The Grand Inquest of the World: British Imperialism and Europe

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Francisco Lobo

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Nov 2 2025

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This is an excerpt from The Praeter-Colonial Mind: An Intellectual Journey Through the Back Alleys of Empire by Francisco Lobo. You tin download the publication escaped of chargefrom E-International Relations.

The praeter-colonial caput tries to marque consciousness of a post-colonial satellite wherever besides the assemblage and the pre-colonial coexist and vie arsenic rationales successful our mundane lives. Where to statesman a travel of find whereby the praeter-colonial caput tin commencement to afloat workout its faculties and captious capabilities? A spot embodying 1 of the astir caller and palmy imperial experiments successful history, wherever the exploits of colonialism are celebrated arsenic good arsenic its dividends jealously preserved, sounds similar the due mounting to statesman this quest. We indispensable statesman astatine the British Museum, located successful the bosom of London.

It is instantly upon entering the magnificent neo-classic palace that serves arsenic the Museums humble abode that we are introduced to a treasure from past times: the Rosetta Stone. I retrieve speechmaking astir it successful my past books astatine schoolhouse backmost successful Chile. The precise chromatic utilized by French archeologist Jean-Franois Champollion to decode the secrets of 1 of the astir beguiling civilizations successful past by utilizing Greek arsenic a conveyance betwixt past and present. I ne'er thought I would get the accidental to spot with my ain eyes an artifact from past Egypt, unless I could someway negociate to spell backmost successful time. It turns retired that museums are the adjacent champion happening to time-travel.

The Rosetta Stone is among the proudest possessions of the British Museum, which boasts an awesome Antiquity helping spanning from past Egypt to Greece and Rome, successful summation to each the different collections covering beauteous overmuch each play successful past and each country of the world implicit with a Moai oregon chromatic statue from Easter Island, a spot that for immoderate crushed is nether Chiles jurisdiction arsenic we shall spot successful Chapter Three dedicated to the Global South. In different words, the British Museum is replete with things that should not beryllium there.

The Rosetta Stone is surely not expected to beryllium there. I americium not saying this to echo the each excessively acquainted statement that the British Museum should instrumentality each its artifacts to the countries from wherever the British Empire looted them. This is thing that has been formulated truthful galore times that it has go a punchline, astir exquisitely brought to america by comedian James Acaster, who imagines the Brits replying to the peoples asking for their spot back: Sorry, you cant person it back. We are inactive looking astatine it!.

What I mean erstwhile I accidental that the Rosetta Stone should not beryllium successful the British Museum is not that it belongs successful Egypt, though it astir apt does. What I mean is that it whitethorn arsenic good person ended up successful Paris, the superior of yet different European empire, arsenic it was discovered by French troops occupying Egypt astatine the extremity of the eighteenth century. It was lone aft the British took implicit that portion of the satellite that the Stone was yet sent to London, wherever it has sat comfortably since 1801 (The British Museum 2017).

It takes a batch of self-confidence to judge that an past treasure mightiness beryllium amended preserved successful your ain state alternatively than successful the spot wherever it comes from. It takes adjacent much to beryllium convinced that, of each the disposable options, your state is the champion imaginable destination. This is an facet of British imperialism that I judge is not talked astir enough. Sure, galore Brits, aforesaid arsenic galore different Europeans, judge they are amended than the remainder of the world. But we tin spot variations adjacent among Europeans themselves, the smaller the quality the bigger the wedge it drives betwixt relatives what psychologists notation to arsenic the narcissism of insignificant differences, similar erstwhile you militantly defy the mode they bash things astatine your cousins location conscionable due to the fact that they are somewhat antithetic from what you grew up with (They marque blistery cocoa with h2o alternatively of beverage the horror!).

