The Colonisation of Time—Ritual, Routine and Resistance in the British Empire

The Colonisation of Time is a highly original and long overdue examination of the ways that western-European and specifically British concepts and rituals of time were imposed on other cultures as a fundamental component of colonization during the nineteenth century. Based on a wealth of primary sources, it explores the intimate relationship between the colonization of time and space in two British settler-colonies (Victoria, Australia and the Cape Colony, South Africa) and its instrumental role in the exportation of Christianity, capitalism, and modernity, thus adding new depth to our understanding of imperial power and of the ways in which it was exercised and limited. All those intrigued by the concept of time will find this book of interest, for it illustrates how western-European time's rise to a position of global dominance—from the clock to the seven-day week—is one of the most pervasive, enduring, and taken-for-granted legacies of colonization in today's world.