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The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire
From Cape Town to Bristol and Richmond, statues have become sites of resistance and contestation of our imperial past and postcolonial present. The Psychic Lives of Statues by Rahul Rao offers an insightful exploration of these global controversies, demonstrating that beneath their surface lie deeper struggles over race, caste, and the politics of decolonisation.
Rao takes readers on a journey through South Africa, England, the US, Ghana, India, Australia, and Scotland, revealing how statue controversies have dramatically rearranged the canon of anticolonial political thought. By examining these debates through a personal and literary lens, Rao addresses the multifaceted issues of justice, cultural memory, and belonging.
The Psychic Lives of Statues examines both the toppling of colonial statues and the raising of postcolonial ones, demonstrating that the statue form as a medium of representation and a bid for immortality is by no means obsolete. Engaging with artists, scholars, and activists, Rao provides fresh perspectives on how societies grapple with and reinterpret the past and present through iconography.
Rao takes readers on a journey through South Africa, England, the US, Ghana, India, Australia, and Scotland, revealing how statue controversies have dramatically rearranged the canon of anticolonial political thought. By examining these debates through a personal and literary lens, Rao addresses the multifaceted issues of justice, cultural memory, and belonging.
The Psychic Lives of Statues examines both the toppling of colonial statues and the raising of postcolonial ones, demonstrating that the statue form as a medium of representation and a bid for immortality is by no means obsolete. Engaging with artists, scholars, and activists, Rao provides fresh perspectives on how societies grapple with and reinterpret the past and present through iconography.
224 pages, Paperback
Published June 20, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 17, 2026
A good overview of what statues mean for societies and how their meanings change over time. (Salome Jashi’s documentary "Taming the Garden" mentioned).
February 7, 2026
Fascinating book that is really two books (or perhaps even three?) in one — and because of that the title is misleading. Yes, part of the book discuss how statues have become lightening rods of controversy. But an even greater portion of the book is devoted to an examination of the race, caste and decolonization of South Africa and more significantly of India — the former country being where the author was educated and the latter being his birthplace. Events in Australia and the United Kingdom to a much lesser degree are also discussed, and there are a smattering of references to statue toppling in the U.S. scattered throughout the book.
The book is chock full of historical information on a wide range of subjects — many of which I confess to not having been familiar with. Like the problematic history of the Rhodes scholarship, founded by someone who is thought to be the progenitor of Apartheid; the backlash against old heroes like Ghandi and Mandela, including the controversy surrounding the Mandela Rhodes Foundation; and the ongoing vitriol over Australia’s history of settler colonization.
Any one of these subjects easily could be the topic of a book unto itself. And there in lies the problem. The author really takes you into the weeds when discussing, for example, the history of India’s caste system. It’s a lot to digest if you’re unfamiliar. Not quite what I anticipated I would be reading when I picked this up.
The book is also somewhat semi-autobiographical. The author often points to his own history as markers for leaning into each new subject. Perhaps he intended to write an autobiography but his publisher thought it would sell better if it had a hook (like the controversy surrounding the recent toppling of statues that has spread across the world)? Yes, there is a fair amount of discussion about the so-called “fallist movement” in the book, but it’s by no means the primary focus, which given the title alone was what I was expecting.
The book is chock full of historical information on a wide range of subjects — many of which I confess to not having been familiar with. Like the problematic history of the Rhodes scholarship, founded by someone who is thought to be the progenitor of Apartheid; the backlash against old heroes like Ghandi and Mandela, including the controversy surrounding the Mandela Rhodes Foundation; and the ongoing vitriol over Australia’s history of settler colonization.
Any one of these subjects easily could be the topic of a book unto itself. And there in lies the problem. The author really takes you into the weeds when discussing, for example, the history of India’s caste system. It’s a lot to digest if you’re unfamiliar. Not quite what I anticipated I would be reading when I picked this up.
The book is also somewhat semi-autobiographical. The author often points to his own history as markers for leaning into each new subject. Perhaps he intended to write an autobiography but his publisher thought it would sell better if it had a hook (like the controversy surrounding the recent toppling of statues that has spread across the world)? Yes, there is a fair amount of discussion about the so-called “fallist movement” in the book, but it’s by no means the primary focus, which given the title alone was what I was expecting.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews