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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies

Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 2.5k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores transnational social and political movements during the colonial era, focusing on Indian nationalism, internationalism, diasporic dimensions of the Indian freedom movement, anti-imperialist activities, maritime labor, and global radicalism. It delves into the interconnectedness of colonial societies, the impact of colonialism on national identities, and the role of transnational networks in shaping historical events.

  • Transnationalism
  • Colonialism
  • Nationalism
  • Internationalism
  • Indian Freedom Movement
  • Maritime Labor
  • Anti-Imperialism
  • Diaspora
  • Global Radicalism
  • Postcolonial Societies
Research works
2.5k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
251
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+61%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies

Which countries lead Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies research?

By volume, the United States and India publish the most (215 and 139 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 215 works
  2. 2 India 139 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 124 works
  4. 4 Germany 39 works
  5. 5 Canada 30 works
  6. 6 France 27 works
  7. 7 China 25 works
  8. 8 Hungary 23 works
  9. 9 Russia 23 works
  10. 10 Australia 21 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 32.3%India: 20.9%United Kingdom: 18.6%Germany: 5.8%6 others listed: 22.4%32%largest
United States215 · 32.3%India139 · 20.9%United Kingdom124 · 18.6%Germany39 · 5.8%6 others listed149 · 22.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies research, followed by University of Cambridge and University of Chicago.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 11 works
  2. 2 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 10 works
  3. 3 University of ChicagoUnited States 9 works
  4. 4 University of DelhiIndia 8 works
  5. 5 Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityIndia 8 works
  6. 6 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 8 works
  7. 7 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 8 works
  8. 8 University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 7 works
  9. 9 Film IndependentUnited States 6 works
  10. 10 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 6 works

Who are the leading researchers in Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies include Nicholas John White and David G. Lowe.

  1. 1 Nicholas John White Thailand 138k citations
  2. 2 David G. Lowe United Kingdom 115k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies?

The most cited paper in Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies is "Anthropology in the Margins of the State" (Robert M. Hayden, 2005), with 2,075 citations. Next come "Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity" (1,341) and "Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World: Perspectives from Indian Historiography" (612).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Anthropology in the Margins of the State Robert M. Hayden · American Anthropologist Dec 2005 2,075
2 Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity Catherine Eschle · American Anthropologist Sep 2004 1,341
3 Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World: Perspectives from Indian Historiography Gyan Prakash · Comparative Studies in Society and History Apr 1990 612
4 Thinking between the Posts: Postcolonialism, Postsocialism, and Ethnography after the Cold War Sharad Chari, Katherine Verdery · Comparative Studies in Society and History 16 Dec 2008 575
5 From Institution to Occupation Charles C. Moskos · Armed Forces & Society Oct 1977 376
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies research done?

The largest centres of Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), New Delhi (India), New York (United States) and Budapest (Hungary). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in New Delhi and London.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 31 works
  2. 2 New DelhiIndia 24 works
  3. 3 New YorkUnited States 19 works
  4. 4 BudapestHungary 17 works
  5. 5 ParisFrance 15 works
  6. 6 MoscowRussia 14 works
  7. 7 KolkataIndia 12 works
  8. 8 ChicagoUnited States 11 works
  9. 9 CambridgeUnited Kingdom 11 works
  10. 10 Los AngelesUnited States 10 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. New DelhiIN · 24.1 works6.2×
  2. LondonGB · 30.6 works4.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies than the world average.

See Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Cambridge, University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%5%10%mean 5.2%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of DelhiUniversity of Cambri…Jawaharlal Nehru Uni…University of Chicago
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 71.54.0%10.8×10 +37.6%
2University of DelhiIndia 54.610.6%16.5×8 +62.1%
3Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityIndia 18.74.0%57.8×8 +14.5%
4University of ChicagoUnited States 18.42.2%13.8×9 -

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies, country by country

Is Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 61% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0022% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies0.0049% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies9.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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