What are empires, nation states and colonialism?

How do we understand empire in the modern age? In this 10-Minute Talk, Professor Gurminder K Bhambra challenges the idea that modern nation-states emerged as a result of the break-up of empire, and instead invites us to rethink what defines empire entirely. By considering different colonial processes and the impact these have on how we understand empires, Bhambra unpacks the specific characteristics of European empire in the modern period. Speaker: Professor Gurminder K Bhambra FBA, Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex This video is for informative and educational purposes. For further reading, Professor Bhambra has recently published an article expanding on the themes of this talk: Please find a blog version of this talk here: 10-Minute Talks are a series of pre-recorded talks from Fellows of the British Academy screened each Friday on YouTube and also available on Apple Podcasts. Subtitles, also known as closed captions, are available on our YouTube videos. You can access them by clicking on the 'CC' button or gear icon on the video. The 'CC' button and gear icon are usually located at the bottom of videos. Find out more about the British Academy: For future events, visit our website:

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What are empires, nation states and colonialism? is an episode from 10-Minute Talks by The British Academy.

This episode is 9:53 long.

This episode was published on Oct 18, 2024.

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