Rachel K Bright
Biographic Data
| ID | 3462250 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rachel K Bright |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rachel K |
| FAMILY NAME | Bright |
| SIGNATURE | BRIGHT R K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Keele University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7284-2192 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 50 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Women’s Histories in a Digital World: An Exploration of Digital Archives, Family History, and Domestic Violence in Early Twentieth-Century Australia
In recent years, scholars have increasingly recognised the ways that colonialism, and related racism, embedded intergenerational trauma within families and communities. The role of domestic violence within families is widely accepted as important, but often treated separately. This article uses a case study from Western Australia, the life and death of Annie Grigo Dost, to explore the dynamics of both issues. Importantly, it also critiques the pr…
Rethinking Gender, Citizenship, and War: Female Enemy Aliens in Australia during World War I
Enemy aliens were undesirable migrants in Australia during World War I, right? Yet enemy alien women who sought naturalisation were largely successful. Using the concept of ‘desire’, this article uses quantitative and qualitative material from women’s naturalisation applications to consider why women applied and subsequent state decision-making. The narratives of applicants and administrators reflect wider negotiations over different types of cit…
A ‘Great Deal of Discrimination is Necessary in Administering the Law’: Frontier Guards and Migration Control in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa
This article provides a corrective to recent scholarship surrounding modern migration control, which has emphasised the shared origins of the legal systems created to control migration in the us , South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The article demonstrates that the implementation of migration controls in British colonies was arbitrary. It uses the personal papers of Clarence Wilfred Cousins, the Chief Immigration Officer in the Cape…
Migration, Masculinity, and Mastering the Queue: A Case of Chinese Scalping
In 1906, a South African newspaper published a picture of a Chinese man's scalp. An investigation revealed that traditional braids were regularly taken from executed Chinese prisoners and sold to high-ranking colonial officials as curiosities for their private collections. How is one to understand such an event? Drawing on newspapers, photographs, and illustrations of the Chinese queue from the 1600s, as well as the official investigation into th…
After the British World
Within the expanding field of global history, historians often conceive of distinct integrated 'worlds': discrete if permeable cultural units capable of coherent study. Some are defined exogenously through factors such as oceanic geography, others are conceived of endogenously through the cultures and identities of their adherents. In this context, this article critically assesses the recent voluminous literature on the British world: a unit incr…
Political Repercussions: Self-Government Revisited
As had always been clear, any decision about Chinese labour in the Transvaal would have wider repercussions. Because of the moral panic and failure of the mines and government to gain ‘control’ of the situation, there was a repeat, in many ways, of the debates outlined in Chapter 3, once more directed not just at a local audience but at an imperial one. The chief focus of discussions centred once more on the role of the imperial government in det…
Sex, Violence, and the Chinese: The 1905–06 Moral Panic
Public disquiet about Chinese labour initially died down in the Transvaal after the Chinese began arriving in July 1904. A large section of Transvaalers depended on the mines for their livelihoods, and there was a somewhat grudging wait to see if the economy recovered as promised. There was even some tolerance for initial unrest, dismissed as teething problems. Most of the mine-owned newspapers promoted such a view. As late as March 1905, the Sta…
Greater Britain in South Africa: Colonial Nationalisms and Imperial Networks
When rumours began to circulate in 1902 that the mines were considering indentured labour importation, the recent Boxer Rebellion, South African War, and general controversy of Asian migration ensured global coverage. Nor was British opinion the only opinion which mattered. When the Chamber tentatively approached Joseph Chamberlain about Chinese labour importation in January 1903, he was not encouraging, explaining: ‘The feeling at present all ov…
A Question of Honour: Slavery, Sovereignty, and the Legal Framework
The decision to import Chinese into South Africa was not merely an imperial matter, of course, but fed into national discourses in Britain and China. A belief that the mines and government colluded to secure Chinese labour has been widely reiterated since by historians. Richardson has claimed that ‘[n]o clearer evidence of this co-operation between State and industry can be found than in the history of the most important single piece of legislati…
Conclusion: Racialising Empire
Perhaps the most important long-term legacy of the Chinese scheme was the cementing of a two-tier British Empire. This was most clear in the way colonial and imperial governments interacted over race-based legislation after the scheme. Before it, as Chapter 1 showed, Britain banned such laws, but because of the Chinese controversy, things changed. It was hoped that successive CO regimes would clarify the matter. As late as March 1906, the Indian …
Chinese Migration and ‘White’ Networks, c.1850–1902
In 1902 the idea that a British administration would organise the migration of tens of thousands of Chinese to a ‘white colony’ seemed impossible to imagine. The entire controversy over Chinese migration, and why the scheme in South Africa seemed so unlikely, related to the development of overlapping, but often conflicting ideas of democracy, whiteness, and Britishness which developed in the settler colonies and the United States. As Bridge and F…
