Biography

I’m a PhD student in the history of political thought in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. I have interests in the co-development of ideas about democracy and modern empire, the politics of theorising race and racism, and the disciplinary history of political science.

My doctoral dissertation examines contests over the meaning and significance of race among British and American progressives at the turn of the twentieth century. It investigates how debates on the relationship between democracy and empire in Britain produced new and innovative critiques of white racial supremacy, including claims about race as a psychological force and corrupting ‘belief’.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Intellectual History 2020
University of Oxford History and Politics 2019

Links

https://www.polis.cam.ac.uk/staff/benjamin-r-y-tan
https://benjamin-tan.com