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Colonial officers and gentlemen: the British Empire and the globalization of ‘tradition’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Maria Misra
Affiliation:
Keble College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKEmail: anna-maria.misra@keble.ox.ac.uk

Abstract

This article asks why simplistic accounts of the British Empire as a modernizing force have been so popular in recent years. It contends that, aside from the obvious ideological appeal of these views to some, academic literature has found it difficult to offer a powerful rebuttal. This article argues that in order to do so we need to think more comparatively about the British Empire as a system, and to restore attention to imperial agency. However, this is not best achieved through a traditional study of high politics, but by bringing cultural historical approaches to the study of Britain’s lower imperial cadre. The second half of the article offers a preliminary analysis of the attitudes of local colonial officers. It argues that, contrary to the arguments of neo-imperialist popular historians, this group was hostile to modernization, and in many cases was determined to maintain or restore what they regarded as a traditional order.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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32 Anderson, ‘Islamic law’, pp. 5–6.

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49 Shadle, ‘“Changing Traditions”’, pp. 415, 421–6.

50 Ibid., p. 425.

51 Ibid., p. 424.

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79 Spangenberg, ‘Problem’, pp. 342–7.

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85 Heussler, Yesterday’s ruler, chs. 2–3; for a more candid picture see Heussler’s private correspondence: Rhodes House Library, Oxford, MSS Brit.Eng.480, Robert W. Heussler papers (henceforth RHL, RWH), boxes 1 and 2.

86 Heussler, British in Malaya, p. 264.

87 Spangenberg, ‘Problem’, p. 343; Dewey, ‘Education’, pp. 283–5; Kahyin Cheong, ‘Study of MCS cadets’ attitudes towards the colonial population c. 1900–1940’, MSt thesis, University of Oxford, 2008, Appendix A.

88 RHL, RWH, 14/1/21, G. Hawkins to H. Boyson, 12 June 1969.

89 RHL, RWH 2/1/6–7, Anonymous, ‘Notes on interviews 1946’.

90 RHL, RWH 2/2/18, Heussler, Notes on interview with C. Cox, 16 November 1960.

91 Edinburgh Review, April 1874, cited in Spangenberg, ‘Problem’, p. 342–3.

92 George Birdwood, Competition and the Indian Civil Service, London, 1872, p. 10.

93 Compton, ‘Open competition’, p. 268; Heussler, British in Malaya, p. 261.

94 Heussler, Yesterday’s rulers, p. 72.

95 RHL, RWH 2/6/16–17, W. R. Crocker to Heussler, 16 August 1960.

96 RHL, RWH 2/1/30, Heussler, ‘Note on selection procedure ’, c. November 1960.

97 Ibid.

98 RHL, RWH 2/6/5, D. Blellochy to Heussler, 19 June 1962.

99 RHL, RWH 2/4/9, Heussler, Notes on discussions with Marjorie Perham, 16 June 1960.

100 Charles Trevelyan, cited by Compton, ‘Open Competition’, pp. 269–70.

101 RHL, RWH 2/4/49, Heussler, Notes on interview with E. R. Bevington, 12 April 1962.

102 For India, see Compton, ‘Open Competition’, p. 270; for Africa, see RHL, RWH 6/1/12, J. H. Canon, ‘Note on Northern Nigeria: personal thoughts on administration and progress, 1919–1929’.

103 RHL, RWH, 1/7, Heussler, Notes of discussion with C. Elliot, 28 September 1960.

104 RHL, RWH 2/1/25–7, Anonymous, Notes on interviews 1946.

105 RHL, RWH 2/1/24, Anonymous, Notes on interviews 1946.

106 RHL, RWH 1/7/33, K. D. D. Henderson to Heussler, 8 December, 10 October 1960.

107 RHL, RWH 2/1/27, Anonymous, Notes on interviews 1946’.

108 Henry S. Maine, cited in Dewey, ‘Education’, p. 279.

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112 RHL, RWH, 9/1/94, W. D. Barron, Notes written in answer to Heussler’s questionnaire, n.d.

113 RHL, RWH, 9/1/63–4, E. C. G. Barrett to Heussler, 29 December 1974.

114 RHL, RWH, 14/3/35, R. Helps to Heussler, n.d.

115 Singapore Archives, box 4, file 10, MS T. P. Cromwell, 27.1.35, p.10, cited in Cheong, ‘Study of MCS attitudes’.

116 Heussler, British in Malaya, pp. 123–4.

117 RHL, RWH 9/1/61, E. C. G. Barrett to Heussler, 11 November 1975.

118 C. W. Harrison, Some notes on the government services in Malaya, London: Charing Cross, 1929, p. 66.

119 Heussler, British in Malaya, pp. 162–3.

120 For a classic view, see Dewey, ‘Images’.

121 David C. Dorward, ‘The development of the British colonial administration among the Tiv, 1900–1949’, African Affairs, 68, 273, 1979, pp. 316–33.

122 Harrison, Some Notes, p. 52.

123 RHL, RWH 9/1/62, E. C. G. Barrett to Heussler, 11 November 1975.

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131 Dirks, ‘From little king’ p. 332.

132 Roland K. Anderson, An introduction to the study of Anglo-Muhammadan law, London, 1894, p. 2.

133 Washbrook, ‘Economic depression’, p. 257.

134 Anderson, ‘Islamic law’, pp. 19–23; Klugle, ‘Framed’, pp. 294–313.

135 Berry, ‘Hegemony’, p. 328.

136 Quoted in Mamdani, Citizen, p. 115.

137 Rattray, cited in ibid.

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140 Quoted in Mamdani, Citizen, p. 125.

141 Metcalf, Ideologies, chs. 3–4.

142 RHL, RWH, 4/1/27–8, unsigned and undated note in Kisarawe District Book, c.1930.

143 RHL, RWH 4/1/67, unsigned and undated note in Kiserawe District Book, c.1930.

144 RHL, RWH 4/1/69–70, unsigned and undated note in Kisarawe District Book, c.1930.

145 RHL, RWH 4/1/71, unsigned and undated note in Kisarawe District Book, c.1930.

146 RHL, RWH, 4/1/73, unsigned and undated note in Kisarawe District Book, c.1930.