ISBN: 9780008511647 Title: Colonialism: a Moral Reckoning Author: BIGGAR NIGEL
A new assessment of the West's colonial record
&
In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the 'End of History' - that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever.
Now however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats.
&
These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the 'decolonisation' movement corrodes the West's self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance as a litany of racism, exploitation, and massively murderous violence.
&
Nigel Biggar tests this indictment, addressing the crucial questions in eight chapters: Was the British Empire driven primarily by greed and the lust to dominate? Should we speak of 'colonialism and slavery' in the same breath, as if they were identical? Was the Empire essentially racist? How far was it based on the theft of land? Did it involve genocide? Was it driven fundamentally by the motive of economic exploitation? Was undemocratic colonial government necessarily illegitimate? and, Was the Empire essentially violent, and its violence pervasively racist and terroristic?
&
Biggar makes clear that, like any other long-standing state, the British Empire involved elements of injustice, sometimes appalling. On occasions it was culpably incompetent and presided over moments of dreadful tragedy.
&
Nevertheless, from the early 1800s the Empire was committed to abolishing the slave trade in the name of a Christian conviction of the basic equality of all human beings. It ended endemic inter-tribal warfare, opened local economies to the opportunities of global trade, moderated the impact of inescapable modernisation, established the rule of law and liberal institutions such as a free press, and spent itself in defeating the murderously racist Nazi and Japanese empires in the Second World War.
&
As encyclopaedic in historical breadth as it& is penetrating in analytical depth, Colonialism offers a moral inquest into the colonial past, forensically contesting damaging falsehoods and thereby helping to rejuvenate faith in the West's future.
var et_link_options_data = [{"class":"et_pb_text_6_tb_footer","url":"mailto:wellington@unitybooks.co.nz","target":"_self"},{"class":"et_pb_text_8_tb_footer","url":"http:\/\/unitybooks.nz\/contact-us\/faqs\/","target":"_blank"},{"class":"et_pb_text_9_tb_footer","url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/pridelands-help-100\/","target":"_self"}];
(function () {
var c = document.body.className;
c = c.replace(/woocommerce-no-js/, 'woocommerce-js');
document.body.className = c;
})();
var wc_add_to_cart_params = {"ajax_url":"\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","wc_ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","i18n_view_cart":"View cart","cart_url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/cart\/","is_cart":"","cart_redirect_after_add":"no"};
var wc_single_product_params = {"i18n_required_rating_text":"Please select a rating","review_rating_required":"yes","flexslider":{"rtl":false,"animation":"slide","smoothHeight":true,"directionNav":false,"controlNav":"thumbnails","slideshow":false,"animationSpeed":500,"animationLoop":false,"allowOneSlide":false},"zoom_enabled":"1","zoom_options":[],"photoswipe_enabled":"1","photoswipe_options":{"shareEl":false,"closeOnScroll":false,"history":false,"hideAnimationDuration":0,"showAnimationDuration":0},"flexslider_enabled":"1"};
var wc_cart_fragments_params = {"ajax_url":"\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","wc_ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","cart_hash_key":"wc_cart_hash_90e5735cc1f9166bf5f4ff56d33eadb4","fragment_name":"wc_fragments_90e5735cc1f9166bf5f4ff56d33eadb4","request_timeout":"5000"};
var awdr_params = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"b6d3b5cbc9","enable_update_price_with_qty":"show_when_matched","refresh_order_review":"0","custom_target_simple_product":"","custom_target_variable_product":"","js_init_trigger":"","awdr_opacity_to_bulk_table":"","awdr_dynamic_bulk_table_status":"0","awdr_dynamic_bulk_table_off":"on","custom_simple_product_id_selector":"","custom_variable_product_id_selector":""};
var wc_stripe_payment_request_params = {"ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","stripe":{"key":"pk_live_51JTzUBIB197v8sCoScgBC3vpAdEkYdSgNMcc1cQFhjzks9y9r7Ujmc1sTjL5pdmjxN1PYhqh16ESNPUgS03jCm3L00E1YtMlaQ","allow_prepaid_card":"yes","locale":"en","is_link_enabled":false,"is_payment_request_enabled":true},"nonce":{"payment":"1feebfdc16","shipping":"b2d3fd3f42","update_shipping":"00d02f3ba8","checkout":"935e98df4e","add_to_cart":"bc21484f52","get_selected_product_data":"79210fd2f0","log_errors":"c3b2f74234","clear_cart":"e55ec17353"},"i18n":{"no_prepaid_card":"Sorry, we're not accepting prepaid cards at this time.","unknown_shipping":"Unknown shipping option \"[option]\"."},"checkout":{"url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/checkout\/","currency_code":"nzd","country_code":"NZ","needs_shipping":"no","needs_payer_phone":true},"button":{"type":"buy","theme":"dark","height":"40","locale":"en","branded_type":"long","css_selector":"","label":"","is_custom":false,"is_branded":false},"login_confirmation":"","is_product_page":"1","product":{"shippingOptions":{"id":"pending","label":"Pending","detail":"","amount":0},"displayItems":[{"label":"Colonialism: a Moral Reckoning","amount":3800},{"label":"Shipping","amount":0,"pending":true}],"total":{"label":" (via WooCommerce)","amount":3800},"requestShipping":true,"currency":"nzd","country_code":"NZ"}};
