Professor Martin Thomas

ISRF Mid-Career Fellow 2015-16

Professor Martin Thomas

ISRF Mid-Career Fellow 2015-16

ISRF Martin Thomas

Martin completed his D.Phil at University of Oxford in 1991. He taught at the University of the West of England, Bristol for eleven years before joining the Exeter History Department in 2003.

His research interests focus on the following broad themes: French colonialism and European decolonization; forms of anti-colonial protest in North Africa; colonial security service, policing, and the nature of state violence; ‘Dirty wars’ and counter-insurgency, particularly human rights abuses in asymmetric conflicts; and French international politics since World War I.

Imperialist Humanitarianism: Tracing Colonial Connections in Post-Colonial Interventions in Africa and Asia

Where does the colonial past intersect with the deployment of European military forces and relief missions in the global South? Is the use of ‘soft power’ to underwrite democratic governance in former colonial dependencies imperialistic? These questions raise unsettling possibilities because the presumption that humanitarian interventionism, whether involving security forces or non-governmental agencies, is driven by compassion and urgent need is belied by its specific geographies. Inter-governmental humanitarian policy priorities, even transnational lobbying for peacekeeping deployments, operate within webs of post-colonial connection; nowhere more so than between Western Europe and Africa. Even the conceptualization of humanitarianism, and associated ideas of relief and rehabilitation, are grounded in European experiences of occupation, population displacement, and peace planning. Numerous humanitarian agencies also began their operations inside empires, often in uncomfortable dialogue with imperial governments. These experiences point to the depth of connection between empire, ideas of good governance, and post-imperial interventionism. It is these connections that this project explores.

Imperialist Humanitarianism brings together historical research on European decolonization with social scientific scholarship on peace theory, post-colonial development and European military, economic and cultural connections in former colonial dependencies in Africa and Asia.

Contacting Fellows

If you would like to contact any of our Fellows to discuss their ISRF-funded work, please contact Dr Lars Cornelissen (Academic Editor) in the first instance, at [email protected].