The New Nuclear Imperialism: Science, Diplomacy and Power in the British Empire

新核帝国主义：大英帝国的科学、外交和权力

• 批准号: AH/T013176/1
• 负责人: Christopher Hill
• 金额: $ 22.73万
• 依托单位: University of South Wales
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT013176%2F1
• 关键词: New; Nuclear; Imperialism; Science; Diplomacy

Responding in 1960 to the prospect of French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara, the leader of postcolonial Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, forewarned of a 'new nuclear imperialism' (Allman, 2008; Hill, 2018). The exploitation of foreign lands for uranium mining and the legacies of nuclear testing has ensured the ongoing relevance of Nkrumah's words, both in contemporary charges of 'nuclear neo-colonialism' and in the mobilisation of a worldwide movement towards a nuclear ban treaty (Broinowski, 2015). This research explores how the pursuit of nuclear power by Britain was enmeshed in empire, as well as how this history can be used to engage with current debates about the nuclear order. In doing so, the research is concerned not only with the structural connection between empire and nuclear power - the resources and sites that the British used to procure uranium or test weapons. It is also concerned with imperialism as a knowledge system by which the British nuclear programme was operationalised. In a period regarded as the high point of 'scientific imperialism', this research seeks to show how imperial knowledge informed key decisions and perspectives on where to mine and test, who to affect and involve in these processes and how these could be harnessed and legitimised in international politics (Bennet and Hodge, 2011). The British nuclear programme thus provides a window into imperial thinking about diplomacy, ecology and race at the end of empire.In order to grasp the role of late imperialism in nuclear history and politics, this project considers nuclear technologies from their production to their potential effects, from the mining of uranium to compensation cases relating to the testing of weapons. In order to grasp imperialism as a distinctive mode of thinking about and acting in the world, the project also invokes methodologies that go beyond state archives and the papers of physicists. The retrieval of myths and folklore, for example, will help to comprehend the relationship between indigenous groups and their land, as well as how mining and testing on that land can be understood as having 'humanitarian impacts'. The project is grounded in five areas, starting with a theorisation of what 'nuclear imperialism' means - and what forms it took - in the context of British and French decolonisation and American internationalism. It goes on to focus on slavery and the global uranium trade in Namibia; diplomatic manoeuvrings around French tests in Algeria and their repercussions for nuclear and non-nuclear alliances; and the significance of non-scientific, non-western perceptions of the nuclear age for rights movements among indigenous groups such as the I-Kiribati in the Pacific. The final part of the project focuses on compensation claims against the British Ministry of Defence by veterans and 'victims' of tests. It uses these to engage more widely with issues of historical injustice, particularly as they have emerged in imperial historiography and the turn towards 'reparatory' histories of colonialism.These historical links between late imperialism and nuclearity also help to explain challenges to the nuclear order today. To this end, the project will raise awareness and shed light on histories of nuclear imperialism with NGOs that are part of the 'humanitarian initiative' - a movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons among state and non-state actors in the UN. The project will consider the role of these histories in policy debates during the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (or RevCon), which takes place at the UN in 2020. It will do so in tandem with archivists, campaigners, legal and medical specialists and nuclear veterans.

1960年回应了阿尔及利亚撒哈拉的法国核试验的前景，后殖民加纳的领导人夸梅·恩克鲁玛（Kwame Nkrumah）预示着“新的核帝国主义”（Allman，2008; Hill，2018）。剥削外国土地用于铀开采和核试验的遗产确保了恩克鲁玛的话的持续相关性，既包括当代的“核新殖民主义”，以及动员全球朝着核禁令条约的运动（Brainowski，2015年）。这项研究探讨了英国对核电的追求是如何在帝国中陷入的，以及如何使用这一历史来参与有关核秩序的当前辩论。这样一来，这项研究不仅与帝国与核电之间的结构联系 - 英国用来采购铀或测试武器的资源和地点。它还关注帝国主义作为英国核计划的知识体系。在被认为是“科学帝国主义”的最高点的时期内，这项研究试图展示帝国知识如何理解关键决策和观点，这些决策和观点如何挖掘和测试，谁会影响和参与这些过程，以及如何在国际政治中促进和合法化这些过程（Bennet and Hodge，2011年）。因此，英国的核计划为帝国的帝国思考提供了一个关于帝国的帝国思考的窗口。为了掌握晚期帝国主义在核历史和政治中的作用，该项目将核技术从其生产到其潜在影响，从铀的采矿到与武器测试有关的补偿案例。为了将帝国主义视为世界上对思考和行动的独特方式，该项目还援引了超越国家档案馆和物理学家论文的方法。例如，神话和民间传说的检索将有助于理解土著群体及其土地之间的关系，以及在该土地上的采矿和测试如何被理解为具有“人道主义影响”。该项目基于五个领域，从“核帝国主义”的含义以及在英国和法国非殖民化和美国国际化的背景下的理论化开始。它继续关注奴隶制和纳米比亚的全球铀贸易；阿尔及利亚法国测试及其对核和非核联盟的影响；以及非科学，非西方对核时代对核时代对权利运动的看法的意义，例如在太平洋的I-Kiribati等土著群体之间。该项目的最后一部分着重于对英国国防部的赔偿要求，由退伍军人和“受害者”测试。它使用这些来更广泛地参与历史不公正的问题，尤其是当它们在帝国史学中出现并转向殖民主义的“报复性”历史。这些晚期帝国主义与核性之间的历史联系也有助于解释当今核秩序的挑战。为此，该项目将通过非政府组织成为“人道主义倡议”的一部分，这将提高人们对核帝国主义历史的认识，这是取消联合国国家和非国家参与者的核武器的运动。该项目将考虑这些历史在2020年在联合国举行的非扩散条约审查会议（或REVCON）期间的政策辩论中的作用。它将与档案管理员，竞选者，法律和医学专家以及核退伍军人一起进行。