Adapting the Stereotype: Race and Administrative Control
It was originally hoped to make this chapter about what life was really like for the Chinese, to contrast with the hysteria described in previous chapter. The records make this impossible to do with any accuracy. 1 Instead, by examining the official records available on the adaptations made during the scheme, this chapter highlights ‘the way the figure of the subaltern ... is both produced and then silenced by others’ speech and writing’. 2 What …
The Transvaal Labour ‘Problem’ and the Chinese Solution
Why then were 63,695 Chinese labourers imported into the Transvaal when the other ‘white’ colonies were in the process of restricting Asian migration? To answer this question it is necessary to examine how the transnational issues played out in the previous chapter developed within the local context of the Transvaal just after Britain had won the South African War. The whole issue reflected southern Africa’s position at the crossroads of African …
Chinese Labour in South Africa, 1902-10: Race, Violence, and Global Spectacle
Introduction 1. Chinese Migration and 'White' Networks, c.1850-1902 2. The Transvaal Labour 'Problem' and the Chinese Solution 3. Greater Britain in South Africa: Colonial Nationalisms and Imperial Networks 4. A Question of Honour: slavery, sovereignty and the legal framework 5. Sex, Violence and the Chinese: The 1905-6 Moral Panic 6. Adapting the Stereotype: Race and Administrative Control 7. Political Repercussions Conclusion: Racializing Empir…
Chinese Labour in South Africa, 1902–10
This book explores the decision of the British Empire to import Chinese labour to southern Africa despite the already tense racial situation in the region. It enables a clearer understanding of racial
Making empire: Colonial encounters and the creation of imperial rule in nineteenth-century Africa
Making empire: Colonial encounters and the creation of imperial rule in nineteenth-century Africa
After the British World
Within the expanding field of global history, historians often conceive of distinct integrated 'worlds': discrete if permeable cultural units capable of coherent study. Some are defined exogenously through factors such as oceanic geography, others are conceived of endogenously through the cultures and identities of their adherents. In this context, this article critically assesses the recent voluminous literature on the British world: a unit incr…
Chinese Labour in South Africa, 1902–10
This book explores the decision of the British Empire to import Chinese labour to southern Africa despite the already tense racial situation in the region. It enables a clearer understanding of racial
Rethinking Gender, Citizenship, and War: Female Enemy Aliens in Australia during World War I
Enemy aliens were undesirable migrants in Australia during World War I, right? Yet enemy alien women who sought naturalisation were largely successful. Using the concept of ‘desire’, this article uses quantitative and qualitative material from women’s naturalisation applications to consider why women applied and subsequent state decision-making. The narratives of applicants and administrators reflect wider negotiations over different types of cit…
A ‘Great Deal of Discrimination is Necessary in Administering the Law’: Frontier Guards and Migration Control in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa
This article provides a corrective to recent scholarship surrounding modern migration control, which has emphasised the shared origins of the legal systems created to control migration in the us , South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The article demonstrates that the implementation of migration controls in British colonies was arbitrary. It uses the personal papers of Clarence Wilfred Cousins, the Chief Immigration Officer in the Cape…
Migration, Masculinity, and Mastering the Queue: A Case of Chinese Scalping
In 1906, a South African newspaper published a picture of a Chinese man's scalp. An investigation revealed that traditional braids were regularly taken from executed Chinese prisoners and sold to high-ranking colonial officials as curiosities for their private collections. How is one to understand such an event? Drawing on newspapers, photographs, and illustrations of the Chinese queue from the 1600s, as well as the official investigation into th…
Making empire: Colonial encounters and the creation of imperial rule in nineteenth-century Africa
Political Repercussions: Self-Government Revisited
As had always been clear, any decision about Chinese labour in the Transvaal would have wider repercussions. Because of the moral panic and failure of the mines and government to gain ‘control’ of the situation, there was a repeat, in many ways, of the debates outlined in Chapter 3, once more directed not just at a local audience but at an imperial one. The chief focus of discussions centred once more on the role of the imperial government in det…
Sex, Violence, and the Chinese: The 1905–06 Moral Panic
Public disquiet about Chinese labour initially died down in the Transvaal after the Chinese began arriving in July 1904. A large section of Transvaalers depended on the mines for their livelihoods, and there was a somewhat grudging wait to see if the economy recovered as promised. There was even some tolerance for initial unrest, dismissed as teething problems. Most of the mine-owned newspapers promoted such a view. As late as March 1905, the Sta…
Greater Britain in South Africa: Colonial Nationalisms and Imperial Networks
When rumours began to circulate in 1902 that the mines were considering indentured labour importation, the recent Boxer Rebellion, South African War, and general controversy of Asian migration ensured global coverage. Nor was British opinion the only opinion which mattered. When the Chamber tentatively approached Joseph Chamberlain about Chinese labour importation in January 1903, he was not encouraging, explaining: ‘The feeling at present all ov…
A Question of Honour: Slavery, Sovereignty, and the Legal Framework
