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Tony Ballantyne (historian)

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Ballantyne in 2012

Anthony John Ballantyne (born Dunedin, 1972) is a New Zealand historian at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His research has focused on the cultural impact of British imperialism in New Zealand, Ireland, India and Britain. Ballantyne also played a role in shaping the "new imperial history" movement and pioneered the "webs of empire" methodology for writing colonial histories.[1] He also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Humanities at Otago University between 2015 and 2020 and subequently led the university's Division of External Engagement.[1][2][3] In 2024 Ballantyne was awarded a Distinguished Professorship at the university.[4]

Academic career

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After completing his schooling at King's High School, Dunedin, Ballantyne graduated BA at the University of Otago, Dunedin and obtained a PhD at the University of Cambridge.[5] After brief stints abroad at the National University of Ireland and the University of Illinois, he returned to the University of Otago in 2002 where his career advanced.[1]

Ballantyne has established a scholarly reputation within New Zealand academic circles primarily, including being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2012.[6] In 2016 he was awarded the Humanities Aronui Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand.[7]

Ballantyne’s work examines the development of imperial intellectual and cultural life in New Zealand, Ireland, India, and Britain. The work is derived from the tradition of scholarship that sees colonialism as a cultural undertaking as well as a political and economic project.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

He has analysed the British empire as a 'web,' with 'vertical' connections developing between Britain and its colonies and 'horizontal' connections linking various colonies directly. He has helped shed light on how these 'webs of empire' incorporated new lands and peoples.[16] More specifically, Orientalism and Race (2001) analysed the 'orientalizing' texts of British officials in colonial India and their attempts to decode both Hinduism and Sikhism more broadly in terms of their understandings of Aryanism and race; at the same time it examined similar discourses directed toward understandings of Māori as, first, 'Semitic', then Indo-Aryan, and ultimately, Māori reconfigurations of Christianity on their own terms. Ballantyne's work has received its share of criticism. For example, some scholars have criticised Ballantyne’s analyses as informed by an ‘egregious understanding of race’.[17]

With regard to Sikh studies, Ballantyne has been among those who have critiqued scholarship that focuses too much on Sikh textual traditions, arguing that the experiences of colonialism and migration have been crucial in making Sikh identities.[18][19][20][21][22]

During the 2010s, Ballantyne has returned to focus on New Zealand's colonial history. This work has sought to connect New Zealand's colonial culture by noting the links with China and India. Along the lines of Benedict Anderson's formulation of 'print capitalism', Ballantyne has, in turn, addressed the place of print culture and literacy in the encounters between Māori and the Pākehā colonists. He has also addressed the place of race and religion in cross-cultural history[23][24] His most recent work, Entanglements of Empire (2014), focuses on early New Zealand history and the foundations of relationship between Māori and Pākehā.[25][26] It was awarded the W.H. Oliver prize for the best book on New Zealand history between 2013 and 2015 by the New Zealand Historical Association.[27]

With Antoinette Burton he has also written about world history, highlighting the importance of race and gender in cross-cultural encounters.[28][29]

Administrative positions

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Ballantyne was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Humanities at Otago's Dunedin campus from 2015 to 2020, a time characterised by controversy. He initiated processes that resulted in sixteen full-time equivalent academic staff being made redundant, with other academics impelled to take early retirement.[30][31][32][33][34][35] He also advocated eliminating the Art History program and it was subsequently disestablished.[36][37] These and related actions were reported extensively in the press. Articles and editorials exposed a 'negative, top-down, management culture that undermined trust, productivity and mental health' and that created a 'climate of suppression…and fear of repercussions'. This produced 'demoralised teachers and researchers' who were 'locked in pain and anger at what their institution had become'.[33][35][38][39] '[E]ven the brightest and best academics secure in their status and position' felt 'acute discontent'.[35] Concerns about Otago's top-down management style and its deleterious effect on morale were widely expressed, including by Sir David Skegg, in a highly unusual intervention by a previous Vice-Chancellor of the university itself. Disputing Ballantyne's claim that redundancies were necessary because of declining enrolments, Skegg emphasized that '[a]ny financial crisis at Otago cannot be attributed to falling student numbers'.[40][41][42]

In October 2020 the University of Otago stated that, as of 2021, Ballantyne would no longer serve as PVC and would instead lead the University's Division of External Engagement[43][2] to attend to alumni relations and liaising with secondary schools, among other matters.[44] In this capacity Ballantyne also led the creation of a new university logo, with the effort criticised for costing about $700,000 whilst large numbers of academic staff were made redundant on the grounds of budgetary shortfalls.[45] [46] In early 2024 it was announced Ballantyne would be stepped down from External Engagement, as part of 'major' 'almost wholesale' replacement of university leadership apparently sought by new incoming Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson.[47] Recruitment to replace Ballantyne was under way as of March 2024.[48]

Works

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  • Entanglements of Empire: Missionaries, Māori, and the Question of the Body (Duke University Press, 2014).
  • Webs of Empire: Locating New Zealand's Colonial Past (Bridget Williams Books, 2012).
  • Between Colonialism and Diaspora: Sikh Cultural Formations in an Imperial World (Duke University Press, 2006).
  • Orientalism and Race: Aryanism in the British Empire (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series, Palgrave, 2001).
  • Co-editor, Moving Subjects: Gender, Mobility and Intimacy in an Age of Global Empire (University of Illinois Press, 2007).
  • Editor, Textures of the Sikh Past: New Historical Interpretations (Oxford University Press, 2007).
  • Co-editor, Disputed Histories: Reimagining New Zealand's Pasts (Otago University Press, 2006).
  • Co-editor, Bodies in Contact: Rethinking Colonial Encounters in World History (Duke University Press, 2005).

