Editing British Empire (section)

=== Interpretations of Empire ===
Historians' [[historiography of the British Empire|approaches to understanding the British Empire]] are diverse and evolving.<ref name="winks">{{Cite book |last=Winks |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Winks |title=The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume V: Historiography |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1982-0566-1 |editor-last=Winks |editor-first=Robin |location=Oxford |pages=40–42 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.001.0001}}</ref> Two key sites of debate over recent decades have been the impact of [[Postcolonialism|post-colonial studies]], which seek to [[Critical theory|critically]] re-evaluate the history of imperialism, and the continued relevance of historians [[Ronald Robinson]] and [[Jack Gallagher (historian)|John Gallagher]], whose work greatly influenced imperial historiography during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, differing assessments of the empire's legacy remain relevant to debates over recent history and politics, such as the Anglo-American [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasions of Iraq]] and [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], as well as Britain's role and identity in the contemporary world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Middleton |first=Alex |date=6 August 2019 |title=Review: The Imperial History Wars: Debating the British Empire, by Dane Kennedy |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=134 |issue=568 |pages=773–775 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cez128 |doi-access=free| issn=0013-8266 }}</ref><ref name="mitter">{{Cite news |last=Rana |first=Mitter |author-link=Rana Mitter |date=17 March 2022 |title=Legacy of Violence — the bloody ends of empire |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e7c4feac-7123-4e7c-8a7e-bf13107ee6f9 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/e7c4feac-7123-4e7c-8a7e-bf13107ee6f9 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

Historians such as [[Caroline Elkins]] have argued against perceptions of the British Empire as a primarily liberalising and modernising enterprise, criticising its widespread use of violence and [[emergency law]]s to maintain power.<ref name="mitter"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Elkins |first=Caroline |author-link=Caroline Elkins |title=Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-3072-7242-3 |pages=14–16, 680}}</ref> Common criticisms of the empire include the use of detention camps in its colonies, massacres of [[indigenous peoples]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Howe |first=Stephen |date=2010 |title=Colonising and Exterminating? Memories of Imperial Violence in Britain and France |journal=Histoire Politique |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=13–15 |doi=10.3917/hp.011.0012}}</ref> and famine-response policies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheldon |first=Richard |title=Empire, Development and Colonialism: The Past in the Present |date=2009 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-8470-1011-7 |editor-last=Duffield |editor-first=Mark |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |pages=74–87 |chapter=Development, Poverty & Famines: The Case of British Empire |jstor=10.7722/j.ctt81pqr.10 |editor-last2=Hewitt |editor-first2=Vernon}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Jon |date=21 January 2016 |title=British people are proud of colonialism and the British Empire, poll finds |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-people-are-proud-of-colonialism-and-the-british-empire-poll-finds-a6821206.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628013502/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-people-are-proud-of-colonialism-and-the-british-empire-poll-finds-a6821206.html |archive-date=28 June 2022 |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref> Some scholars, including [[Amartya Sen]], assert that British policies worsened the [[famine in India|famines in India]] that killed millions during British rule.<ref>[[Amartya Sen|Sen, Amartya]]. Development as Freedom. {{ISBN|978-0-3857-2027-4}} ch 7</ref> Conversely, historians such as [[Niall Ferguson]] say that the economic and institutional development the British Empire brought resulted in a net benefit to its colonies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |author-link=Niall Ferguson |date=3 June 2004 |title=Niall Ferguson: What the British Empire did for the world |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/niall-ferguson-what-the-british-empire-did-for-the-world-41252.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629225418/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/niall-ferguson-what-the-british-empire-did-for-the-world-41252.html |archive-date=29 June 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |work=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> Other historians treat its legacy as varied and ambiguous.<ref name="mitter"/> Public attitudes towards the empire within 21st-century Britain have been broadly positive although sentiment towards the Commonwealth has been one of apathy and decline.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Robert |date=11 March 2020 |title=UK more nostalgic for empire than other ex-colonial powers |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/uk-more-nostalgic-for-empire-than-other-ex-colonial-powers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625170301/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/uk-more-nostalgic-for-empire-than-other-ex-colonial-powers |archive-date=25 June 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />