Description
This contribution is part of my doctoral research project on reparations and reparatory justice in the (former) metropoles of colonial imperialism, more concretely on the historical and current reparations efforts after the British Empire. Understanding calls for reparations not only as transformative and reconciling but also as disruptive and resistant, this paper seeks to investigate how demands for reparations have challenged and continue to challenge the current state of the colonial and imperial metropoles. With this contribution, I draw on concepts of reparations and reparative justice as well as concepts on metropole/periphery, empire and imperialism. What is meant by reparations and reparative justice? How are metropoles conceptualised? And finally, how do different ideas and demands for reparations challenge the multifaceted dimensions of empire and metropole? Thinking with the colonial boomerang, worldmaking approaches and a processual understanding of reparations, this contribution suggest that reparations are a necessary framework to think about the interweaving of past, present and future while critically investing and blurring the lines of metropole and periphery. This will be complemented with insights and first findings from field research in Britain and participatory action research over the past two years drawing on participatory observations, interviews, archival data and joint organising. This contribution it aims to contribute to discussing how claims for reparations have shaped the (former?) metropoles of empire.
