Cultural Historical analysis of British Slave Owners

Catherine Hall's research centres on rethinking the relation between Britain and Empire in the early/mid-nineteenth century. It reflects on the ways in which metropolitan ideas and practices have been shaped by the colonial experience. In the recent past she has had a particular interest in the relation between England and Jamaica (Civilising Subjects). She is principal investigator of the project Legacies of British Slave-Ownership. Her new book focuses on history writing and explores how home, nation and empire came to be configured together in the life and work of Thomas Babington Macaulay: Macaulay and Son: Writing Home, Nation and Empire, 2012. It focuses on the significance of the Macaulays, father and son, in defining the parameters of nation and empire in the early nineteenth century. As the ESRC-funded project Legacies of British Slave Ownership enters a second phase, a comparative European research aspect has been introduced and the aim of this session is to strengthen this line of investigation.