When you wander thru Glasgow Inexperienced, you’ll stumble upon the Doulton fountain, a gaudy terracotta tribute to empire that includes “native” and colonial figures in nationwide get dressed maintaining out the produce in their lands to the imperial centre. Like 1000’s of imperial monuments throughout Britain, the Doulton Fountain is neither extensively celebrated nor extensively denounced. It is a part of the on a regular basis backdrop.
That quiet coexistence says so much about Britain’s dating with its imperial previous. Empire is in all places – forged in stone, threaded thru schoolbook tales and circle of relatives lore – however hardly ever front-and-centre in political debate. In a brand new article within the British Magazine of Political Science, Daniel Devine and I set out to respond to two questions: what do Britons in fact take into consideration the empire, and do the ones perspectives subject politically?
To reply to those questions, we constructed a measure of imperial nostalgia the use of survey questions about attitudes to empire. We requested other folks how a lot they agreed with statements like “the British Empire had a great civilising effect” and “the British Empire was responsible for many atrocities”.
Throughout two polls in past due 2023 and mid-2024, we discovered Britain each divided and not sure about its imperial previous. Internet make stronger swings from −50 issues when requested whether or not the empire was once “responsible for many atrocities” (62% agree, 12% disagree) to +21 issues on whether or not it had a “civilising effect” (44% agree, 23% disagree).
Between 1 / 4 and 40% of respondents selected the “neither” or “don’t know” choices, appearing that there’s considerable ambivalence in attitudes. Taken in combination, opinion about empire tilts moderately destructive: extra essential than celebratory, however a ways from a blanket rejection.
Ambivalence over empire.
C Claassen, CC BY-ND
Demographically, imperial nostalgia rises with age and falls with schooling. It’s upper amongst males and white British respondents, and significantly decrease in London and Scotland. Briefly, it behaves like a type of cultural conservatism. On the other hand, we discover that it paperwork its personal measurement of opinion, distinct from authoritarianism and nationalism. That specialty issues, as it implies politicians is also tapping one thing other after they invoke empire, as when Boris Johnson recited The Highway to Mandalay on a talk over with to Myanmar.
How imperial perspectives relate to vote casting
We discovered that imperial nostalgia connects moderately considerably with partisan politics. Supporters of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Vegetables are, on moderate, extra essential of empire. Conservative and Reform supporters are extra nostalgic about it. That is most likely predictable however the power of the connection between perspectives on empire and birthday party choice was once a marvel – it was once more potent than left–proper financial values, for instance.
The outcome survives extra hard checks. Imperial nostalgia stays the most important sure predictor for Conservative and Reform make stronger, and a destructive predictor of Inexperienced make stronger, once we keep an eye on for respondents’ different political attitudes and identities.
The hyperlink stays once we upload a separate measure of common nostalgia (“life was better 50 years ago”), demonstrating that imperial nostalgia isn’t simply any other identify for backward-looking temper. If truth be told, the 2 nostalgias diverge of their results. Common nostalgia negatively predicts Conservative make stronger however definitely predicts Reform make stronger. Imperial nostalgia boosts each the Conservatives and Reform.
On the other hand, this isn’t to mention that citizens need their politicians to move on about empire. If truth be told, once we requested respondents to make a choice from hypothetical parliamentary applicants, they opted for ambivalence of their representatives. When offered with a conservative who concept empire had a “civilising effect”, a revolutionary who mentioned empire was once “responsible for many atrocities” and a 3rd candidate with combined perspectives incorporating each, the latter was once the preferred.
The Doulton fountain in Glasgow.
Shutterstock/PJ pictures
Whilst a conservative place on empire neither is helping nor hurts a candidate total, a revolutionary stance in fact reduces make stronger by way of about 5 share issues. In different phrases, grievance is the least common place in terms of politicians, despite the fact that maximum respondents followed this type of essential view when requested about their very own critiques of empire.
The image sharpens once we read about the consequences one after the other by way of respondents’ ideology and birthday party. Conservative and culturally conservative citizens punish the essential “atrocities” stance strongly, whilst cultural liberals be offering little offsetting praise for it.
Studied silence on empire
So for political events, overtly criticising empire isn’t a profitable technique. It yields simplest minimum features at the left whilst antagonising and mobilising citizens at the proper.
That asymmetry is helping give an explanation for the studied quiet we’re recently experiencing. Steerage round a subject is thought of as the most productive plan of action if it divides the general public and dangers energising fighters greater than supporters.
Our learn about means that imperial nostalgia is sort of a submerged present in British politics. It shapes the place events can safely sail despite the fact that they hardly ever communicate concerning the tide. However we predict it’s conceivable that the present may just resurface.
Imperial nostalgia correlates strongly with make stronger past the primary events: definitely with Reform and negatively with the Vegetables. With Britain’s birthday party device in unparalleled flux, a challenger may just weaponise the problem to separate fighters and mobilise a base.
And because more youthful Britons cling extra significantly essential perspectives of empire, their access into the voters may just make debates concerning the previous extra electorally decisive and due to this fact value campaigning on. Our experiment suggests a pointy backlash from conservatives will ensue, environment the degree for a contemporary culture-war divide.
Even with out those two components, it stays the case that backward-looking narratives resonate extra strongly during periods of perceived nationwide decline. So if the present stagnation persists, imperial nostalgia may just floor from background temper to foreground politics.
