Courses

The introduction of the ‘rule of law’ provided perhaps the most widely referenced justification for the forcible imposition of imperial power around the globe in early modern and modern history. However, discourse around British justice cannot be simply understood as an alibi propagated to consolidate imperial legitimacy. Legal structures provided a ruling frame to organize, discipline and police newly conquered societies, leaving lasting legacies in postcolonial nation-states, the British post-imperial state, and in international law. Taking case studies from Ireland, India, Malaya, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, Kenya and Aden, the course will examine the rise of imperial, and later international legal orders, through various formative moments in the legal history of the British Empire. In dividing the world into rulers and ruled, it is in the legal history of empire where we can begin to consider the origins of concepts and questions that still dominate political discussions in the contemporary world. These include human rights, humanitarianism, racism, violence, and sovereignty.