Following the introduction to this module, the readings for this week’s tutorial have been very useful in witnessing transnational history ‘in action’. I had read in broader articles on transnational history about the significance of Sugata Bose’s work in the field and so it was a great insight to read a work that is widely revered by historians, setting the standard for the employment of methodological processes and perspectives in this discipline.
Bose’s focus on the circular migration of Indian labour provided an interesting perspective that was not specific to either migration or emigration, but on the wider effects of Indian labour movement throughout Asia. As Bose highlights, the historical precedence has been to centralise European and American capitalists within the process of economic globalisation, neglecting the multitude of Asian capitalists with global ambitions. The combination of evaluating both Indian labour movements and its place within the greater Indian Ocean area allows Bose to present a wholly rounded text that exemplifies the benefits of transnational history. This text has taught me how transnational history, unlike global history, does not require a perspective of the whole world, but rather a focus on the movements and connections of a particular subject across a selected area. The weaving together of Jewish mercantilism, the discovery of oil, the Japanese economic activities and Zanzibar’s clove trade is a perfect display of Bose’s understanding of the possibilities that transnational history allows.
Similarly, Clare Anderson’s use of the specific studies regarding penal activities within the British Empire to address the wider topic of race. Through examining the case study of George Morgan, Anderson presents a well-rounded interpretation of the issue of race within the British Empire in the early 19th century. As Anderson shows, transnational history allows for the intricacies of a topic, such as the understanding of race, to be contextualised within a wider sphere so as to uncover the issue of generalisation and dependency on selected evidence.
Overall, this week’s readings have allowed me to understand how the theory of transnational history works within a historical text. Anderson and Bose exemplify the benefits of transnational practice through their use of local examples to present an evidential and rounded assessment of that topic in a wider context. Essentially, these key texts have given me the confidence to go off and create my own transnationally historical work without the over-complication of theoretical and historiographical focus.