The Politics of the Empire-Commonwealth: The Imperial Conferences Re-Examined, 1887-1937

The study of the British empire has, for several generations, eschewed the study of the high politics of empire. Scholars in the latter half of the twentieth century, following Robinson and Gallagher, eschewed a close scrutiny of formal political institutions on favour of a study of economic power, informal empire, and placed the study of collaborative bargains at the heart of their understanding of the practices of imperial governance. For a time cultural studies have dominated the field with a close attention to identity formation in different parts of the empire, including Britain locating this approach within different paradigms ranging from post-colonial studies and new imperial history through to the so-called British world. Since 2010 there have been signs of a return to older concerns with economic power and a new interest in the relationship between empire and globalisation.

It is striking that, in the twists and turns of imperial history over several generations, scholars have neglected to recognise that the British empire was a political entity with a complex, often contradictory, but nonetheless discernible political culture and constitution. Thus debates on the economics of empire often fail to consider the impact of formal political institutions on its governance either emphasising the ‘informal imperialism’ of the city of London (Cain and Hopkins), or the ‘cultural economy’ of the British world (Magee and Thompson). While there are signs of a change in publications by Darwin, Potter, Bright, Smith and Dilley, there remains a strong case for a serious re-examination of the significance of the high politics of empire, reconnecting that high politics with the themes of economic power and identity which have dominated the literature.

This scholarship will allow the successful candidate to undertake such a re-examination, through the lens of the Colonial and Imperial Conferences. These ran from 1887 through to 1937 bringing together the British government with the governments of the self-governing colonies/dominions and from 1917, India. These Conferences have not been studied seriously for several generations. They are scarcely mentioned in recent literature. Yet the time, effort, and persistence suggests they played a crucial role in the governance of a large part of the Empire – later the British Commonwealth of Nations – during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This project will reassess the conferences, or a major aspect of the conferences, and the precise approach and period can be tailored to a candidate’s individual interests. It could be, for example, that a focus on a theme such as defence or migration, or a particular period builds appeals particularly strongly or draws of the successful candidate’s previous experience. The candidate may also adopt comparative or interdisciplinary approaches. Considerable resources are available digitally, not least the official publications surrounding the conferences themselves. However it will be necessary to secure internal and possibly external funding to consult the National Archives in Kew and other key papers. The project could be undertaken as a distance learning project.

Overall, this project provides an opportunity to contribute to a reassessment the significance of the political history of the British Empire. The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr Andrew Dilley whose own work on business and empire is also reasserting the importance of the constitutional and institutional dynamics in understanding the economic history of the Commonwealth through his AHRC-funded Early Career Fellowship (‘Commerce and the Commonwealth’). A part of this project, in 2016-17 several symposia relevant to PhD topic will take place, hosted by DHP’s Centre for the Study of Global Empires. Thus this scholarship offers an opportunity undertake PhD research in a particularly fruitful context and at an opportune juncture.