var DIVI = {"item_count":"%d Item","items_count":"%d Items"};
var et_builder_utils_params = {"condition":{"diviTheme":true,"extraTheme":false},"scrollLocations":["app","top"],"builderScrollLocations":{"desktop":"app","tablet":"app","phone":"app"},"onloadScrollLocation":"app","builderType":"fe"};
var et_frontend_scripts = {"builderCssContainerPrefix":"#et-boc","builderCssLayoutPrefix":"#et-boc .et-l"};
var et_pb_custom = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","images_uri":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi\/images","builder_images_uri":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi\/includes\/builder\/images","et_frontend_nonce":"f0cb3efa96","subscription_failed":"Please, check the fields below to make sure you entered the correct information.","et_ab_log_nonce":"6481fbd255","fill_message":"Please, fill in the following fields:","contact_error_message":"Please, fix the following errors:","invalid":"Invalid email","captcha":"Captcha","prev":"Prev","previous":"Previous","next":"Next","wrong_captcha":"You entered the wrong number in captcha.","wrong_checkbox":"Checkbox","ignore_waypoints":"no","is_divi_theme_used":"1","widget_search_selector":".widget_search","ab_tests":[],"is_ab_testing_active":"","page_id":"726851","unique_test_id":"","ab_bounce_rate":"5","is_cache_plugin_active":"yes","is_shortcode_tracking":"","tinymce_uri":""};
var et_pb_box_shadow_elements = [];
var wc_stripe_params = {"title":"Credit Card (Stripe)","key":"pk_live_51JTzUBIB197v8sCoScgBC3vpAdEkYdSgNMcc1cQFhjzks9y9r7Ujmc1sTjL5pdmjxN1PYhqh16ESNPUgS03jCm3L00E1YtMlaQ","i18n_terms":"Please accept the terms and conditions first","i18n_required_fields":"Please fill in required checkout fields first","updateFailedOrderNonce":"710009924e","updatePaymentIntentNonce":"c1ca5e2880","orderId":"0","checkout_url":"\/?wc-ajax=checkout","stripe_locale":"en","no_prepaid_card_msg":"Sorry, we're not accepting prepaid cards at this time. Your credit card has not been charged. Please try with alternative payment method.","no_sepa_owner_msg":"Please enter your IBAN account name.","no_sepa_iban_msg":"Please enter your IBAN account number.","payment_intent_error":"We couldn't initiate the payment. Please try again.","sepa_mandate_notification":"email","allow_prepaid_card":"yes","inline_cc_form":"no","is_checkout":"no","return_url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.co.nz\/checkout\/order-received\/?utm_nooverride=1","ajaxurl":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","stripe_nonce":"fb3667b02f","statement_descriptor":"","elements_options":[],"sepa_elements_options":{"supportedCountries":["SEPA"],"placeholderCountry":"NZ","style":{"base":{"fontSize":"15px"}}},"invalid_owner_name":"Billing First Name and Last Name are required.","is_change_payment_page":"no","is_add_payment_page":"no","is_pay_for_order_page":"no","elements_styling":"","elements_classes":"","add_card_nonce":"18a9828e79","create_payment_intent_nonce":"6b0861d622","cpf_cnpj_required_msg":"CPF\/CNPJ is a required field","invalid_number":"The card number is not a valid credit card number.","invalid_expiry_month":"The card's expiration month is invalid.","invalid_expiry_year":"The card's expiration year is invalid.","invalid_cvc":"The card's security code is invalid.","incorrect_number":"The card number is incorrect.","incomplete_number":"The card number is incomplete.","incomplete_cvc":"The card's security code is incomplete.","incomplete_expiry":"The card's expiration date is incomplete.","expired_card":"The card has expired.","incorrect_cvc":"The card's security code is incorrect.","incorrect_zip":"The card's zip \/ postal code failed validation.","postal_code_invalid":"Invalid zip code, please correct and try again","invalid_expiry_year_past":"The card's expiration year is in the past","card_declined":"The card was declined.","missing":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged.","processing_error":"An error occurred while processing the card.","invalid_sofort_country":"The billing country is not accepted by Sofort. Please try another country.","email_invalid":"Invalid email address, please correct and try again.","invalid_request_error":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method.","amount_too_large":"The order total is too high for this payment method","amount_too_small":"The order total is too low for this payment method","country_code_invalid":"Invalid country code, please try again with a valid country code","tax_id_invalid":"Invalid Tax Id, please try again with a valid tax id"};