InFocus: Dr. Rahul Rao and Exploring the Controversy Surrounding Colonial Statues

“I'm trying to understand the depth of emotion, resentment, and feeling that this arouses on the part of both people who think that the statues are racist and doing harm, and the people who think that taking them down is in some way a deep attack on them,” said Dr Rahul Rao when asked about his main aim regarding his recently published book.

On 20 March, 2025, Dr Rahul Rao, a Reader in the School of International Relations (IR), published his third book, The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning With the Rubble of Empire. He commemorated this publication with a launch at Topping & Company booksellers in St Andrews. The book primarily explores the historical contexts in which certain political statues were erected and why there are now global movements to take them down. However, it is also a memoir that is deeply tied to Rao’s personal history.

While currently on research leave, Rao holds the role of Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) for the School of IR. The job primarily entails ensuring that all staff and students feel included within the department and making students aware that there are forms of support if they encounter issues.

However, Rao also noted that the job became more difficult and complex when the Israel-Palestine conflict emerged. He highlighted that a key aspect of being Director of EDI was verifying that the University adopted an even-handed attitude towards all forms of conflict.

Rao stated: “If you feel disconnected or out of place, chances are there is something about the institution that needs to change in order to better solve your needs.”

Rao is originally from Bangalore, a city in the south of India. Having completed a five-year combined degree, he quickly realised that he was not interested in the day-to-day practice of law and felt much more engaged in the other fields he had been studying at university. Partially influenced by the political atmosphere of India at the time, Rao chose to go down the route of studying political science.

Rao’s main research interest is studying social movements anchored by identities such as gender, sexuality, race, caste, and class. Rao came to the UK after receiving a Rhodes Scholarship, a program which funds students from around the world to study at the University of Oxford. While initially accepted to do an MPhil, Rao stayed on to do his DPhil in International Political Theory. The Rhodes Scholarship sparked his desire to write a book on the eradication of colonial statues.

Rao explained how a movement called ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ erupted in South Africa in 2015 in response to the persistence of the legacies of apartheid. The movement centred on the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes on the University of Cape Town campus. Rhodes was a colonial settler who made a fortune exploiting resources in South Africa. He would later become the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.

Rhodes donated a large portion of money to the University of Oxford, thus creating the Rhodes Scholarship. This was originally used to bring people from Germany and the British Empire to study at Oxford, training them to later go into a life of public service.

“I was very aware of this history of Cecil Rhodes and how he made his money. Like all applicants to the scholarship, I was very aware that I was applying to a colonial bequest that was founded on these acts of exploitation and expropriation,” Rao stated.

“‘Rhodes Must Fall’ as a movement captured my attention because of that personal history and because I guess it sort of revived in me all of the uncertainties and anxieties I had felt about applying for the scholarship, the kind of delusional stories I had told myself to make it okay to apply for the scholarship to benefit from it to, you know, sort of get ahead in life.”

“It was that connection to Rhodes, the Rhodes scholarship, and ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ that made me pay attention to movements that were demanding the removal of statues.”

Using this as a starting point, the book discusses six key sites of colonial statues. Rao strives to unpack how the current destruction of colonial statues is more than just dismantling an inanimate object. The book analyses a widespread critique of past generations for not having done enough, how toppling statues become portals into exploring topics of institutionalised racism, why statues continue to be erected as vehicles of immortality, and how the term ‘decolonialism’ is being used in varying contexts.

Originally a series of blog posts written in response to particular instances of statues being taken down, writing a book presented a different set of challenges for Rao.

“I found it quite easy to [...] dive into particular flash points, but to then zoom out and ask bigger questions like why now? Why in these places? What connects them? Are they learning things from each other? That's a different kind of process.”

Given the contentious nature of the topic, Rao anticipated criticism over the subject matter of his book. He was nevertheless still slightly shocked when he received hate mail directly to his work address.

“It was kind of scary, but it was also like, what am I saying that's so controversial? You know, I felt a level of puzzlement, and I think that was part of the provocation to write the book. One of the chapters in the book is about why we identify with statues so strongly, why we think of them as all related, and why we think of them almost like they are living things that needed protection or veneration,” commented Rao.

“I guess social media wars tend to be waged through sound bites, right? The ideas are very blunt and often not nuanced, but I'm hoping that with this kind of writing, it becomes harder for people to offer knee-jerk reactions that don't actually think through the arguments.”

As much as the book is a reflection of his personal history, Rao hopes that readers themselves are also able to identify with it, regardless of background.

“I hope that people, in reading it, find ways to tell their own stories in, through, and against the statues and the built environment around them.”

Photo by University of St Andrews