Transnational Anti-colonialists of British Malaya, 1942-1963

This dissertation is a cultural and intellectual history of anti-colonialism in Southeast and South Asia. Based on a wide range of archival materials collected in six countries, it examines why and how the activists from small political entities, such as British Malaya, participated in the anti-colonial internationalist movements, and why the internationalist solidarities seemed necessary for their nationalist projects. By looking into the participation of Malayan activists in the Indian Independence League from 1942 to 1945, the Asian Relations Conference in 1947, and the Movement for Colonial Freedom between 1955 and 1963, this dissertation establishes that gaining political independence for Malaya from Britain was merely one of the goals for the Malayan activists. Being from a small colony, the activists in Malaya were perceptive that without structural changes in political and economic relations at larger scales, they could still be oppressed even if they could establish a nation-state. Therefore, they joined the internationalist movements, cooperating with other activists outside Malaya to advocate for political and economic equality at regional and global scales. In this sense, this dissertation will contribute to the studies of post-colonialism, inter-Asian relations, and British Malaya. By analyzing how Southeast Asian anti-colonialists had already critiqued China and Japan as empires in the 1940s, this dissertation conceptualizes Southeast Asia as a unique space to refine postcolonial studies, which have heavily focused on the legacy of Euro-American empires. Through investigating the internationalist initiatives, this work demonstrates that anti-colonial movements in Asia were closely connected. In addition, this dissertation establishes that Malaya’s struggles for independence were more multi-faceted than the jungle wars waged by the Malayan Communist Party, as it sheds light on the contribution of oft-overlooked individuals, such as the ethnic Indians and Eurasians in Malaya, towards the internationalist movements.