Colonialism and imperialism Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Luebbert Best Book Award, Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association""A profound examination. . . . [and] a remarkable piece of scholarship."---Peng Peng, The Developing Economies"Compelling. . . . [The Rise and Fall of Imperial China] is essential reading for scholars of the Chinese state."---Guillaume Beaud, The International Spectator

Read more less

Book SynopsisMuch has been written about the evolution of publisher''s freedom in countries such as UK, USA or Nazi Germany. For instance, in Britain by the nineteenth century, law and public opinion created an atmosphere conducive to virtually free exchange of opinion and news. But this same press liberty was not extended to its colonies. Historians usually begin their studies in the late 1700 ad and conclude with a short sketch on post-1900 developments. Lack of analysis of the latter period is particularly disturbing because the confrontation the ruler (the Raj) and the ruled after 1900 brought into focus the conflict between cherished British ideological traditions and the demands of control over a non-Western population. Censorship, banning, and other varieties of official interference with freedom of the Press also constitute key but little known elements in India's struggle for Independence. This book which examines the GovernmentPress interaction during 1907-1947 is intended primarily as a

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe right of self-determination of peoples holds out the promise of sovereign statehood for all peoples and a domination-free international order. But it also harbors the danger of state fragmentation that can threaten international stability if claims of self-determination lead to secessions. Covering both the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century independence movements in the Americas and the twentieth-century decolonization worldwide, this book examines the conceptual and political history of the right of self-determination of peoples. It addresses the political contexts in which the right and concept were formulated and the practices developed to restrain its potentially anarchic character, its inception in anti-colonialism, nationalism, and the labor movement, its instrumentalization at the end of the First World War in a formidable duel that Wilson lost to Lenin, its abuse by Hitler, the path after the Second World War to its recognition as a human right in 1966, and its Trade Review'Ranging authoritatively and easily over disciplines, periods and regions, combining deep historical and legal insights with detailed commentary and crisp and informed judgment, Professor Fisch's book provides us with a rich and original global history of self-determination. Self-determination will continue to be a subject of debate and ongoing controversy. But this masterful work will be an indispensable reference point for all such discussions.' Antony Anghie, University of Utah'This is an ambitious and yet elegantly composed study of a complex notion. Dr Jörg Fisch combines a conceptual analysis of the notion of 'self-determination' and cognate expressions with a dense chronology of illustrations of their uses in international practice. Highlighting the contrast between the irreducible idealism and the political instrumentality of self-determination, Fisch produces a powerful explanation for the surprising persistence of a notion that is full of paradoxes and yet indispensable in modern political life.' Martti Koskenniemi, University of HelsinkiTable of ContentsPrologue: national unity and secession in the symbolism of power; Introduction: a concept and ideal; Part I. Theory of Self-Determination: 1. Individual self-determination; 2. Collective self-determination; 3. The people; 4. Self-determination and the right of self-determination; Part II. Self-Determination in Practice: 5. The early modern period in Europe: precursors of a right of self-determination?; 6. The first decolonization and the right to independence: the Americas, 1776–1826; 7. The French Revolution and the invention of the plebiscite; 8. From the European Restoration to the First World War, 1815–1914; 9. The First World War and the peace treaties, 1918–23; 10. The interwar period, 1923–39; 11. The Second World War: the perversion of a great promise; 12. The Cold War and the second decolonization, 1945–89; 13. After 1989: the quest for a new equilibrium; Epilogue: the right of the weak.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Haitian Revolution may have galvanized subjects of French empire in the Americas and Africa struggling to define freedom and ''Frenchness'' for themselves, but Lorelle Semley reveals that this event was just one moment in a longer struggle of women and men of color for rights under the French colonial regime. Through political activism ranging from armed struggle to literary expression, these colonial subjects challenged and exploited promises in French Republican rhetoric that should have contradicted the continued use of slavery in the Americas and the introduction of exploitative labor in the colonization of Africa. They defined an alternative French citizenship, which recognized difference, particularly race, as part of a ''universal'' French identity. Spanning Atlantic port cities in Haiti, Senegal, Martinique, Benin, and France, this book is a major contribution to scholarship on citizenship, race, empire, and gender, and it sheds new light on debates around human rights and Trade Review'Semley seeks to understand the intersection of citizenship, race, and gender within the 19th- and 20th-century French Atlantic empire. She does this through a series of engaging and well-researched chapters centered on important imperial events where the local and imperial intersect and where imperial subjects see themselves within both French and local identities. … As a whole, the work illustrates the complexity of race, citizenship, and gender