Cultures of empire in the Scottish Highlands, c.1876-1902
This thesis explores how the people of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland - a rural region of Britain - engaged with the British Empire in a period commonly referred to as the 'Age of High Imperialism'. It does so by exploring civil society activity in the area, and examines how different aspects of domestic life - religion, politics, culture, associational activity - shaped engagement with the Empire or imperial ideas. Scholarship on the place of the Empire back 'home' in Britain has recently stressed the patchwork nature of imperial engagement, with recognition given to the fact that both British society and the Empire itself were never monolithic entities. A 'Four Nations' approach to empire has been one of the most fruitful outcomes of this new focus, and this body of scholarship has explored how each of the four nations of Britain had different relationships with the Empire, and the impact this had on individual national identities. However, both this body of literature and the wider literature on 'imperial Britain' have remained overwhelmingly urban in focus, and have failed to explore whether the models for empire engagement they portray varied outside of Britain's main urban centres. By exploring
Thomas, Ben
Highlands (Scotland) ; Great Britain
Cultures of empire in the Scottish Highlands, c.1876-1902. This thesis explores how the people of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland - a rural region of Britain - engaged with the British Empire in a period commonly referred to as the 'Age of High Imperialism'. It does so by exploring civil society activity in the area, and examines how different aspects of domestic life - religion, politics, culture, associational activity - shaped engagement with the Empire or imperial ideas. Scholarship on the place of the Empire back 'home' in Britain has recently stressed the patchwork nature of imperial engagement, with recognition given to the fact that both British society and the Empire itself were never monolithic entities. A 'Four Nations' approach to empire has been one of the most fruitful outcomes of this new focus, and this body of scholarship has explored how each of the four nations of Britain had different relationships with the Empire, and the impact this had on individual national identities. However, both this body of literature and the wider literature on 'imperial Britain' have remained overwhelmingly urban in focus, and have failed to explore whether the models for empire engagement they portray varied outside of Britain's main urban centres. By exploring
cultures empire scottish_highlands explores people highlands islands scotland rural region britain engage british_empire period commonly_refer age high imperialism explore civil_society activity_area examines different_aspect domestic_life religion_politics culture associational activity shape engagement empire imperial idea scholarship place empire back home_britain recently stress patchwork nature imperial engagement recognition give fact british_society empire never monolithic entity nations empire fruitful outcomes new focus body scholarship explore nation britain different relationship empire impact individual national_identity however body_literature wider literature imperial britain remain overwhelmingly urban focus fail explore_whether model empire engagement portray vary outside britain main urban_centre explore