'Great' Britain?

The British Empire dominated and exploited its colonies for centuries in order to strengthen its own economy and sovereign power. The Empire fully dissolved by the 1960s but UK institutions are still entrenched with colonial practise, and as a result oppression remains. So, how 'Great' really is Britain?

I recently watched the new season of 'The Crown' - a Netflix drama based on the British Crown. Episode 8 features Margaret Thatcher opposing economic sanctions against the South African government to dissolve the apartheid due to it not being in Britain's economic interests. The events in the episode demonstrate that in the 1980s institutions retained colonial attitudes towards less developed states.

Despite South Africa no longer being a British colony, Thatcher still regarded it as a subaltern country, incapable of complying with a bounded sovereign state. She said that Britain did not need to associate with "unreliable tribal leaders in eccentric costumes". The language she used echoes Orientalism - the East is othered and depicted as inferior to the West. The British government was reluctant to dissolve the apartheid despite colonial violence and exploitation having led to the conditions in South Africa. Only states considered great powers were relevant. 

Thatcher prioritising Britain's economy and power also exemplifies the type of 'self-help' thinking that neorealists ascribe to states. Neorealism assumes states act in a utility-maximising way, only interested in relative gains that increase their power in the world arena.

This episode was based on events in 1986 so one may assume that today's society is rid of colonial practise. However, the Black Lives Matter protests that took place over the summer suggest the opposite. At the time, an alumni student from my secondary school forwarded me a letter addressed to the headteachers asking them to decolonise the curriculum and bring anti-racist practise into the school. 

The letter highlighted that "The National Curriculum seeks to brush Britain's colonial history under the rug and fails to highlight the contributions of Black people to our rich British history". This results in students having "a Eurocentric whitewashed view of the world". The letter contained testimonies from Black students who felt isolated during their time at school.

Students need to be exposed to a decolonised curriculum to better understand the other racialised institutions in our society, and to give non-White students a greater sense of identity at school. Post-colonial studies are necessary to decentralise 'the West' as the centre of knowledge and contest the legacies of colonialism that are still present today. I urge you to also confront your school curriculum so students do not leave school with a bias, Westernised view of the world.

If Britain was to undo the damaging effects of its imperial past then maybe it would be deserving of its 'Great' title.