Barbed-Wire Imperialism: Britain’s Empire of Camps, 1876–1903

367 Pages·2017·2.754 MB·English

by  Aidan Forth

Aidan Forth · BARBED-WIRE
IMPERIALISM
Britain’s Empire of Camps, 1876–1903
university of california press
BARBED-WIRE IMPERIALISM
BERKELEY SERIES IN BRITISH STUDIES
Edited by Mark Bevir and James Vernon
1. T he Peculiarities of Liberal Modernity in Imperial Britain
edited by Simon Gunn and James Vernon
2. Dilemmas of Decline: British Intellectuals and World Politics, 1945–1975
by Ian Hall
3. The Savage Visit: New World People and Popular Imperial Culture in Britain,
1710–1795
by Kate Fullagar
4. The Afterlife of Empire
by Jordanna Bailkin
5. Smyrna’s Ashes: Humanitarianism, Genocide, and the Birth of the Middle East
by Michelle Tusan
6. Pathological Bodies: Medicine and Political Culture
by Corinna Wagner
7. A Problem of Great Importance: Population, Race, and Power in the British
Empire, 1918–1973
by Karl Ittmann
8. Liberalism in Empire: An Alternative History
by Andrew Sartori
9. Distant Strangers: How Britain Became Modern
by James Vernon
10. Edmund Burke and the Conservative Logic of Empire
by Daniel I. O’Neill
11. Governing Systems: Modernity and the Making of Public Health in England,
1830–1910
by Tom Crook
12. Barbed-Wire Imperialism: Britain’s Empire of Camps, 1876–1903
by Aidan Forth
Aidan Forth · BARBED-WIRE
IMPERIALISM
Britain’s Empire of Camps, 1876–1903
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United
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University of California Press
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© 2017 Aidan Forth
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Forth, Aidan, author.
Title: Barbed-wire imperialism : Britain’s empire of camps, 1876–1903 / Aidan Forth.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Series: Berkeley
series in British studies; 12
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017010810 (print) | LCCN 2017021208 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520967267
(ebook) | ISBN 9780520293960 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520293977 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Concentration camps—Africa—19th century. | Great Britain—Colonies—
Africa—19th century. | South African War, 1899–1902—Concentration camps. |
Concentration camps—India—19th century. | Great Britain—Colonies—India—
19th century.
Classifi cation: LCC JV1027 (ebook) | LCC JV1027 .F65 2017 (print) | DDC 365/.34—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010810
Manufactured in the United States of America
25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents

CONTENTS
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Britain’s Empire
of Camps 1
1. Concentrating the “Dangerous Classes”:
The Cultural and Material Foundations
of British Camps 14
2. “Barbed-Wire Deterrents”: Detention
and Relief at Indian Famine Camps,
1876–1901 43
3. “A Source of Horror and Dread”:
Plague Camps in India and South Africa,
1896–1901 74
4. Concentrated Humanity:
The Management and Anatomy
of Colonial Camps, c. 1900 100
5. Camps in a Time of War: Civilian
Concentration in Southern
Africa, 1900–1901 129
6. “Only Matched in Times of Famine
and Plague”: Life and Death in the
Concentration Camps 159
7. “A System Steadily Perfected”: Camp
Reform and the “New Geniuses
from India,” 1901–1903 186
Epilogue: Camps Go Global:
Lessons, Legacies, and Forgotten
Solidarities 212
Notes 229
Works Cited 307
Index 337
FIGURES

1. “Tent cities”: Johannesburg and Springfontein 16

2. Ndabeni repurposed the former Uitvlugt plague camp 21

3. Family quarters, Aldershot, and an army fi eld camp 25

4. Hadleigh labor colony 31

5. “Barbed-wire imperialism” at Bitragunta Criminal Tribes Settlement 41

6. Map of Indian famines in 1876–77 and 1896–97 45

7. Famine wanderers detained in a Madras relief camp 51

8. Women and children at an earthwork 65

9. Camps rendered the famished visible to colonial bureaucracy 70

10. Urban cleansing, Bombay 75

11. Different levels of security awaited those displaced 88

12. Model camp prescribed in the North-Western Provinces 102

13. Monegar Choultry camp 104

14. Uniform huts at Shetpal camp and khadi-cloth in Naldurg 107

15. Blueprint of Khana Junction Plague Detention Camp 113

16. Detention camp from the road, Poona 114

17. Dadar Evacuation Camp 119

18. Illustrated guidelines for designated “watermen” 121
ix