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Distributed for University of Wales Press

Globalising Welsh Studies

Decolonising History, Heritage, Society and Culture

A collection of multidisciplinary essays that place Wales in a global context.

Globalising Welsh Studies is the first offering in the University of Wales Press’s new series Race, Ethnicity, Wales and the World. This introductory edited text provides a theoretical and conceptual basis for the series, engaging with the key perspectives and concepts that underpin the theme of the series and acting to cohere and consolidate race and ethnicity within Welsh studies.

336 pages | 13 halftones | 8.58 x 8.5 | © 2024

Race, Ethnicity, Wales and the World

History: General History

Literature and Literary Criticism: General Criticism and Critical Theory

Political Science: Race and Politics


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Reviews

“Placing Wales in the world locates the nation—and understandings of the nation—within its broader, global interconnections. This remarkable volume draws attention to the place of Wales within the overseas colonial project and examines the legacies of those colonial connections back home. The range of excellent contributions address issues of labour migration, devolution, race equality, the challenges of heritage work, as well as the ongoing processes of social and cultural change within Wales. This is a superb opener for a series that will ground scholarly work on Wales in the context of its diverse histories and histories of diversity.”

Gurminder K. Bhambra, University of Sussex, co-author of Colonialism and Modern Social Theory

“This original and important new book asks searching questions about the relationship between a small non-state people and the empire in which they live and to which they contribute. That relationship is examined in the light of attempts to decolonise our understanding of both past and present, and to develop fresh approaches to social, cultural, and political life. Taken together, the chapters in this book shed new light on historical encounters between Wales and the wider world and illuminate the complexities of how race inflects present-day heritage and culture and the power dynamics of racial positioning. This is an essential contribution to understanding modern Wales in its full diversity, and the editors are to be applauded for assembling a group of writers and their stimulating contributions to the field.”

Paul O'Leary, Aberystwyth University

“Setting out the global context of Welsh studies is an essential and important precursor to understanding Wales’s journey to become an inclusive and antiracist nation. This volume of essays sets out the journey in an instructive and insightful manner within a global framework. As a pioneering collection, it broadens the horizons of Welsh Studies by linking local histories with transnational dynamics, and by reshaping our perceptions of Wales through the lenses of race, nationality and ethnicity. It offers an innovative approach, bridging disciplines and pushing the boundaries of scholarship on Wales’s diverse heritage and its rightful place as a trailblazing nation on inclusion worldwide. Within series, the volume is an excellent introduction to the redefining of Welsh identity by exploring its diverse and multicultural heritage, amplifying the narrative about the concept of belonging. It is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand our journey to inclusion and integration here in Wales.”

Professor Uzo Iwobi CBE, Chief Executive Race Council Cymru

Table of Contents


Editorial – ‘Globalising Welsh Studies’
Charlotte Williams and Neil Evans

Introductory Essay: A ‘Microcosmopolitanism’ of Wales
Dylan moore


Part One: Re-examining History And Heritage

Chapter 1 A deliberately Forgotten History? Wales and Imperialism in Modern History Writing
Rhys Owens

Chapter 2 John Ystumllyn or Jack Black: The Chronicle of Alltud Eifion Gareth Evans Jones

Chapter 3 The East India Company in Wales: Colonial Connections in the Country House, 1760-1820
Eleanor Stephenson

Chapter 4 Caribbean and West African seamen in a Welsh Port, 1891-1939: The Seamen’s Boarding house, Migration and Settlement
Joe Radcliffe



Part Two: Decolonising the Archive

Chapter 5 Race, ethnicity and public commemoration
Peter Wakelin and Judith Alfrey

Chapter 6 Museums in Wales: Legacy and Change
Marion Gwyn
Chapter 7. Phillips Must Fall: Histories and Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism at St David’s College, Lampeter
Alexander Scott


Part Three: Social And Cultural Change


Chapter 8. Very Black and Very Welsh: Race, National Identity and Welsh Writers of Colour in Post Devolution Wales
Lisa Sheppard

Chapter 9. Black Welsh Cinema as Afro-futurist movement
Yvonne Connike

Chapter 10: ‘The First Condition of Freedom’
Neil Evans, Huw Williams and Emily Pemberton

Chapter 11: An anti-racist plan for Wales: Prospects and limits
Emmanuel Ogbonna

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