Winds of Change: An Inaugural Lecture Delivered Before the University of Oxford on 29 April 1991 (Inaugural Lectures

by Judith M. Brown

This volume contains the author's inaugural lecture on Commonwealth studies, delivered at the University of Oxford in April 1991. Professor Brown took the opportunity to trace some of the intellectual winds of change which had blown through the subject since 1950, and to discuss what should be the content of Commonwealth history now. She argued that, under the impact of decolonization, the discipline of Commonwealth history had in many cases fallen apart into area studies, now that the imperial connection has ceased to tie together the many countries of the Commonwealth. She concluded that although area studies are necessary, the comparative dimension and sense of inter-connected common experiences provided by Commonwealth history is a vital part of its study.

24 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Judith M. Brown is a historian of modern South Asia. From 1990–2011 she was the Beit Professor of Commonwealth History and a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.