Priyamvada Gopal

Gopal has written extensively about the impact of empire on contemporary culture in Britain and examined its broader social and cultural effects in South Asia and other former colonial societies.[8][9][10]

In her book Insurgent Empire, Gopal examines traditions of dissent on the question of empire and shows how rebellions and resistance in the colonies influenced British critics of empire. She argues that ideas of freedom, justice, and common humanity had themselves taken shape in the struggle against imperialism.[11]

Gopal has also written about Britain's imperial amnesia and has called for a more honest account of how the country came to be what it is today. She argues that developing a more demanding relationship to history is essential for moving beyond institutionalised amnesia about the past.[12]

Gopal argues that decolonisation in the European context involves Europe 'reckoning with its colonial self-constitution and thinking about the legacies and afterlives of colonialism both "within" and "without" its complicated and shifting borders.' She draws on Ngũgĩ and Fanon to argue that Europe's material, cultural and intellectual riches also cannot be separated from its encounters with the Global South.

Gopal contends that decolonisation must begin with an unflinchingly truthful engagement with empire and colonialism, and a sustained study of how Europe's forays into the world made 'Europe'.

She has also been a long-standing advocate for the 'decolonisation' of Cambridge's English curriculum. In June 2017, a group of Cambridge students had called for the university to include more black and ethnic minority writers in its English literature curriculum, an initiative strongly supported by Gopal.[13] She argues that decolonisation in the curriculum context is about having access to information and narratives, which reframe our understanding of the multiple lineages and sources of knowledge.[14]

Gopal has written and commented extensively on the subject of race and how it operates in contemporary society. She argues that whiteness is primarily a cultural category, not a biological one, and is useful for explaining how western societies work in terms of how society is structured, and how such structures determine power relations between dominant and non-dominant groups.[15][16]

In the context of racial discrimination in the United Kingdom, Gopal has discussed white fragility, suggesting that a "way of deflecting engagement with race is to personalise matters".[17] In October 2019, Gopal criticised the Equality and Human Rights Commission report "Tackling racial harassment: Universities challenged" for the language it used and for not addressing the systemic disadvantages faced by black and minority ethnic students or the ways whiteness dominates power structures and pedagogy.[18][19]

In 2006, Gopal took part in a debate on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week.[20] There, she found herself in opposition to the historian Niall Ferguson, who argued that the British Empire was, by and large, a benevolent and virtuous enterprise. Gopal challenged Ferguson's account of Britain's imperial project, questioning his assertions about the greatness of empire.[21]

The programme became a matter of controversy. That evening, the BBC invited another Indian woman onto their programme, who said that not all young Indians thought in the way that Gopal did. Gopal later accused the BBC of pushing an agenda and playing off "natives" against each other.[22]

Gopal said that it was this experience that galvanized her to write and think more publicly about empire.[23]

In June 2018, Gopal alleged racial profiling by college porters at the gate of King's College, Cambridge. Gopal said that she was subjected to racial profiling and aggression by the porters and gatekeepers of King's and claimed porters frequently hassled non-white staff and students at the gates.[24][25] Gopal also announced that she would no longer teach at King's until there was a resolution to the long-standing problem.[26][27]

As a result of the attention the issue received, Cambridge University students came forward describing similar experiences. Students of English at King's also issued an open letter in support of Gopal, urging the college to offer her a "proper apology": "The many testimonies from black and minority ethnic students that have come in the wake of Dr Gopal's statement make apparent that her treatment is not unique or isolated. We strongly condemn the actions of the college and fully support Dr Gopal in her decision to boycott it."[28] Gopal said that she received hate mail following her announcement.[29]

In October 2018, King's issued a statement accepting that there had been several reports of discrimination and racial profiling.[30] Gopal said that senior members of the college had also conveyed their private apologies and assured her that the problem was being taken seriously. Shortly afterward, Gopal rescinded her decision to withdraw her labour from the college.[3]

On 23 June 2020, Gopal tweeted "White lives don't matter. As white lives" and "Abolish whiteness", in response to a banner flown over a Premier League football stadium that read "White lives matter Burnley". She received abusive messages, including death threats, following her tweet.[31][32] Gopal told the media that her comments were opposing the concept of whiteness – the presumption of white superiority – and challenging the racial basis for lives mattering, adding that it wasn't whiteness that gave lives their dignity, nor should it be the criteria for lives mattering.[33] Professor Gopal stood by her tweets asserting that her comments were "very clearly speaking to a structure and ideology, not about people".[34]

The following day, the University of Cambridge tweeted a blanket defence of its academics' right to free speech, without explicitly referencing her case. A statement released by the university read: "The University defends the right of its academics to express their own lawful opinions which others might find controversial and deplores in the strongest terms abuse and personal attacks. These attacks are totally unacceptable and must cease".[35]

In November 2020, the Daily Mail paid £25,000 in damages to Gopal after the paper falsely alleged that she was attempting to incite a race war and that she supports and endorses the subjugation and persecution of white people.[36] The allegations, made by Amanda Platell in a column following the "White lives" tweet, were based on an inflammatory quote from a fake Twitter account, which Platell's column falsely attributed to Professor Gopal.[36]

The column had also partially quoted Gopal's "White lives" tweet as saying 'White lives don't matter.', but chose to omit the remainder of the quote, which went on to state "As White Lives", distorting its context and meaning.[36]

In addition to paying damages, the newspaper also published full apologies in the Daily Mail and agreed to pay Gopal's legal costs.[36]