How the end of empire upended the Union by Professor Stuart Ward, University of Copenhagen @INSIGHTSPublicLecturesNCL

Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Chaired by Dr Martin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History and Co-Chair, Public Lectures Committee

‘First the empire went’. The end of empire did indeed raise formidable challenges to the durability of a unitary Britishness, but they appeared in a language, imagery and symbolism that resonated far beyond the physical confines of the UK. To survive, Britishness needs to be reconceptualized as a global category of analysis, allowing us to trace the historical evolution of British sensibilities from the outside-in.

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