[lbo-talk] Me, on the Aborigines' Protection Society, 1836-1909, this Thursday, Brighton, England

James Heartfield Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk
Tue Jul 12 04:11:38 PDT 2011


Anyone who is in Brighton, England this Thursday is welcome to come along to a talk on the history of the Aborigines’ Protection Society. Details Here: http://www.thebrightonsalon.com/

This is the book, I am talking about: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aborigines-Protection-Society-Humanitarian-Imperialism/dp/1849041202

And this is the blurb:

For more than 70 years, the Aborigines’ Protection Society, a select group of the great and the good, fought for the natives of the British Empire and against the tide of white supremacy to defend the interests of aboriginal peoples everywhere. Active on four continents, the Society brought the Zulu King Cetshwayo to meet Queen Victoria, and Maori rebels to the Lord Mayor’s banqueting hall. The Society’s supporters were denounced by senior British Army Officers and white settlers as Zulu-lovers, ‘so-called friends of the aborigines’, and even traitors.

James Heartfield discusses the arguments in his new book that the failure of today’s ‘humanitarian imperialism’ has its roots in the thinking and practices of nineteenth-century campaigners for natives’ rights.

The book tells the story of the three-cornered fight among the Colonial Office, the settlers and the natives that shaped the Empire and the pivotal role that the Society played, persuading the authorities to limit settlers’ claims in the name of native interests. Against expectations, the policy of native protection turned out to be one of the most important reasons for the growth of Imperial rule

---------- And published by Columbia U. Press in October



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