In this section I would similar to bespeak connected however the British person embraced this narcissism of insignificant differences and taken it to the adjacent level, arsenic they person styled themselves arsenic the keepers of their European brethren portion practicing their ain marque of colonialism. Inspired by this consciousness of comparative superiority, they person pushed the thought that each different European assemblage endeavor has been irredeemably flawed for a assortment of reasons including the Black Legend of the Spanish Conquista, the protean panic of French absolutism turned revolution, the viciousness of the Dutch descendants known arsenic the Boers, the sheer cruelty of the Belgians, the recalcitrant warmongering of the Germanic Reich(s), and the rampant tyranny of the Soviet experiment. The archetypal huddle we volition explore, then, corresponds to each those English-speaking nations that are a effect of this peculiar iteration of European imperialism. The information that we are capable to critically attack it whilst utilizing the connection it bequeathed to america arsenic a conveyance of said critique is simply a fascinating facet of the praeter-colonial mind, insofar arsenic we are trying to marque consciousness of a post-colonial contiguous by drafting connected the tools of a assemblage legacy.

A Soul-searching Nation

British exceptionalism is thing new. The past clip the full satellite heard astir it was not that agelong ago, erstwhile the UK decided to opt-out of the European Union successful 2016 nether the banner of Brexit. That a state would voluntarily determine to permission an enactment that truthful galore different nations are warring to articulation immoderate of them, similar Ukraine, adjacent having to wage with humor for their audacity lays bare the unbridled consciousness of superiority of its people. Its similar a affluent household deciding to propulsion their kids retired of 1 of the champion schools successful the region due to the fact that they judge they tin bash amended with conscionable a backstage tutor, portion scores of different families are inactive connected the waiting database hoping for an opening adjacent semester.

Brits person precise small tolerance for outer proposal oregon control, and they effort to support overseas interference with their ain affairs to a minimum a courtesy the self-styled Global Britain has not extended to the remainder of the world, certainly. Sure, they yet managed to interruption escaped from the shackles of the EU; but they inactive person to endure European oversight successful matters of quality rights, arsenic they stay portion of the Council of Europe and its judicial organ, the European Court of Human Rights sitting successful Strasbourg.

But that is arsenic acold arsenic they volition go. They volition not instrumentality proposal from anyone, not from different Europeans, and surely not from extracurricular of Europe. It was undoubtedly a infinitesimal of large hilarity erstwhile successful 2008 Sri Lanka, a erstwhile British colony, suggested successful a UN study that the UK see holding a referendum connected the desirability oregon different of a written constitution, preferably republican, which includes a measure of rights (UN Human Rights Council 2008). This cheeky proposition by 1 of its erstwhile colonies was met with deafening soundlessness successful consequent reports filed by the British government.

No, it is usually Brits telling the remainder of the satellite what to do, for which they person efficaciously weaponized 1 of their astir salient governmental traditions: commissions of enquiry (Sanghera 2024, 197). Indeed, according to a study prepared by the House of Commons titled Government by Inquiry: The contented of the nationalist enquiry has go a pivotal portion of nationalist beingness successful Britain, and a large instrumentality of accountability (House of Commons 2005, 7). Accordingly, the main organ commissioning specified investigations, Parliament, has ever been perceived arsenic the expansive inquest of the federation (Ibid, 10). But since galore of these inquiries had a scope greater than the federation itself arsenic they were besides acrophobic with what was going connected successful the colonies, we whitethorn dub the British Empire the expansive inquest of the world.

Indeed, commissions of enquiry were efficaciously utilized by the British Empire to stitchery accusation astir its assemblage possessions successful places similar Ireland, South Africa, Mauritius, Ceylon, and the West Indies (Laidlaw 2012; Johnson 1978). The main nonsubjective of these probes was to stitchery accusation successful bid to beforehand accountability, bully governance and betterment successful faraway places wherever nationalist scrutiny was not ever possible. In addition, fears of imperial contagion were a changeless interest successful British authorities (Laidlaw 2012, 756) successful the consciousness that what was done successful the colonies could conscionable arsenic easy beryllium done successful the metropolis a thesis afloat unpacked by Hannah Arendt successful The Origins of Totalitarianism erstwhile reasoning astir European imperialism arsenic a precursor to the Holocaust (Arendt 1962).

The British bequest of authorities by enquiry tin further beryllium seen contiguous successful places similar America and Oceania, wherever immoderate singular exercises successful soul- searching and self-reflection person been conducted successful the discourse of the hapless Global War connected Terror. The 2014 US Senate study connected the usage of torture by CIA agents (US Senate 2014), and the 2020 Brereton study connected warfare crimes committed by Australian peculiar forces successful Afghanistan (Australian Defence Force 2020) are 2 singular examples of this longstanding tradition.

