Read more
Zusatztext "In recent years scholars have become alert to the divergence of the academic discipline of international relations--however broadly conceived--from the history of political thought. Duncan Bell's assured and impressive monograph, which is derived from his PhD thesis, demonstrates the rich opportunities to be gained by bringing these two areas of enquiry into closer alignment." ---Colin Kidd, History of Political Thought Informationen zum Autor Duncan Bell Klappentext During the tumultuous closing decades of the nineteenth century! as the prospect of democracy loomed and as intensified global economic and strategic competition reshaped the political imagination! British thinkers grappled with the question of how best to organize the empire. Many found an answer to the anxieties of the age in the idea of Greater Britain! a union of the United Kingdom and its settler colonies in Australia! Canada! New Zealand! and southern Africa. In The Idea of Greater Britain! Duncan Bell analyzes this fertile yet neglected debate! examining how a wide range of thinkers conceived of this vast "Anglo-Saxon" political community. Their proposals ranged from the fantastically ambitious--creating a globe-spanning nation-state--to the practical and mundane--reinforcing existing ties between the colonies and Britain. But all of these ideas were motivated by the disquiet generated by democracy! by challenges to British global supremacy! and by new possibilities for global cooperation and communication that anticipated today's globalization debates. Exploring attitudes toward the state! race! space! nationality! and empire! as well as highlighting the vital theoretical functions played by visions of Greece! Rome! and the United States! Bell illuminates important aspects of late-Victorian political thought and intellectual life. Zusammenfassung During the tumultuous closing decades of the nineteenth century, as the prospect of democracy loomed and as intensified global economic and strategic competition reshaped the political imagination, British thinkers grappled with the question of how best to organize the empire. Many found an answer to the anxieties of the age in the idea of Greater Britain, a union of the United Kingdom and its settler colonies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and southern Africa. In The Idea of Greater Britain , Duncan Bell analyzes this fertile yet neglected debate, examining how a wide range of thinkers conceived of this vast "Anglo-Saxon" political community. Their proposals ranged from the fantastically ambitious--creating a globe-spanning nation-state--to the practical and mundane--reinforcing existing ties between the colonies and Britain. But all of these ideas were motivated by the disquiet generated by democracy, by challenges to British global supremacy, and by new possibilities for global cooperation and communication that anticipated today's globalization debates. Exploring attitudes toward the state, race, space, nationality, and empire, as well as highlighting the vital theoretical functions played by visions of Greece, Rome, and the United States, Bell illuminates important aspects of late-Victorian political thought and intellectual life. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Chapter 1: Introduction: Building Greater Britain 1 The Boundaries of Imperial Discourse: Imagining Greater Britain 3 Greater Britain and Imperial Federation: Variations on a Theme 12 Empire and Ideology 20 Outline of the Book 25 Chapter 2: Global Competition and Democracy 31 Balances of Power: Global Threats and Imperial Responses 35 Democracy and the Moral Economy of Empire 40 Emigration and the Social Question 46 Radical Visions of Greater Britain 55 Chapter 3: Time! Space! Empire 63 "The Eternal Law": Empire and the Vicissitudes of Distance 66 Nature in Flux! c. 1830-1870 74 Imperial Political Th...
About the author
Duncan Bell
Summary
During the tumultuous closing decades of the nineteenth century, as the prospect of democracy loomed and as intensified global economic and strategic competition reshaped the political imagination, British thinkers grappled with the question of how best to organize the empire. This title analyzes this debate.
