Vulnerability and post-imperial identities

IAS Vulnerability Seminar: Vulnerability and post-imperial identities - from Brexit to Ancient Rome and back
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Location: IAS Common Ground, Ground Floor, South Wing
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The narrow majority for the Leave campaign in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership has a number of explanations, but the impact of the demise of the British empire upon identities within the UK must be among them. In particular, the vulnerability of English identity needs to be examined from a post-colonial perspective if we are to understand some of the long-term dynamics of imperialism, and their consequences for the future of the United Kingdom. In this seminar, a comparative dimension will also be pursued, with analysis of the Roman empire - which inspired many aspects of British imperialism - shedding further light on the politics of identity in colonial and post-colonial contexts.
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Biographical note
Andrew Gardner is Senior Lecturer in the Archaeology of the Roman Empire at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. His publications include An Archaeology of Identity: Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Britain (2007) and Evolutionary and Interpretive Archaeologies: a Dialogue (ed. with Ethan Cochrane, 2011); he is currently working on a monograph on Roman Britain. His research interests are centred upon the social dynamics of Roman imperialism, and the diverse legacies of the Roman empire into contemporary times.