Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this interview, Priyamvada Gopal explains the ideas and theories behind her book Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent
Much has been written on how colonial subjects took up British and European ideas and turned them against empire when making claims to freedom and self-determination. The possibility of reverse influence has been largely overlooked. Insurgent Empire shows how Britain’s enslaved and colonial subjects were not merely victims of empire but also agents whose resistance both contributed to their own liberation and shaped British ideas about freedom and who could be free.
This book examines dissent over the question of empire in Britain and shows how it was influenced by rebellions and resistance in the colonies from the West Indies and East Africa to Egypt and India. It also shows how a pivotal role in fomenting dissent was played by anticolonial campaigners based in London, at the heart of the empire.
Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent is out now versobooks.com/products/207-insurgent-empire?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_video
In this interview, Priyamvada Gopal explains the ideas and theories behind her book Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent
Much has been written on how colonial subjects took up British and European ideas and turned them against empire when making claims to freedom and self-determination. The possibility of reverse influence has been largely overlooked. Insurgent Empire shows how Britain’s enslaved and colonial subjects were not merely victims of empire but also agents whose resistance both contributed to their own liberation and shaped British ideas about freedom and who could be free.
This book examines dissent over the question of empire in Britain and shows how it was influenced by rebellions and resistance in the colonies from the West Indies and East Africa to Egypt and India. It also shows how a pivotal role in fomenting dissent was played by anticolonial campaigners based in London, at the heart of the empire.
Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent is out now versobooks.com/products/207-insurgent-empire?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_video
