Recent years have seen characterised by a range of debates about the legacies of the settler colonial past and how they should inform the state's relationship with indigenous peoples. With the recent rejection of an 'indigenous voice to parliament' in Australia and ongoing efforts to redefine the state's relationship with the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand it may seem that established postcolonial settlements are under threat.
David will reflect on how recent public debates offer new opportunities to reconsider the contested history of settler democracy. The lecture will focus on three examples from the turn of the 20th century, which challenged understandings of 'British' democracy: the craze for debating societies among the unenfranchised, the growth of Maori parliaments, and the pioneer Indian MPs at Westminster.
Bio: David moved to the UK from New Zealand at a young age. He studied for his PhD in Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Jon Lawrence, graduating in 2009. Jon subsequently joined Exeter in 2017. David has been at Exeter since 2010 and has worked widely with colleagues here. In 2021 he published 'Age of Promises', with Prof. Richard Toye, which explores of role of promises and programmes in British politics over the last 150 years. David organises the History & Policy Global Economics and History Forum with Dr. Marc Palen, which seeks to connect historians with policy-makers. He has led the 'Parliamentary Empire' Leverhulme Research Project since 2021, working with Dr. Amanda Behm (University of California at Berkeley), Prof. Richard Toye, and our PhD students Ed Selkirk Ford and Arran Jenkins. It is this project which forms the basis of the lecture.