That Is Not Done

Commissions of enquiry were utilized by the British Empire not lone arsenic a mode of gathering accusation and promoting betterment wrong its ain jurisdiction. They were besides utilized to archer different powers what to bash with the populations located successful their respective overseas territories. One of the fewer examples of an wide affirmative humanitarian intervention, that is, the usage of subject unit to halt monolithic rights violations, took spot successful 1860 successful the state of Syria past nether Ottoman control. Shocked by the unit perpetrated against section Christian populations successful Mount Lebanon and Damascus, France and the UK sent troops, with the Ottoman Empires consent, to reconstruct bid and order. In the aftermath, and existent to signifier successful the British imperial tradition, a committee of enquiry was acceptable up to find responsibilities for the unit (Rodogno 2011, 181182).

Perhaps 1 of the champion examples of a committee of enquiry established by the British Empire to oversee the concern successful the territories nether power of different European powerfulness was the probe starring up to what became known arsenic the Casement Report (Louis 1964). Published successful 1904 by Roger Casement, the study contained an relationship of wide acts of unit and brutality committed by Belgian and different European agents against autochthonal populations successful what was known past arsenic the Congo Free State, that is, the portion of Congo colonized by King Leopold II of Belgium arsenic his ain backstage property.

The report, successful which Casement vocally preached the gospel of Congo betterment (Ibid, 120), caused specified an interaction successful European nine astatine the clip that it is said to person precipitated the extremity of the Congo Free State arsenic a royal possession erstwhile it was turned into an authoritative Belgian colony successful 1908 a humble portion of the African gteau that the Belgians would clasp connected to for a further 52 years.

This and different accounts of the heinous acts of unit and outrageous abuses committed successful the Belgian Congo inspired immoderate of the astir insightful works of fabrication written astir imperialism: An Outpost of Progress successful 1897 (Conrad 2002a) and Heart of Darkness successful 1899 (Conrad 2002b), some authored by Joseph Conrad, a Polish-British writer calved successful Ukraine.

Conrads ain presumption astir imperialism remained ambiguous and nuanced, his praeter-colonial caput being capable to accommodate some earnest praise for the advancement of airy and advancement arsenic good arsenic sober condemnation of the horrendous assaults connected humanity helium witnessed. In his ain words:

Another singular European idiosyncratic caught successful the mediate of the imperialist fever, whose exploits were immortalized by the precocious Peruvian writer and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa successful his 2010 caller El sueo del celta (The Dream of the Celt) (Vargas Llosa 2010), is nary different than the writer of the Congo report: Roger Casement. If anyone epitomizes the tone of the praeter-colonial caput astatine the crook of the twentieth period it is undoubtedly Casement.

Roger Casement was the poster kid of the British fondness for commissions of inquiry. He was appointed by the UK authorities successful 1903 to constitute his celebrated study connected the Congo, arsenic helium happened to beryllium the British consul successful Boma astatine the time. After the occurrence of this archetypal inquiry, helium was again commissioned by the Foreign Office to behaviour an probe connected abuses committed against autochthonal workers collecting rubber for the UK-registered Peruvian Amazon Company. His 2 consequent reports submitted successful 1910 1911 were arsenic damning arsenic the Congo one, the assemblage exploitation successful South America striking him arsenic brutal and unchecked arsenic the 1 helium documented successful Africa. As a effect of his inquest endeavors for the British Crown, helium was knighted and became known henceforth arsenic Sir Roger Casement.

But that is not the full story. Although helium was a taxable of the British Crown, Sir Roger was successful information an Irishman calved successful Dublin. Being exposed to the darkest broadside of European imperialism successful Africa and South America did not permission him untouched oregon peculiarly amenable to the footprint of colonialism overmuch person to home. His captious tone and inquisitive expertise eventually, possibly inevitably, led him to crook the regard inwards and unveil what was successful beforehand of his eyes: British imperialism was incompatible with a sovereign and autarkic Ireland.

