Deconstructing the Colonial Archive
Episode Description
In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Muclahy talks to Professor Eddie Bruce-Jones about deconstructing the colonial archive. Eddie walks us through his process of researching indentureship through various archival methods. He tells us about the differences between doing archival research in online and physical spaces, how to understand omissions, human connections, and depoliticised causes of death; and how to do justice to the persons we encounter on the page.
Readings recommended by Eddie Bruce-Jones
- Shepherd, V. (2002) Maharani’s misery: Narratives of a passage from India to the Caribbean. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press.
- Hartman, S. (2008) ‘Venus in two acts’, Small Axe, 12(2).
- Bahadur, G. (2013) Coolie woman: The odyssey of indenture. London: Hurst.
By the Speaker:
Bruce-Jones, E. (2020) ‘Review of Wayward lives, beautiful experiments: Intimate histories of social upheaval by Saidiya Hartman’, Feminist Review, 125.
About the Speaker
Professor Eddie Bruce-Jones
Professor of Law and Head of School of Law, Gender and Media, SOAS, University of London
Eddie Bruce-Jones is Professor of Law and Head of School of Law, Gender and Media at SOAS, University of London. He is the author of Race in the Shadow of Law: State Violence in Contemporary Europe (2016) and has published in the areas of racial equality, migration law, and law and the humanities. He was Principal Investigator on an AHRC-funded research grant titled 'Towards an Integrated Colonial Archive: Humanities, Law and British Indentureship.'