Description
The United Kingdom has an extensive history of colonial worldwide occupations, settlements, slavery, and the decimation of Indigenous populations. These historical dynamics contribute to establishing structures that persist in contemporary social stratification in the UK and its former dominions. However, the UK’s Armed Forces have relied on foreign labour for centuries, first with Black Caribbean sailors and later with other foreign and Commonwealth (F&C) citizens. Social science researchers have studied the role of military migrants in the UK, however largely focusing on the Gurkhas in the Army and Imperial recruitment for the Navy and Royal Air Force during the First and Second World Wars. Nevertheless, studies still lack a decolonial perspective on military diaspora narratives and policy across the UK. Little is known about how particular colonial links between the UK and its former overseas territories influence the lives of military migrants in the UK. This study proposes to innovate research in the field by developing a decolonial approach, not only focusing on the critical analysis of colonial features but also developing tangible policies to evoke change. By exploring narratives of experience, survival and resistance, together with the policy context in which these stories take shape, it aims to focus on how the notions of identity, race, ethnicity, citizenship and immigration law affects the everyday experiences of military migrants in line with Latin American, African and Asian decolonial thought.