Thus, Casement secretly became an activistic for the enactment origin and plotted with the Germans during World War I to limb the Irish rebels connected the eve of the Easter Rising of 1916. Upon landing successful Kerry wrong a German submarine, helium was captured and tried for treason against the British Crown. His defence famously riding connected a comma from an obscure medieval statute (Anderson 2013), and contempt pleads for mercy coming from the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, W.B. Yeats and George Bernard Shaw (but not Conrad, who ne'er forgave him his treachery), Casement was yet convicted and hanged arsenic a traitor connected the 3rd time of August, 1916.

Thus passed 1 of the large praeter-colonial minds of the agelong nineteenth period a precise analyzable idiosyncratic caught successful the mediate of a precise analyzable age. In his caput the duties of benign imperialism coexisted with a almighty thrust for quality decency and an progressively beardown yearn for freedom. The precise tools of empire enactment astatine Casements disposal to telephone retired the depravity of different Europeans overseas led him to crook against the hypocrisy of his ain masters and, ultimately, to his ain demise.

Post-Imperial Hangover

Another singular praeter-colonial caput recovered successful the British Isles contiguous is Sathnam Sanghera, an English writer writer of the caller bestsellers Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain (Sanghera 2021), and Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe (Sanghera 2024). Born to Indian Punjabi parents successful the Midlands, and Cambridge educated, Sanghera is the personification of the British Dream truthful galore immigrants prosecute erstwhile they determine to determination to the UK. But helium is truthful overmuch much than that.

Incredibly insightful and self-aware to a fault, Sanghera represents 1 of the finest examples of the praeter-colonial mindset that is the taxable of this study. His narration with empire is complicated, not dissimilar different British liberals earlier him. For example, George Orwell understood precise good the injustices the British Empire was built upon but was nevertheless not acceptable to springiness it each up lest this whitethorn trim England to a acold and unimportant small land wherever we should each person to enactment precise hard and unrecorded chiefly connected herrings and potatoes (Zakaria 2024, 140), A.K.A. pre-industrial, pre-imperial England.

Sanghera begins Empireland by proposing the instauration of a caller vacation successful Britain: Empire Awareness Day, oregon arsenic helium besides calls it, Empire Day 2.0 (in notation to the accepted Empire Day that existed betwixt 1916 and 1958). By remembering specified a day, British radical could amended recognize the galore ways the conception of empire shapes their lives today, including Sangheras (and truthful galore others) ain migrant background:

He further develops the constituent successful Empireworld, wherever helium argues that the fashionable conception of decolonization, though important for restoring the self-respect and bureau of the formerly colonized, tin lone ever beryllium tokenistic, arsenic British imperialism is baked into our satellite and, frankly, it would beryllium easier to instrumentality the ghee retired of the masala omelettes Ive go addicted to eating for meal successful India (Sanghera 2024, 18).

Sanghera is further skeptical of approaching the legacies of British imperialism with a equilibrium expanse presumption whereby it is sustained that, connected balance, aft pondering its evils versus its contributions, British colonialism is qualified either arsenic comparatively bully (for example, nether the inquest of the satellite communicative developed successful this chapter) oregon comparatively atrocious (eliciting feelings of guilt oregon shame, erstwhile successful actuality, helium writes, past doesnt attraction astir anyones feelings) (Ibid, 145).

The writer believes that this nuance-free equilibrium expanse approach, truthful communal successful todays civilization wars, really obscures what is an incredibly analyzable and admittedly contradictory bequest that is ingrained successful everything we bash and everything we are today, and that engaging successful a crippled of counterfactuals wherever we region each imperial footprint from our satellite is simply unhelpful (Ibid, 282).

Another absorbing constituent raised by Sanghera is what amounts to a uncommon and compelling workout successful humanities humility, erstwhile helium suggests that a reckoning with their imperial past would let British radical to beryllium amended prepared erstwhile the clip comes for 1 oregon galore of these formerly subjugated peoples to find the formers destiny:

Ultimately, what Sanghera aims to execute is to prosecute his countrymen and countrywomen truthful they, successful turn, tin articulation the ongoing dialog astir the legacies of imperialism that is already happening successful the remainder of the world, specified that Brits tin besides measure and admit the highly analyzable world of our present. This dialog would let america to unrecorded successful an infinitely much sophisticated, much absorbing satellite (Ibid, 68) helium concludes, adding that the quality to place contradictory legacies and learning to unrecorded with them tin really beryllium liberating. Because of what helium writes, and due to the fact that of what helium is (how could we abstracted the two?), Sanghera is the archetypal prater-colonial caput of twenty-first period Britain.