in that they often worked together while they were also at odds. Many of the figures described in the book embraced the larger revolutionary ideals of citizenship, but then had to negotiate them within their local contexts. Finally, even as slaves became free and freed men became citizens, women had to wait. … Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.' T. M. Reese, Choice'Semley combines outstanding archival research from three continents with insightful analysis and engaging prose. She consistently shows her ability to tell a good a story in an intriguing location. To Be Free and French is full of surprises and fascinating individuals who actively sought to define themselves within the context of French imperialism. Like her subjects, Semley refuses to fall into the simplistic dualities of colonizer and colonized, French or not-French, and white or black.' Michael G. Vann, World History Connected'… this book responds brilliantly to a decades-old call to better represent Africa, Africans and their diaspora in Atlantic history. In doing so, Semley provides us with an exemplary model for grounding broad historical concerns in close readings of primary evidence from disparate and connected places. I field-tested this book in an upper-division undergraduate course. To Be Free and French received high praise from young people in need of nuanced analysis and innovative methods to critique racialized and gendered inequities in their own complex and globalizing worlds.' Sarah Zimmerman, European History Quarterly'Lorelle Semley's work ambitiously integrates the fields of African diaspora and Atlantic studies with the history of citizenship, French empire, gender, law, transnationalism, and urban studies. … Semley's work offers a praiseworthy contribution to the existing literature on French empire and colonial citizenship as well as an important foundation for understanding contemporary debates about citizenship in France.' Elizabeth Heath, The American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsList of figures; List of maps; List of tables; Preface: coincidental crossings; Acknowledgments; Part I. Revolutionary Foundations: Prologue: citizens of the world; 1. To live and die, free and French; 2. Signares before citizens; Part II. Colonial Constructions: 3. When Blacks broke the chains in the 'Little Paris of the Antilles'; 4. The trans-African origins of Porto-Novo; 5. An 'evolution revolution' in Paris; Part III. Planning after Empire: 6. A more perfect French Union; Epilogue: the art of citizenship; Bibliography; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAdvancing Empire examines English overseas activities between the permanent establishment of an English presence in Asia and America and the Glorious Revolution. It tracks the effects of the pursuit of commercial and colonizing opportunities in Africa, America, and the Indian Ocean by networks of aristocrats and merchants.Trade Review'In this bold, bracing, and invigoratingly comprehensive reinterpretation of the foundations of the seventeenth-century English Empire in Asia and the Americas, L. H. Roper illustrates the important role of private interests and fundamentally reshapes the understanding of the formation of imperial power in the founding period by looking at the English Empire in the round.' Trevor Burnard, University of Melbourne'In this innovative reconsideration of England's rise to empire, Roper studies the seventeenth century and emphasizes private enterprise and individual initiative rather than a pre-eminently powerful state apparatus. Balancing current intellectual trends, he reads history forward instead of anachronistically reinterpreting it backwards.' Daniel Littlefield, University of South Carolina'This impressive book examines the seventeenth-century origins of England's global empire, locating its roots not in state initiatives but in a myriad of chartered corporations and individuals who traded and colonized from America to Asia. Roper provides one of the best portraits of the modest beginnings of what would later become the world's premier empire.' Owen Stanwood, Boston College'In this engaging new book, Roper introduces us to a coterie of private 'colonial-imperialists' who advanced and promoted English overseas expansion across the globe in the seventeenth century. This book is a welcome addition to the body of recent scholarship that has, perhaps, placed too much emphasis on English empire-building as an intended outcome of early modern state formation.' Ken MacMillan, University of Calgary'Roper examines the creation and development of England's overseas empire, questioning the new historiographical trend that characterizes the pre-1688 English state as the central driving force in overseas expansion. Instead, he argues that up until and even after 1688, private interests were essential to building and expanding the empire. Roper explains that overseas expansion began with individuals who, after establishing overseas connections, sought to strengthen their relationship with the state to ensure preference and the protection of their gains and profits. Individuals and their endeavors thus drew the state into the colonial world, rather than the other way around. The author provides three fascinating chapters on expansion in America, Africa, and Asia, followed by an extended analysis of the overseas empire from the civil war to 1688. The book's focus on individuals' roles in building and expanding the empire adds balance to an ongoing debate and should be read by advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and specialists. Highly recommended.' J. Rankin, Choice'Who created the English empire? The state or private initiative? In a well-written study, L. H. Roper shows that the English state might have backed individual noblemen in their overseas endeavours, but never took the lead.' Pieter Emmer, The English Historical ReviewTable of Contents1. Foundations; 2. The expansion of English overseas interests: America; 3. The