Monuments after empire? The educational value of imperial statues

Enslin, P. (2020) Monuments after empire? The educational value of imperial statues. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 54(5), pp. 1333-1345. (doi: 10.1111/1467-9752.12520)

Abstract

The Black Lives Matter campaign has forced a reassessment of monuments that commemorate historical figures in public spaces. One of these, a statue of General Lord Roberts, stands in Glasgow, once the Second City of the Empire. A critical reading of this monument as a memorial text in a landscape of power contrasts the intended heroic depiction of Roberts with the excluded histories of those who were on the receiving end of his actions. I consider possible courses of action in determining what should be done with this memorial, recommending against its removal. Keeping the monument in its privileged public space without further action will not do. Arguing that the Roberts memorial is educationally valuable, despite and because of its celebration of Roberts as a hero of Empire, I defend its potential role in postcolonial and postimperial education.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Enslin, Professor Penny
• Authors: Enslin, P.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Journal of Philosophy of Education
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0309-8249
• ISSN (Online): 1467-9752
• Published Online: 30 September 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Philosophy of Education 54(5): 1333-1345
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence