018-246X
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 60
Issue 2
Pages 547-568
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x16000510
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x16000510

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