Reviews: 'Invisible Empire is a much needed antidote to the poverty of the mainstream political imagination concerning issues of racism in this country. Through a sensitivity to the political and cultural landscapes of East London, Georgina Wemyss dissects the intolerant tolerance of white liberals as well as the inability of British society to break from its imperial past and offer genuine belonging to its black and brown citizens.'
Les Back, Goldsmiths University of London, UK
'This book provides a wonderfully readable analysis of the politics of multiculturalism within the framework of a particular place. The author's sustained critique of "the invisible empire" shaping the East End as a contrived tale of merchants and the spread of civilisation manages to bring to light layer upon layer of remarkable historical information along the way, right up to the present. Her methodical and innovative approach also shows those of us committed to breaking the default setting of white liberalism how to engage simultaneously with the local, the trans-local and the national. Here she demonstrates how, at each scale, public understanding of the "complex citizenship" of postcolonial settlers is diminished by careless ignorance and racism derived from decades of misinformation and hubris about Britain’s past.'
Vron Ware, The Open University, UK
'Wemyss shows comprehensively that public understanding of the "complex citizenship" of postcolonial settlers is diminished by careless ignorance and racism derived from decades of misinformation about Britain's past'
BSA Network
'Pay discrimination against foreign seafarers on UK-flagged ships is nothing new...it is timely and salutary in its reflect on the history of the "lascars"...their plight is highlighted in the penultimate chapter of a new book by Georgie Wemyss of Goldmiths College, University of London. Her study, The Invisible Empire, focuses more broadly on the historical relationship between the British Empire and east London's Bengali community - but the chapter on the lascars serves as the pivotal case study.'
Nautilus International: The Telegraph
'Georgie Wemyss challenges claims to European hegemony by delving into alternative local histories and ethnographies …recommended not just to anthropologists and historians, but also any sociologist concerned with the major reconstruction of the historical understanding of modernity that is currently underway.'
The Sociological Review
'Like all research of significance, this expertly written book stays in the mind. Wemyss analyses historic discourses on Britain's relationship with East India alongside contemporary discourses on the representation of British Bengalis, and not only reveals how the power of Empire has resulted in silences and stereotypes that live on today, but also explains why engaging with the diversity of British Bengali identities is essential in post-7/7 Britain'
Times Higher Education
'... this is an invaluable book. I had the sense when reading it of the potential unfolding of an inter-disciplinary course on the postcolonial history of the East End – a resource I will often return to and direct students towards. Skilfully, Wemyss draws together an eclectic set of discursive and ethnographic analyses of commemorative events and local political conflicts. She takes the reader on a journey through a series of East End case study controversies, all of which have the effect, in the end, of making the legacy of empire continuously invisible in what counts as East End history.'
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
'The book is successful in achieving what it sets out to do. The author has marked out clearly the objectives of the study and the manner in which the core questions will be examined across different settings. She is careful to tie all of the disparate strands together to show how Empire and its concomitant ideas have become grounded in people's everyday experiences and routines, before revealing how these processes affect current events and perceptions. ... Wemyss demonstrates the manner in which cultural identity and power are conjoined in present-day circumstances to mark out relationships between different ethnic groups. Moreover, The invisible Empire highlights how certain beliefs are collectively imagined and then reproduced in people's perceptions of themselves and others, all of which has an impact on local daily happenings in tangible ways. ... Importantly, the structure of the book enables the reader to see how the common threads of cultural identity pervade distinct issues, locations and timeframes. ... Wemyss has carried out meticulous research and offered a tight framework with which to probe the core questions at the heart of the study... Overall, The invisible Empire makes an original and telling contribution towards comprehending the centrality of race and ethnicity, and their role towards an understanding of national identity. The book reveals how discourses operate in social settings over time and the multitude of ways in which memories are moulded into particular directions to assist the selective and contrived nature of historical accounts involving ethnic communities. Apart from offering a means by which to revisit Britain's imperial past and to interrogate the means by which cultural identity is constructed, this book also conveys how power is discharged and how difference is conceived. Wemyss engages strongly with a number of core themes that have particular resonance at this moment in time. Globalisation, migration and multiculturalism are all issues that have formed critical strands within discussions of Britishness in recent years, and she has illuminated their character and the processes by which a number of the ideas used to describe such factors operate in association with daily habits. The author should be congratulated for her in-depth exploration of this topic and the skilful application of its importance across different realms of cultural life.'
Social Semiotics