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enclosure_as_internal_colonisation_the_subaltern_commoner_terra_nullius_and_the_settling_of_englands_wastes.pdf (423.41 kB)

Enclosure as internal colonisation: the subaltern commoner, terra nullius, and the settling of England’s ‘wastes’

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posted on 2023-06-10, 06:08 authored by Carl GriffinCarl Griffin
In the past decade scholars of the here-and-now have (re)discovered the concept of enclosure, applying it with considerable zeal and in a bewildering variety of situations from the securitisation of the internet, patenting genes, to attempts to privatise urban 'public' spaces, the English 'enclosure story' is presented as a given, a narrative that is set in stone. One critical aspect of this account is that enclosure was exported to Britain's overseas colonies in a one way process. This paper shows, however, that from the early sixteenth century - and defiantly so from the late eighteenth century - arguments for the enclosure of English commons and wastes were framed using techniques and discourses deployed overseas: the languages and practices of colonialism. Commons and wastes, so the paper argues, were not just increasingly seen as empty spaces but the peoples that inhabited them written as if they were uncivilised and unable to manage the land. Further, arguments for the enclosure of wastes were also made as an alternative to Britain's overseas imperialism. The paper traces a variety of debates and proposals that collectively constitute a coherent body of 'internal colonial' thought.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Transactions of the Royal Historical Society

ISSN

0080-4401

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Page range

1-26

Department affiliated with

  • Geography Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2023-02-02

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2023-02-02

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2023-02-02

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