Nigel Biggar “Ethics and Empire”

 

Nigel Biggar “Ethics and Empire”

“Ethics and Empire” was a controversial, six-year interdisciplinary academic project led by Nigel Biggar, the former Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, and Krishan Kumar of the University of Virginia. Launched in July 2017 under Oxford's McDonald Centre, the project aimed to evaluate historical apologies and critiques of imperial rule—from ancient history to modernity—against hard factual data.

Core Premises

• Rejection of Inherent Wickedness: Biggar argued against the prevailing academic assumption that all empires are inherently evil, oppressive, and morally illegitimate.
• Moral Nuance: The project operated on the belief that imperial histories, particularly that of the British Empire, are morally mixed, containing elements of both good and bad governance.
• Historical Data vs. Rhetoric: It evaluated moral claims by cross-referencing how contemporaries viewed empires against actual historical records.

The Backlash and Controversy

The project triggered a massive intellectual and public firestorm within the academic community:

• The Oxford Backlash: Up to 60 Oxford historians and researchers signed open letters firmly rejecting the project. They accused Biggar of attempting to create a false "balance sheet" to justify colonial violence.
• Methodological Criticism: Opponents argued that the project lacked academic credibility, skipped rigorous peer review, and ignored extensive modern post-colonial scholarship.
• The "Cancel Culture" Debate: Biggar and his supporters characterized the backlash as "collective online bullying" and an assault on academic freedom, making him a prominent figure in public free-speech debates.

Legacy and Resulting Publications

Despite the intense scrutiny, the project continued its annual workshops through August 2023. It served as the foundation for Biggar’s later, highly debated writings on the topic: [1, 2, 3]

• Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning (2023): A direct byproduct of the project, this Sunday Times bestselling book evaluates the moral nature of Western colonialism. It was famously dropped by its initial publisher, Bloomsbury, due to public pressure before being picked up by HarperCollins.
• The Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt: A book expanding his argument against the pervasive historical guilt and institutional self-flagellation present in contemporary British society.