expansion of English overseas interests: Guinea; 4. The expansion of English overseas interests: Asia; 5. Civil War and English overseas interests; 6. New modelers; 7. Interregnum, restoration, and English overseas expansion; 8. Climax; 9. A new empire?; Bibliography; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThrough an examination of the creation of the first linguistically organized province in India, Odisha, Pritipuspa Mishra explores the ways regional languages came to serve as the most acceptable registers of difference in post-colonial India. She argues that rather than disrupting the rise and spread of All-India nationalism, regional linguistic nationalism enabled and deepened the reach of nationalism in provincial India. Yet this positive narrative of the resolution of Indian multilingualism ignores the cost of linguistic division. Examining the case of the Adivasis of Odisha, Mishra shows how regional languages in India have come to occupy a curiously hegemonic position. Her study pushes us to rethink our understanding of the vernacular in India as a powerless medium and acknowledges the institutional power of language, contributing to global debates about linguistic justice and the governance of multilingualism. This title is also available as Open Access.Trade Review'This sweeping study clarifies our understanding of the role of language and authority in the Indian nation through Odia speakers' use of literature, education, politics, and identity. Anyone interested in the intersection of language politics and culture, along with its ties to nation and territory, should read Mishra's book.' Rosina Lozano, Princeton University, New Jersey'Intensely engaging, lucidly written and carefully drawn upon rich archival, historical and literary sources, Mishra presents a set of compelling arguments and theoretical insights while analysing the six decades of Odisha as a linguistic state formation. Language and the Making of Modern India shows how regional and national formations are not opposed but reproduce each other in multiple ways.' Asha Sarangi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India'Language and the Making of Modern India will be valuable to scholars of Indian vernacular politics, regionalism, nationalism, and citizenship. Mishra's is a pioneering study that shows how regional linguistic politics are crucial to understanding the history of citizenship in modern India, and how language became the crucial grounds for the constitution of the Indian national subject.' Farina Mir, University of MichiganTable of ContentsIntroduction: nation in the vernacular; 1. How the vernacular became regional; 2. Vernacular publics: a modern Odia readership imagined; 3. The Odia political subject and the rise of the Odia movement; 4. Odisha as vernacular homeland; 5. The invisible minority: history and the problem of the Adivasi; 6. The genius of India: linguistic difference, regionalism and the Indian nation; Postscript.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines how education contributed to the creation of US empire in the Philippines by focusing on American teachers and the Filipinos with whom they lived and worked. While education was located at the heart of the imperial project, used to justify empire, the implementation of schooling in the islands deviated from the expectations of the colonial state. American teachers at times upheld, adapted, circumvented, or entirely disregarded colonial policy. Despite the language of white masculinity that imbued imperial discourse, the appointment of white women and black men as teachers allowed them to claim roles and identities that transformed understandings of gender and race. Filipinos also used the American educational system to articulate their own understandings of empire. In this context, schools were a microcosm for the colonial state, with contestations over education often standing in for the colonial relationship itself.Trade Review'In Educating the Empire, Steinbock-Pratt carefully details the collaborations, conflicts, and dashed expectations that shaped the US colonial state's public education program in the Philippines. Rich in original research, Educating the Empire is an important contribution to histories of US colonialism in the Philippines.' Colleen Woods, University of Maryland'In this definitive and unique book, Steinbock-Pratt illuminates the experiences of the American men and women, both African-American and white, who traveled to the Philippines to educate, endure, and endorse the empire. In so doing, she tells a gripping tale about gender, race and power in the everyday institutions of imperialism; and the hopes, complexities, and limits of American empire.' Julian Go, Boston University'An impressively researched account of US teachers in the Philippines from the turn of the twentieth century to the 1930s.' Kristin Lee Hoganson, University of Illinois'Educating the Empire should be standard reading for anybody seeking to understand the cultural history of US colonialism in the Philippines.' Oliver Charbonneau, American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Creating a catalog of colonial knowledge; 2. A civil empire: determining fitness for colonial education; 3. Professionals and pioneers: teachers' self-depiction in empire; 4. Recreating race: evolving notions of whiteness and blackness in empire; 5. A political education: Americans, Filipinos, and the meanings of instruction; 6. All politics is local: American teachers and their communities; 7. Speaking for ourselves: dignity and the politics of student protest; Epilogue.