Empire and its Aftermath in Four (Post)Colonial Settings

Abstract

This chapter explores the history of prison tourism and its various contemporary manifestations in four colonial and postcolonial settings associated with the British Empire: Fremantle (Walyalup) and Rottnest Island (Wadjemup) in Western Australia; the Andaman Islands of India; and Changuu [Prison] Island in Zanzibar. It will analyse how and why each of these sites emerged historically as tourist attractions, and how and why they remain appealing to visitors today. Part of the explanation lies in the ecology of spaces that were attractive as prisons and remain alluring as leisure destinations, but it is also to do with their imbrication in wider narratives of nationalist struggle, (de)colonization, and nation building. Convicts were sometimes used as a means of colonizing remote locations and, even where they were not, colonial prisoners were often sent to jails in the furthest reaches of Empire.