We Need More British Museums

In the precocious 1990s Michael Ignatieff observed that determination were immoderate Conradian continuities betwixt the galore humanitarian and subject planetary engagements led by the West astatine the clip and the classical interventionism of the property of empire (Ignatieff 1998, 93). He was referring to Joseph Conrad, an writer we already mentioned here, whose sanction has go synonym with the consciousness and denunciation of the excesses of colonialism.

Yet, arsenic I besides mentioned before, Conrads presumption connected colonialism is astatine champion nuanced, adjacent praeter-colonial, arsenic helium believed successful the anticipation to redeem each the suffering with an idea, namely the conception that the airy of civilization tin marque the acheronian recede unless, of course, the bosom of acheronian nests wrong each of us, a anticipation helium besides seems to entertain erstwhile the narrator of Heart of Darkness, Marlow, experiences a consciousness of distant kinship with the chaotic and passionate uproar coming from the men dwelling successful the nighttime of archetypal ages (Conrad 2002b, 139; Maier-Katkin and Maier-Katkin 2004).

Conrads ain praeter-colonial attack is champion illustrated astatine the opening of Heart of Darkness, erstwhile the narrator contemplates the Thames astatine dusk and abruptly declares that London, that beacon of civilization, the precise bosom of empire astatine the crook of the twentieth century, has besides been 1 of the acheronian places of the world (Conrad 2002b, 105). By that helium means that, a agelong clip ago, erstwhile the archetypal Roman triremes were making their mode upstream implicit a oversea the colour of pb nether a entity the colour of smoke, venturing into the chartless successful this distant outpost of the Roman Empire, that portion of the satellite was besides deprived of each the things we see a portion of advancement and civilization law, order, commerce, industry, prosperity, and peace. In a word, the light, whose luminescence had to beryllium carried to this mediocre backwater (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012, 174) by the conquerors (Conrad 2002a, 9; Lindqvist 2018, 1127). In that sense, the British Empire learned from the precise best.

I thought of each these things arsenic I walked done the streets of London, a spot I erstwhile called location erstwhile I was a doctoral candidate. When I visited the British Museum for the archetypal time, I abruptly recovered my post-colonial caput resenting this formerly acheronian spot of the world that believes it tin present location past treasures and wonders from each implicit the satellite conscionable due to the fact that they were captured by force, not slightest an artifact, the Moai, that my ain compatriots privation back, adjacent if the Brits are inactive looking astatine it.

But past I saw it: It was a Sunday morning, and families were retired and about. They had taken their children to sojourn this admission-free depository truthful they could larn each astir past Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, China, India, America, and adjacent a spot arsenic distant arsenic Easter Island. As I saw kids observing each these wonders of history, absorbing each item successful their processing brains, I couldnt assistance but deliberation however affluent their acquisition was turning retired to be, however galore secrets of this satellite they could entree and however overmuch amended versions of themselves they would turn up to beryllium conscionable by being exposed to specified a treasure trove of quality knowledge. And past it deed me, arsenic my prejudiced post-colonial caput gave mode to a much nuanced prater-colonial thought: We dont request to get escaped of the British Museum. What we request is much British Museums astir the world, wherever kids of each places tin entree this benignant of cognition successful their ain towns. I ideate a worldwide web of museums sharing these artifacts truthful we tin springiness each kid the accidental to entree a high-quality education. The applicable details would request to beryllium sorted out, of course, arsenic galore objects would not beryllium capable to beryllium truthful easy transported backmost and forth. But they did transport them backmost successful the time erstwhile conservation exertion was not arsenic advanced. We tin bash it again, much reasonably this time, frankincense making definite children everyplace successful the satellite tin beryllium amazed by the treasures of humankind, that their small praeter-colonial minds whitethorn turn beardown and wise.