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Otago selects leading historian as its next Head of Humanities, News at Otago, University of Otago, New Zealand". University of Otago. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b MacLean, Hamish (14 October 2020). "Ballantyne chosen for leading uni role". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  3. ^ ""Professor Jessica Palmer new PVC of Humanities"". University of Otago News. 22 December 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  4. ^ Otago, University of (27 June 2024). "Poutoko Taiea appointments recognise impactful contributions". University of Otago. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Tony Ballantyne". University of Otago. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Five Otago academic selected RSNZ fellows | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News". Otago Daily Times. 18 October 2012. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  7. ^ Humanities, Division of. "Humanities Aronui Medal for Professor Tony Ballantyne". University of Otago. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. ^ Multiple Authors (1982–2005). SUBALTERN STUDIES Volumes 1-12. Oxford University Press.
  9. ^ Said, Edward W. (1969). "Swift's Tory Anarchy". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 3 (1): 48–66. doi:10.2307/2737698. ISSN 0013-2586. JSTOR 2737698.
  10. ^ Said, Edward (1978). "Orientalism". Pantheon Books.
  11. ^ Cohn, Bernard (1961). "From Indian Status to British Contract". The Journal of Economic History. 21 (4): 613–628. doi:10.1017/S002205070010909X. S2CID 154199203.
  12. ^ Cohn, Bernard (1996). Colonialism and its forms of knowledge : the British in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-19-565970-8.
  13. ^ Inden, Ronald B. (1990). Imagining India. Oxford.
  14. ^ Inden, Ronald (1986). "Orientalist Constructions of India". Modern Asian Studies. Cambridge U Press.
  15. ^ Hobsbawm, E. J. & Ranger, T. O. (1983). The Invention of tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24645-8. OCLC 8763782. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Orientalism and Race | Palgrave Macmillan". Palgrave.com. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  17. ^ Ghosh, Subhasri (2022). The 1947 Partition in The East: Trends and Trajectories (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 225. ISBN 9781138062375.
  18. ^ Fox, Richard Gabriel (1 January 1985). Lions of the Punjab: Culture in the Making. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05491-2.
  19. ^ Axel, Brian (2001). The nation's tortured body : violence, representation and the formation of a Sikh diaspora. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2607-8. OCLC 469429107. Archived from the original on 3 August 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ "historycooperative.org". historycooperative.org. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  22. ^ "Textures of the Sikh Past – Hardcover – Tony Ballantyne". Oxford University Press. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  23. ^ Anderson, Benedict (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso.
  24. ^ May, Andrew (2015). "Review: Webs of Empire: Locating New Zealand's Colonial Past" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of History. 49 (1): 145-147. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  25. ^ Reid, Nicholas (20 April 2015). "Reid's Reader – A Blog of Book Reviews and Comment.: Something New". Reid's Reader – A Blog of Book Reviews and Comment. Archived from the original on 3 August 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  26. ^ "The tangled history of Maori and missionaries". Stuff. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  27. ^ NZHeh (7 December 2015). "RE: W. H Oliver Prize announcement". The New Zealand Historical Association. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  28. ^ Burton, Antoinette; Ballantyne, Tony (31 January 2005). Bodies in Contact: Rethinking Colonial Encounters in World History – Google Books. ISBN 0822386453. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  29. ^ Ballantyne, Tony; Burton, Antoinette M. (2009). Moving Subjects: Gender, Mobility, and Intimacy in an Age of Global Empire – Google Books. ISBN 9780252075681. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  30. ^ Taylor, Margot (27 July 2016). "Humanities cuts closer at University". Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  31. ^ Taylor, Margot (25 August 2016). "400 protest humanities cuts". Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  32. ^ Prof Kevin Clements & Rev Dr Peter Matheson (18 November 2019). "Toxic atmosphere at Otago Uni risks becoming 'chronic'". Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  33. ^ a b Munro, Bruce (9 March 2020). "A culture of control". Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  34. ^ Elder, Vaughn (22 February 2017). "Vice-chancellor accused of intimidation". Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  35. ^ a b c "The university's blues". 11 March 2020. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  36. ^ McPhee, Elena (26 September 2018). "Otago Uni votes to scrap art history". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  37. ^ "Art history's proposed demise 'sad but predictable'. McPhee, Elena (27 August 2018) Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 11 July 2020". 27 August 2018. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  38. ^ "Otago University: 'A climate of suppression and fear of repercussions'". New Zealand Herald. 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  39. ^ Editorial (6 April 2021). "University reset required". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  40. ^ "A bright future tipped for the university". Otago Daily Times. 7 June 2023. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  41. ^ "University plight demands careful thought". Otago Daily Times. 25 April 2023. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  42. ^ "Why has the University of Otago lost its competitive edge?". Otago Daily Times. 8 May 2023. Archived from the original on 3 August 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  43. ^ "Harlene Hayne to leave University of Otago". Otago Daily Times. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  44. ^ "University of Otago External Engagement Division". The University of Otago. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  45. ^ Williams, Mary (6 May 2023). "The 'perfect storm' facing the University of Otago". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  46. ^ Lewis, John (6 May 2023). "University delays decision on logo". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  47. ^ Littlewood, Matthew (20 March 2024). "Vice-chancellor won't be only new face". Otago Daily Times Online News. Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  48. ^ Littlewood, Matthew (20 March 2024). "Vice-chancellor won't be only new face". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
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