{
  "issue_key": "vol10-no2-2026",
  "volume": 10,
  "number": 2,
  "season": "Spring 2026",
  "year": 2026,
  "sequence": 6,
  "type": "research-article",
  "section": "Research Article",
  "title": "How have historians of the modern British Empire responded to the insights offered by post-colonial theory?",
  "subtitle": null,
  "slug": "how-have-historians-of-the-modern-british-empire-responded-to-the-insights",
  "corporate_author": null,
  "authors": [
    {
      "given_name": "Teddy",
      "family_name": "Wyrley-Birch",
      "credentials": "MA",
      "affiliation": "London Churchill College. Senior Quality Assurance Officer and Secretary of the College Research Ethics Committee.",
      "email": "t.wyrley-birch@lcc.ac.uk",
      "orcid": null,
      "is_corresponding": true,
      "sequence": 1
    }
  ],
  "abstract": "This article examines how the historiography of the modern British Empire has responded to the ideas and interventions of post-colonial theory. It defines the modern British Empire as the period from the emergence of ‘New Imperialism’ in the late nineteenth century to the era of decolonisation in the mid-twentieth century. The article argues that post-colonial theory has fundamentally reshaped how this period has been studied by challenging earlier Eurocentric and elite-focused narratives that marginalised the experiences and agency of colonised peoples. Focusing on the influential work of Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Frantz Fanon, the study analyses how their ideas transformed historical approaches to imperial power, culture, and knowledge production. By tracing how these theoretical insights influenced historical writing on the modern British Empire, particularly within Western academia, this article demonstrates how post-colonial perspectives encouraged historians to reassess the structures, legacies, and lived experiences of empires. It also highlights the growing contribution of scholars from formerly colonised regions who have challenged Eurocentric imperial histories. Ultimately, the article argues that post-colonial theory has not produced a uniform transformation of imperial historiography, but has nonetheless profoundly reshaped the questions historians ask and the perspectives they prioritise.",
  "keywords": [
    "post-colonial theory",
    "imperialism",
    "orientalism",
    "subalternity",
    "colonialism",
    "legacy",
    "agency",
    "decolonisation"
  ],
  "first_page": 13,
  "last_page": 24,
  "pdf_start": 14,
  "pdf_end": 25,
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