Category: Colonialism and ‘Decolonisation’
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The Myths of Indigenous History
24 January 2025. “John speaks with Dr. Nigel Biggar and Dr. Stephen Chavura to explore the complexities of history, challenging one-sided narratives of colonisation and conflict. Their discussion sheds light on the nuanced relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples, revealing both moments of mutual respect and undeniable tragedy. The discussion emphasises an understanding of history…
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The case for slavery reparations doesn’t add up
06 January 2025. Nigel for Prospect. Demands by Caribbean nations for compensation ignore historical reality and the achievements of British abolitionism. White British involvement in Atlantic slave-trading and slavery for over a century-and-a-half up to the early 1800s amounted to “the Black Holocaust, the British genocide”, according to Sir Hilary Beckles, historian, vice-chancellor of the…
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Grievance politics fuels new era of fake history
17 December 2024. Nigel for The Australian. Throughout the English-speaking world elites are falling over them- selves to believe the very worst of their own countries. Let’s consider Canada. In May 2021 an Indian band in Kamloops, British Columbia claimed ground- penetrating radar had discovered “soil disturbances” that evidenced unmarked graves containing the remains of…
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Nigel Biggar on the Moral Complexities of the British Empire
21 November 2024. “Are modern denunciations of Empire anachronistic, and how does the shame they propagate hinder the West’s ability to defend itself? “On Afternoon Light #173 Georgina Downer speaks with Nigel Biggar, author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, to discuss how demonising the past has real-world consequences for the present. Unpacking the moral ambiguities of…
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Light in the darkness
13 November 2024. In conversation with Nigel Biggar about his career and the work of the Pharos Foundation This article is taken from the November 2024 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now they’re offering five issues for just £10. What does history do? You read about human beings…
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Empire, ethics, and academic freedom: a conversation with Nigel Biggar
8 Nov 2024. “In this episode, Michael and James talk to Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar as he discusses his experiences with academic cancel culture and argues that while the British Empire had significant flaws, it also helped spread important liberal values and institutions throughout the world. “The conversation then delves into how modern universities are…
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‘Colonialism’ featured on the Mars Hill Audio Journal
7 Nov 2024. Nigel joins Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio, an audio journal founded in 1992, to discuss his book, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning. Nigel speaks of the need for a historically informed moral accounting of the British empire. The other guests in the same issue of the Journal include Andrew Youngblood (Know Thyself); R. J. Snell (Lost in…
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Why the history war matters
20 October 2024. Nigel Biggar says the controversy over empire is not really a controversy about history at all. It is about the present, not the past. In this conversation with Nick Cater, Professor Biggar talks about the reaction to his book, “Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning”, the experience of being cancelled, Israel’s war for survival…
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Democracy is crowning glory of monarchy
26 October 2024. By Nigel Biggar for The Australian. Republicans object to Australia’s hereditary monarchy, partly because it’s foreign and partly because it’s a medieval absurdity stranded in a modern, democratic age. If that were so—and if I were Australian—I’d object, too. But it’s not true. While Australia has long been an independent state, and…
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Intellectual rearmament
23 October 2024. By Nick Carter for Reality Bites by Nick Carter. The British theologian who gave us the ammunition to defeat the Aboriginal Voice There is no such thing as an easy win in politics. It is wrong to assume from the margin of last year’s Aboriginal Voice referendum that the result was a…