Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning | Nigel Biggar

Video Description

John is joined by ethicist, theologian and author Professor Nigel Biggar for a conversation about his latest book, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning. Through rigorous historical and ethical analysis, Biggar presents a strong case for why the ubiquitous anti-colonial narrative has little grounding in historical fact. Rather, Biggar argues, a survey of the actions of the British Empire in particular reveals it to be a strong force against slavery, racism, and the long list of other sins that are often attributed to it. Nigel John Biggar CBE is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, author, Anglican priest, and theologian. He also directs the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life at Oxford which aims to foster a conversation between Christian theology and other disciplines. In 2017, Biggar initiated the Oxford project “Ethics and Empire” which aimed to scrutinise a purely negative view of empires and argue that they were morally mixed. Some progressive historians and academics voraciously criticised the project for 'attempting to balance out the violence committed in the name of empire with its supposed benefits.' #colonialism #empire #debate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Introducing Nigel Biggar 01:01 Why write a book about colonialism? 04:44 Trouble with the publisher 07:51 The man from Myanmar who preferred British rule 09:01 What is colonialism? 11:06 The many motives behind colonialism 14:20 How an understanding of sin tempers judgment 16:48 What the British Empire got wrong 18:11 To what extent was colonialism motivated by racism? 22:30 Christianity's influence on anti-racism 23:32 Why do we keep calling native disposession genocide? 26:48 Many of the wrongs were the action of individuals, not the state 29:30 The British Empire in India 32:10 How responsible is colonialism for post-colonial dysfunction? 35:16 Some false assumptions about Christianity and colonialism 39:28 How does the British empire compare to other colonial powers? 43:25 How violent was the British Empire? 51:19 Our response to modern slavery compared with the British Empire's 53:19 Advice for getting educated on colonialism 57:01 The two sides to colonial slavery -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYSEGViOnb7k8ezUaWUww?sub_confirmation=1 And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nigel Biggar https://twitter.com/nigelbiggar https://nigelbiggar.uk/