Tony Ballantyne (historian)

Anthony John Ballantyne (born Dunedin, 1972) is a New Zealand historian at the University of Otago, Dunedin. After completing his schooling at King's High School, Dunedin, he graduated BA at the University of Otago and obtained a PhD at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Christopher Bayly. He returned to the University of Otago's Dunedin campus to build his career, though did teach briefly abroad at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Illinois, and the National University of Ireland. 
Ballantyne was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Humanities at Otago from 2015 to 2020, a time marred by controversy. Although at times promoting the value of the humanities in New Zealand, shortly after assuming the role of Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Humanities he initiated a process that resulted in 16 full-time equivalent academic staff being made redundant, with other academics impelled to take early retirement. He also advocated eliminating the Art History program and it was subsequently disestablished. 
In October 2020 the University of Otago announced that Ballantyne would not be continuing as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Humanities but, instead, will lead the Division of External Engagement In this capacity he has been overseeing the university's alumni relations, its liaising with secondary schools and recruitment of students, and the development and advertising of the university's "brand." 
Scholarship.
Ballantyne has established a significant reputation in New Zealand academic circles, including being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2012. In 2016 he was awarded the Humanities Aronui Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand for innovation in humanities research.
Ballantyne’s work examines the development of imperial intellectual and cultural life in New Zealand, Ireland, India, and Britain. It is situated in the tradition of scholarship that sees colonialism as a cultural undertaking as well as a political and economic project. 
He has analysed the British empire as a 'web,' with 'vertical' connections developing between Britain and its colonies and 'horizontal' connections linking various colonies directly. He has helped shed light on how these 'webs of empire' incorporated new lands and peoples. More specifically, "Orientalism and Race" (2001) analysed the 'orientalizing' texts of British officials in colonial India and their attempts to decode both Hinduism and Sikhism more broadly in terms of their understandings of Aryanism and race; at the same time it examined similar discourses directed toward understandings of Maori as, first, "Semitic", then Indo-Aryan, and ultimately, Maori reconfigurations of Christianity on their own terms.
With regard to Sikh studies, Ballantyne has been among the critics of scholarship that focuses on Sikh texts, arguing that the experiences of colonialism and migration have been crucial in making Sikh identities.
In recent years Ballantyne, who directs Otago's Centre for Research on Colonial Culture, has returned to focus on New Zealand's colonial history. This work has sought to internationalise New Zealand historical writing by noting the historical connections to China and India in shaping colonial culture. Along the lines of Benedict Anderson's formulation of "print capitalism," Ballantyne has emphasised the place of print culture and literacy in the encounters between Māori and the Pākehā colonists. addressing the changing structure of the empire, and the place of race and religion in cross-cultural history. His most recent book, "Entanglements of Empire" (2014)"," focuses on early New Zealand history and the foundations of relationship between Māori and Pākehā. It was awarded the W.H. Oliver prize for the best book on New Zealand history between 2013 and 2015 by the New Zealand Historical Association. 
With Antoinette Burton he has also written about world history, highlighting the importance of race and gender in cross-cultural encounters.