Exiled elites imprisoned by colonial powers used prison to theorize about governance.

Evidence

The picture of this unusual man discussing the elements of which proper government consists is striking: a warrior-trader-governor exiled in what was theoretically his land (but which he was unable to leave) by the government to which he professed allegiance, but in whose ability to govern an empire he had no confidence—a man trapped for years in prison yet pontificating about control. … This description also shows the parallels between al- Zubayr Pasha and Ibrahïm Fawzï, who was himself caught in a triangle of loyalties and allegiances, whose abilities were quite singular, and who also used a prison setting to discuss the nature of governmental power and the meaning of colonialism. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 566

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader pattern in the colonial-administration literature of ‘native’ elites simultaneously loyal to and disenchanted with the empire that employed them — echoes the double-consciousness discussed in works on imperial intermediaries.