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，针对法国在阿尔及利亚撒哈拉进行核试验的前景，后殖民时期的加纳领导人夸梅·恩克鲁玛 (Kwame Nkrumah) 对“新核帝国主义”发出了预警（Allman，2008 年；Hill，2018 年）。在外国土地上进行铀矿开采和核试验的遗留问题确保了恩克鲁玛的话的持续相关性，无论是在当代对“核新殖民主义”的指控中，还是在动员世界范围内的核禁条约运动中（Broinowski， 2015）。这项研究探讨了英国对核电的追求如何与帝国纠缠在一起，以及如何利用这段历史来参与当前有关核秩序的辩论。在此过程中，研究不仅关注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得以实施的知识体系。在被视为“科学帝国主义”的顶峰时期，本研究旨在展示帝国知识如何影响关键决策和观点，包括在哪里进行挖掘和测试、谁影响和参与这些过程以及如何利用这些过程并使其合法化国际政治（Bennet 和 Hodge，2011）。因此，英国核计划为了解帝国末期的外交、生态和种族问题提供了一个窗口。为了掌握晚期帝国主义在核历史和政治中的作用，本项目考虑了核技术从生产到潜在影响的整个过程。 ，从铀矿开采到与武器测试有关的赔偿案件。为了将帝国主义理解为一种独特的世界思维和行动模式，该项目还引用了超越国家档案和物理学家论文的方法论。例如，检索神话和民间传说将有助于理解土著群体与其土地之间的关系，以及如何将在该土地上的采矿和测试理解为具有“人道主义影响”。该项目基于五个领域，首先是在英法非殖民化和美国国际主义的背景下对“核帝国主义”的含义及其采取的形式进行理论化。接下来重点关注纳米比亚的奴隶制和全球铀贸易；围绕法国在阿尔及利亚试验的外交策略及其对核联盟和非核联盟的影响；核时代的非科学、非西方观念对于太平洋基里巴斯等土著群体的权利运动的重要性。该项目的最后一部分重点关注退伍军人和测试“受害者”向英国国防部提出的赔偿要求。它利用这些来更广泛地探讨历史不公正问题，特别是当它们出现在帝国史学和殖民主义“修复”历史中时。晚期帝国主义与核之间的这些历史联系也有助于解释当今核秩序面临的挑战。为此，该项目将与非政府组织一起提高认识并揭示核帝国主义的历史，这些非政府组织是“人道主义倡议”的一部分，该倡议是联合国国家和非国家行为者之间废除核武器的运动。该项目将考虑这些历史在 2020 年联合国举行的《核不扩散条约》审议大会 (RevCon) 期间政策辩论中的作用。它将与档案管理员、活动家、法律和医学专家以及核退伍军人。