Thailand's Kra Isthmus and Elusive Canal Plans since the 1850s

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Dobbs
Keyword(s):  
Historical Background ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
British Policy ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial

AbstractThis article uses primarily British colonial documents and Singapore sources to examine the history of proposals for the construction of a shipping canal through Thailand's Kra Isthmus from the 1850s. It provides historical background for continuing interest in constructing a Kra canal with the most recent speculative discussions involving Chinese interests. Since the 1850s the idea of a canal was revived on numerous occasions with several detailed surveys conducted over this time to assess the feasibility of a shipping canal via the Kra Isthmus. This research examines how speculation and actual proposals were handled by the British colonial authorities and how this related to the British policy of using Siam/Thailand as a buffer state separating their colonies and those of their European rival France. In colonial Singapore canal proposals created great angst and to some extent this has continued to be the case to the present day. The article suggests that while British colonial policy was always against, or at least not in favour of, the construction of a canal, other factors are equally important for explaining why canal proposals never proceeded beyond planning and surveys.

Mappila Muslim Masculinities: A History of Contemporary Abjectification

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 542-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammadali P. Kasim
Keyword(s):  
Public Domain ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Indian State ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial

This article explores multiple dimensions of stereotyping Mappila Muslim masculinities in the south Indian state of Kerala, as abject and demonized other. I begin with a survey of the British colonial construction of Mappila masculinity as, for example, militant religious fanatic, against the historical background of encounters between the two. It follows an examination of the new ways of reproducing these constructs in a changed yet hegemonic narrative public domain of the contemporary where Hindu majoritarian nationalism gathers its momentum. In so doing, this article also scrutinizes the larger mythological and structural elements of the contemporary refiguring. Drawing from these historical and contemporary trajectories, I argue that abjectification of Muslim masculinities is one of the basic ingredients of Islamophobia at work, often in banal forms.

scholarly journals Translation and the British Colonial Mission: The Career of Samuel Turner Fearon and the Establishment of Chinese Studies at King's College, London

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
UGANDA SZE PUI KWAN
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
King's College ◽  
Chinese Studies ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
The University

AbstractThe University of London was the first institution in the United Kingdom to establish a professorship in Chinese. Within a decade of the first half of the nineteenth century, two professorships in Chinese were created at its two colleges: the first at University College in 1837 and the second at King's College in 1847. Previous studies of British sinology have devoted sufficient attention to the establishment of the programme and the first Chinese professorship. However, despite the latter professorship being established by the same patron (Sir George Thomas Staunton; 1781–1859) during the same era as the former, the institutionalisation of the Chinese programme at King's College London seems to have been completely overlooked. If we consider British colonial policy and the mission of the Empire in the early nineteenth century, we are able to understand the strategic purpose served by the Chinese studies programme at King's and the special reason for its establishment at a crucial moment in the history of Sino-British relations. Examining it from this perspective, we reveal unresolved doubts concerning the selection and appointment of King's first Chinese professor. Unlike other inaugural Chinese professors appointed during the nineteenth century at other universities in the United Kingdom, the first Chinese professor at King’s, Samuel Turner Fearon (1819–1854), was not a sinophile. He did not translate any Chinese classics or other works. His inaugural lecture has not even survived. This is why sinologists have failed to conduct an in-depth study on Fearon and the genealogy of the Chinese programme at King’s. Nevertheless, Samuel Fearon did indeed play a very significant role in Sino-British relations due to his ability as an interpreter and his knowledge of China. He was not only an interpreter in the first Opium War (1839–1842) but was also a colonial civil servant and senior government official in British Hong Kong when the colonial government started to take shape after the war. This paper both re-examines his contribution during this “period of conflict and difficulty” in Sino-British relations and demonstrates the very nature of British sinology.

A Short History of British Colonial Policy.

1898 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 538
Author(s):  
George Louis Beer ◽  
Hugh Edward Egerton
Keyword(s):  
Short History ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial

Spatial Organisation of Northeast India: Colonial Politics, Power Structure and Hills–Plains Relationship

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-169
Author(s):  
Yuimirin Kapai
Keyword(s):  
Northeast India ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Spatial Organisation ◽  
Hegemonic Discourse ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
British Policy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hill Tribes ◽  
Historical Trajectory ◽  
The Hill

The article examines the ideological framework and the principal concerns and interests that underline the colonial policy towards the hill ‘tribes’ of Northeast India. It elaborates on an argument that the colonial spatial ordering of the region privileges the valleys over the hills. The colonial rule establishes and maintains the structural imbalance of the region by making the plains the centres and by relegating the hills to the peripheral ‘others’, thereby perpetuating the power configuration implicit in the spatial organisation. Emphasis on paternalistic reasoning of the British policy towards the hills has clouded the stamp of indifference and insensitivity that underlay the policies. The policy also ‘excluded’ the hill peoples from access to education, engagement in modern economy, and development of infrastructures. The practice of reading the history of the British policy towards the hills appears to be essentially concerned with the elucidation of the hill peoples’ separatist attitude. By reading the history through the lens of categories such as centre-periphery, power relations and uneven development, the article contends that the colonial policy of segregation charts a historical trajectory, which is at variance with what the hegemonic discourse has established.

scholarly journals British Colonial Policy “Divide and Rule”: Fanning Arab Rivalry in Palestine

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Ayse Tekdal Fildis ◽  
Ensar Nisanci
Keyword(s):  
Local Politics ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Traditional Elite ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
Divide And Rule ◽  
The Given ◽  
Nationalist Parties

The 2nd November 2017 is the centenary of the Balfour Declaration which is Britain’s public acknowledgement and support of the Zionist movement and the commitment to a Jewish National Home. The Declaration is identified by the Palestinian narrative as the source of their tragedy whilst the British side its motive was the consideration of who would be most useful to the British interest under the given circumstances. The main characteristics of the Palestinian politics and society after the Balfour Declaration and during the Mandate period was the pervasiveness of factionalism. These divisions were based on family, kinship, and clan. As for their politics, they were mainly shaped by the notable families who helped to intensify this fragmentation in the Palestinian society. The notable families pervaded local politics during the Ottoman period and continued to do so in the early part of the British administration. The mandate administration, although denied the effective Palestinian self-government, it toughened the notability stratification by giving it recognition and legitimacy in social and religious affairs. The British administration refused to accept or recognize the Palestinian Arabs as a national entity, because of the lack of a central authority, Palestinians did not have the social resources to organize and unite themselves. Although the British did not recognize the Palestinians as a national entity they accepted its notables as the leaders and representatives of the Palestinians. The British policy of alliance with the notables helped those notable families achieve decisive pre-eminence in the Palestinian politics. The notability was at the forefront of the nationalist sentiment. They suppressed the existence of independent nationalist parties and groups. The same traditional elite helped intensify fragmentation in the society, especially as the external challenges became more severe. They became an impediment to the wider national integration. Following the historical background of the area until the establishment of the Mandate, this paper will focus on the analysis of the British policies feeding the inter-Arab rivalries and animosity between the notable families and conclude with the study of the valuation of the Palestinian Arab leadership until 1936-1939 Arab revolt.

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