The decision to import Chinese into South Africa was not merely an imperial matter, of course, but fed into national discourses in Britain and China. A belief that the mines and government colluded to secure Chinese labour has been widely reiterated since by historians. Richardson has claimed that ‘[n]o clearer evidence of this co-operation between State and industry can be found than in the history of the most important single piece of legislati…
Conclusion: Racialising Empire
Perhaps the most important long-term legacy of the Chinese scheme was the cementing of a two-tier British Empire. This was most clear in the way colonial and imperial governments interacted over race-based legislation after the scheme. Before it, as Chapter 1 showed, Britain banned such laws, but because of the Chinese controversy, things changed. It was hoped that successive CO regimes would clarify the matter. As late as March 1906, the Indian …
Chinese Migration and ‘White’ Networks, c.1850–1902
In 1902 the idea that a British administration would organise the migration of tens of thousands of Chinese to a ‘white colony’ seemed impossible to imagine. The entire controversy over Chinese migration, and why the scheme in South Africa seemed so unlikely, related to the development of overlapping, but often conflicting ideas of democracy, whiteness, and Britishness which developed in the settler colonies and the United States. As Bridge and F…
Adapting the Stereotype: Race and Administrative Control
It was originally hoped to make this chapter about what life was really like for the Chinese, to contrast with the hysteria described in previous chapter. The records make this impossible to do with any accuracy. 1 Instead, by examining the official records available on the adaptations made during the scheme, this chapter highlights ‘the way the figure of the subaltern ... is both produced and then silenced by others’ speech and writing’. 2 What …
The Transvaal Labour ‘Problem’ and the Chinese Solution
Why then were 63,695 Chinese labourers imported into the Transvaal when the other ‘white’ colonies were in the process of restricting Asian migration? To answer this question it is necessary to examine how the transnational issues played out in the previous chapter developed within the local context of the Transvaal just after Britain had won the South African War. The whole issue reflected southern Africa’s position at the crossroads of African …
Chinese Labour in South Africa, 1902-10: Race, Violence, and Global Spectacle
Introduction 1. Chinese Migration and 'White' Networks, c.1850-1902 2. The Transvaal Labour 'Problem' and the Chinese Solution 3. Greater Britain in South Africa: Colonial Nationalisms and Imperial Networks 4. A Question of Honour: slavery, sovereignty and the legal framework 5. Sex, Violence and the Chinese: The 1905-6 Moral Panic 6. Adapting the Stereotype: Race and Administrative Control 7. Political Repercussions Conclusion: Racializing Empir…
Chinese Labour in South Africa, 1902–10
This book explores the decision of the British Empire to import Chinese labour to southern Africa despite the already tense racial situation in the region. It enables a clearer understanding of racial
Migration, Masculinity, and Mastering the Queue: A Case of Chinese Scalping
In 1906, a South African newspaper published a picture of a Chinese man's scalp. An investigation revealed that traditional braids were regularly taken from executed Chinese prisoners and sold to high-ranking colonial officials as curiosities for their private collections. How is one to understand such an event? Drawing on newspapers, photographs, and illustrations of the Chinese queue from the 1600s, as well as the official investigation into th…
After the British World
Within the expanding field of global history, historians often conceive of distinct integrated 'worlds': discrete if permeable cultural units capable of coherent study. Some are defined exogenously through factors such as oceanic geography, others are conceived of endogenously through the cultures and identities of their adherents. In this context, this article critically assesses the recent voluminous literature on the British world: a unit incr…
A ‘Great Deal of Discrimination is Necessary in Administering the Law’: Frontier Guards and Migration Control in Early Twentieth-Century South Africa
This article provides a corrective to recent scholarship surrounding modern migration control, which has emphasised the shared origins of the legal systems created to control migration in the us , South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The article demonstrates that the implementation of migration controls in British colonies was arbitrary. It uses the personal papers of Clarence Wilfred Cousins, the Chief Immigration Officer in the Cape…
Rethinking Gender, Citizenship, and War: Female Enemy Aliens in Australia during World War I
Enemy aliens were undesirable migrants in Australia during World War I, right? Yet enemy alien women who sought naturalisation were largely successful. Using the concept of ‘desire’, this article uses quantitative and qualitative material from women’s naturalisation applications to consider why women applied and subsequent state decision-making. The narratives of applicants and administrators reflect wider negotiations over different types of cit…
Women’s Histories in a Digital World: An Exploration of Digital Archives, Family History, and Domestic Violence in Early Twentieth-Century Australia
In recent years, scholars have increasingly recognised the ways that colonialism, and related racism, embedded intergenerational trauma within families and communities. The role of domestic violence within families is widely accepted as important, but often treated separately. This article uses a case study from Western Australia, the life and death of Annie Grigo Dost, to explore the dynamics of both issues. Importantly, it also critiques the pr…
Political science (14 works) · Law (13 works) · History (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Colonialism (8 works) · South African History and Culture (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · Australian History and Society (5 works) · Empire (5 works) · Gender Studies (5 works)