Further Thoughts on Imperial Absent-Mindedness

摘要

When my The Absent-Minded Imperialists was published in 20041 it stimulated - or provoked - a great deal of discussion. Among those most provoked were Antoinette Burton, who dismissed the book as not 'worth arguing either with or about',2 and John MacKenzie: 'some reviewers may be taken in by this, but I am not'.3 Other reviews, of course, were more positive. This paper is partly a reply to some of the more critical ones, but also seeks to place the general debate on the domestic impact of British imperialism in context, and will finish with a suggestion for moving it forward in a new way.