British Cultural Diplomacy in South Africa, 1960-1994

ISBN-13: 9783031494376 / Angielski

Daniel J. Feather

Spis treści

1. Introduction.- Part I. Educational Exchange and Technical Assistance.- 2. Racialised Educational Diplomacy: Scholarships and Race, 1960-1964.- 3. The Beginning of a More Equitable Policy: Educational Exchange from 1964 to 1979.- 4. Forging Ties with the ‘Successor Generation’: Educational Exchange from 1979 to 1994.- Part II. The Limits of Cultural Diplomacy in a Polarised Context.- 5. Contested Perceptions of the British Broadcasting Cooperation in South Africa.- 6.  Arts and Culture as a Means of Projecting ‘Britishness’.- 7. ‘Bridge Building’ or ‘Carrots and Sticks’?: British Policy Towards Sporting Ties with South Africa During Apartheid.- 8. Conclusion.

O autorze

Daniel James Feather is Senior Lecturer in History at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), teaching in the areas of imperial, African, and international history. He is also Course Coordinator for the Arts and Humanities foundation programme and contributes to LJMU’s International Relations programme. Previously, he worked as Associate Lecturer in History at the University of Central Lancashire and has been awarded the Royal Historical Society’s Martin Lynn Scholarship in 2016 to support primary research in South Africa, an RHS small grant to fund research at the UK National Archives in 2017, and the British Society of Sports History Early Career Researcher grant in 2020, to support research in Oxford and London.

Blurb

Daniel James Feather is Senior Lecturer in History at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), teaching in the areas of imperial, African, and international history. He is also Course Coordinator for the Arts and Humanities foundation programme and contributes to LJMU’s International Relations programme. Previously, he worked as Associate Lecturer in History at the University of Central Lancashire and has been awarded the Royal Historical Society’s Martin Lynn Scholarship in 2016 to support primary research in South Africa, an RHS small grant to fund research at the UK National Archives in 2017, and the British Society of Sports History Early Career Researcher grant in 2020, to support research in Oxford and London.

This book analyses the British government’s use of cultural diplomacy in South Africa from 1960 to 1994, and examines how Britain attempted to offset its decline in traditional ‘hard power’ assets, while still maintaining influence in South Africa. While British policymakers increasingly relied on the ‘special relationship’ with the USA to preserve a role in world affairs, it is clear that they also wished to maintain influence in South Africa, even after it left the Commonwealth in 1961. One way policymakers attempted to maintain this special relationship was through cultural diplomacy, facilitated primarily by the British Council, which became prominent after 1961 and into the final years of apartheid. In addition to its work directly linked to arts, culture, and educational exchange, the council also became an important conduit for the technical assistance provided by the Overseas Development Administration. While most research in this area has focused on the political, economic, or military links between South Africa and the UK, this book makes an important and original intervention by emphasising the significance of cultural diplomacy, and later technical assistance, in British policy towards South Africa, providing new insights for those interested in imperial and Commonwealth history, British foreign relations and diplomatic history.