Professor David Thackeray
Inaugural Lecture

Delivered on Wednesday 14th May, 16:00-17:00, Building One, Constantine Leventis Room

Recent years have been 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’s inaugural lecture reflects on how recent public debates offer new opportunities to reconsider the contested history of settler democracy. The lecture focuses 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.

[Starting at 15:56]