Why do some communities fight civil wars over national self-rule while others do not? In Legacies of British Rule, Matthew Lange offers insight into this question through a rigorous multimethod and comparative analysis that pinpoints the combined impact of precolonial statehood and British colonialism. During transitions from empire to nation-state, postcolonial officials in places with large and long-standing precolonial states commonly try to build a unified nation around the dominant community in ways that discriminate against and exclude smaller communities. While such national chauvinism can fuel reactions leading to nationalist civil war, a history of British colonialism intensifies these reactions by increasing sensitivity to national chauvinism and empowering communities to act. Consequently, nationalist civil wars are three times more common in former British colonies than in other former overseas colonies.
And yet, Lange finds that British colonialism exerts a very different effect on places with a limited history of precolonial statehood; in an environment with little national chauvinism, British colonialism deters nationalist civil war by promoting more inclusive postcolonial states that strengthen plurinationalism and limit fear and anger over reduced communal autonomy. Lange’s account provides valuable new insights into the roots of nationalist civil war, broad patterns of conflict, and the mixed effects of colonialism and pluralism.
Matthew Lange is professor of sociology at McGill University. He is the author of Killing Others: A Natural History of Ethnic Violence; Comparative-Historical Methods; Educations in Ethnic Violence: Identity, Educational Bubbles, and Resource Mobilization; and Lineages of Despotism and Development: British Colonialism and State Power.
“This is a very good, innovative, and well-developed study. Matthew Lange has articulated a clear argument, which is then empirically tested on a large number of case studies. The book is likely to draw interest across political science, international relations, comparative historical sociology, postcolonial studies, political geography, history, nationalism studies, Asian studies, and other disciplines.”—Sinisa Malesevic, University College Dublin
“The book offers a clear, parsimonious, and testable argument, then comprehensively and impressively works through a wide universe of historical cases—using statistical and comparative-historical methods—to show variation in pluralist policies and the varied outcomes that resulted from them in the postcolonial world.”—Jonathan Wyrtzen, Yale University
“This fantastic new book offers a fresh perspective for understanding how colonial and historical state policies toward ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity have shaped contemporary patterns of ethnic violence in postcolonial nations. The insights derived from Legacies of British Rule are particularly relevant for scholars and policymakers who seek to better understand the complex patterns of postcolonial ethnic violence and postcolonial nation-building in South and Southeast Asia.”—Olukunle P. Owolabi, Villanova University
“Lange’s book offers a novel and convincing account of how precolonial states, or the lack of such states, and British colonial policies that reacted to these varied political geographies combined together to produce postcolonial peace here and endemic conflict there. Sophisticated and nuanced, this is historically oriented social science at its best.”—Andreas Wimmer, Columbia University, author of Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart
