The British Empire and Commonwealth

The rise of the British Empire

1600 : Exploration of North America and formation of East India Company – influence in Asia

1788: Australia

1840: New Zealand

19th cent. colonisation of West and South Africa

By the early part of 20th century Britain ruled over a quarter of the world

“The Empire on which the sun never sets.”

Motives to create a huge empire

Wish for international power and prestige

Supply of raw materials

Empire as a great triumph

Consequences

Mother country had a duty to teach British values to the indigenous populations

White people were more developed and had the right to rule over everyone else

Indigenous people were treated badly

17th and 18th trade in slaves

Regardes as natural servants of their white rulers

Racist views were normal

The fall of the British Empire

From 19th century on colonies became a Dominion (relatively independent territory in the British Empire)

1901 Australia

1907 New Zealand

1910 South Africa

Commonwealth of Nations (mother country and dominions had equal status and accepted the British monarch as head of Commonwealth)

The fall of the British Empire

World War II speeded up the break-up

After the war: neither the money nor the will to keep and defend a big empire

1947 independence of India

Post-colonial consequences

Despite the often violent British rule , they learnt about the British ideas and values

Many ex-colonies chose a British style of democracy and legal, financial and education system

English as a common language

Pakistani communities in GB

Have been travelling to GB from as early as the 17th century

Migration wave in the 1950s and 1960s

To fill unskilled jobs (in textile industry)

Second largest ethnic minority group

Considering the historical facts, …

which problems might 1st generation Pakistani immigrants had to face when arriving in GB?

what effect have had these problems on their children (2nd generation)?

Problems and conflicts of 2nd/3rd generation immigrants

in UK

Sometimes I feel likeI´m caught betweentwo worlds.

Problems and conflicts of 2nd/3rd generation immigrants in UK

Cultural identity (according to Stuart Hall)

Cultural identity is a matter of “becoming” as well as of “being”. It belongs to the future as much as to the past.

Cultural identity (according to Stuart Hall)

Identity is a production, which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation.

Cultural identity (according to Stuart Hall)

Cultural identity as a shared culture, a sort of collective “one true self” hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed “selves” which people with a shared history and ancestry hold in common.

Trailer

My Son the Fanatic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqS8eFLa1ns&list=PL_3vuQ1qzX9kD-LzYOIroK5Si_yEzz66T

Ae Fond Kiss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3T0rLEbDLE

Bend it like Beckham

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLhahNBMXw0