Synopses & Reviews
The Colonisation of Time is a highly original and long overdue examination of the ways that western-European and specifically British concepts and rituals of time were imposed on other cultures as a fundamental component of colonisation during the nineteenth century. Based on a wealth of primary sources, it explores the intimate relationship between the colonisation of time and space in two British settler-colonies (Victoria, Australia and the Cape Colony, South Africa) and its instrumental role in the exportation of Christianity, capitalism, and modernity, thus adding new depth to our understanding of imperial power and of the ways in which it was exercised and limited. All those intrigued by the concept of time will find this book of interest, for it illustrates how western-European time's rise to a position of global dominance - from the clock to the seven-day week - is one of the most pervasive, enduring and taken-for-granted legacies of colonisation in today's world.
Review
"In this thoughtful and illuminating book, Giordano Nanni mounts a persuasive argument for the role that time (whether measured in hours, weeks, months, or seasons) played in missionary endeavors to 'civilize' indigenous people ... This is a welcome addition to a now well-established trend in imperial history writing that emphasizes the centrality of quotidian struggles in understanding political, economic, and social change." -Joanna Cruickshank, Deakin University, American Historical Review
Synopsis
Much has been written about time in Western society. But how did 'the rest' of the world come to share the West's dominant view of time? Who were the first emissaries of the culture of the clock? And, most importantly, by what means did they gain a following?
The colonisation of time is a highly original and long overdue examination of the ways that western-European and specifically British concepts and rituals of time were imposed on other cultures as a fundamental component of colonisation during the nineteenth century. Based on a wealth of primary sources, and a comparative analysis of two British settler-colonies - Victoria, Australia, and the Cape Colony, South Africa - this book explores the intimate relationship between the colonisation of time and the conquest of land; time's instrumentality in the exportation of Christianity, capitalism, and modernity, and the role it played in forging European identities and civilities against an imaginary, 'time-less' and 'irregular' other. Both scholars and general readers will find this book valuable for its attentiveness to the tensions across and within colonial societies over teh reform of Indigenous temporalities; as well as to the range of responses that Indigenous societies adopted in order to resist, appropriate or integrate the colonisers' temporal culture. Adding new depth to our understanding of imperial power and the ways in which it was exercised and limited, The colonisation of time documents the remarkable story behind the rise to global dominance of western-time, from the clock to the seven-day week, revealing its status as one of the most enduring, pervasive and taken-for-granted legacies of colonisation in today's world.
Synopsis
The book is a highly original and long overdue examination of the ways that European
concepts of time were imposed on other cultures as a component of colonisation. It brings together two complex subjects - time and colonialism - in an engaging, non-theoretical and accessible style.
About the Author
Giordano Nanni is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Table of Contents
General Editor's introduction
Introduction
1. Clocks, Sabbaths and seven-day weeks: The forging of temporal identities
2. Terra sine tempore: Colonial constructions of 'Aboriginal time'
3. Cultural curfews: The contestation of time in settler-colonial Victoria
4. 'The moons are always out of order': Constructions of 'African time'
5. Empire of the seventh day: Time and the Sabbath beyond the Cape frontiers
6. Lovedale, missionary schools and the reform of 'African time'
7. Conclusion: From colonisation to globalisation
Select Bibliography
Index