ABSTRACT
This chapter hovers over the British Empire's bumpy trajectory of decline and disintegration, swooping down to track some key struggles. It traces the inside stories of Oscar Wilde, Jean Amery, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. In all four cases their careers brought threats of humiliation counterbalanced by declarations of intense admiration. More generally, humiliation brings a forcible reordering of statuses, along with a demeaning recasting of social identities. Some people in conditions of humiliation may conclude that the best move for them is to try adapting themselves to their new situation, especially if they do not seem to have any choice. Rejection's remedial form is resistance, which is basically self-strengthening, equipping the threatened individual or group so it can mount effective counter-pressure against attempts at humiliating forced displacement. Charismatic returnees committed to the vision of an emancipated future may play a catalytic role in transforming conditions that reproduce humiliation.