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume is an original contribution to cosmopolitanism scholarship that questions the contemporary currency of Kant's canonical approach and enlists a neglected period of Du Bois's writing and political practice to radicalize, democratize, and transnationalize cosmopolitanism.Trade Review'By reading Kant 'disloyally' and mining Du Bois's anticolonial writings, Inés Valdez advances a radically transformed cosmopolitanism. Transnational Cosmopolitanism makes the case - brilliantly - that Du Bois's vision of transnational politics is essential to understanding and challenging global injustice today.' Lawrie Balfour, University of Virginia'This book makes a vital and timely contribution to the cosmopolitan and global justice literature by combining a rigorous investigation of Kantian and neo-Kantian theory with an equally rigorous, historically informed analysis of Du Bois's anti-colonial vision and Pan-Africanism. Valdez not only highlights the Eurocentric, racist, and exclusionary assumptions of the cosmopolitan tradition, she charts an alternative path of transnational solidarity that re-centers the contributions of subaltern counterpublics and expands cosmopolitan considerations beyond the ongoing limitations of imperialism.' Jeanne Morefield, University of Birmingham and author of Empires without Imperialism'In this excellent book, Inés Valdez powerfully reminds us that the 'postnational constellation' is also a postcolonial one. Thus the task before us is to theorize the normative grounds and political possibilities of a truly transnational cosmopolitanism that is aware of the blind spots of its own traditions. The dialogues Valdez constructs between Kant and Neokantians on the one hand and Du Bois and critical race theorists on the other hand are exemplary for the new kind of critical political theory we need. A great achievement that opens many doors.' Rainer Forst, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main'In Transnational Cosmopolitanism political theorist Inés Valdez offers a readable and engaged explication of key ideas in the works of Kant and Du Bois about the intellectual origins of our modern conceptions of cosmopolitan identity and its limits. Offering a thoughtful narrative based on wide reading of the primary and secondary texts, Valdez establishes an important new voice in contemporary debates about the ideology of identity and its understudied transnational sources and implications. The book superbly exposes the fragility of political cosmopolitanism rooted exclusively in national conceptions of identity and nationhood.' Desmond King, Andrew Mellon Professor of American Government, University of Oxford'Transnational Cosmopolitanism: Kant, Du Bois, and Justice as a Political Craft provides a theoretical framework to think about politics outside of the domestic and international realms which dominate theorization on cosmopolitanism, establishes W. E. B. Du Bois as a crucial interlocutor in the cosmopolitan literature, and opens dynamic new avenues of research on the political theory of transnationalism.' Emma Stone Mackinnon, The Review of Politics'Inés Valdez's book is a gem, with game-changing contributions to cosmopolitanism in political theory and philosophy, international studies, and comparative political thought, not to mention in Kant and Du Bois Studies. A welcome tour de force, this book transfigures the premises and frameworks of Kant's and Kantian cosmopolitanism by bringing in DuBois's political craft as the much-needed reorienting normative framework of transnational justice. Not only is it rich and timely, but it also achieves a myriad of different and important tasks for contemporary political theory.' Dilek Huseyinzadegan, Contemporary Political Theory'This book is a fine contribution to the literature, exemplifying … interdisciplinary scope and appeal … and as such a text that could be read with profit by scholars not just in political theory, but IR, history, African American studies, and above all, philosophy.' Charles Mills, Review of PoliticsTable of Contents1. The limits of Kant's anti-colonialism and his philosophy of history; 2. Vertical and horizontal readings of Kant's principles; 3. Du Bois and a radical, transnational, cosmopolitanism; 4. Race, identity, and the question of transnational solidarity in cosmopolitanism; 5. A transnationally cosmopolitan counterpublic; References; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe First World War marked the end point of a process of German globalization that began in the 1870s, well before Germany acquired a colonial empire or extensive overseas commercial interests. Structured around the figures of five influential economists who shaped the German political landscape, Learning Empire explores how their overseas experiences shaped public perceptions of the world and Germany''s place in it. These men helped define a German liberal imperialism that came to influence the ''world policy'' (Weltpolitik) of Kaiser Wilhelm, Chancellor Bülow, and Admiral Tirpitz. They devised naval propaganda, reshaped Reichstag politics, were involved in colonial and financial reforms, and helped define the debate over war aims in the First World War. Looking closely at German worldwide entanglements, Learning Empire recasts how we interpret German imperialism, the origins of the First World War, and the rise of Nazism, inviting reflection on the challenges of globalization in the Trade Review'The history of Imperial Germany is currently being re-written, and Learning Empire is the most sustained and profound intervention yet: A magisterial tour-de-force that establishes Germany as a global player in the decades before World War I. Meticulously documented and driven by a strong vision, it reinstates the middle classes, and economic specialists in particular, as the driving forces behind Germany's global quest. Impressive!' Sebastian Conrad, Freie Universität Berlin'Erik Grimmer-Solem's new book is a sustained tour de force of integrated intellectual and political history, whose impact will surely shift our perspectives on the complicated meanings of the 'German question' for the transnational instabilities of global politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.' Geoff Eley, University of Michigan'Deeply researched and clearly written, Learning Empire gives afresh account of the origins and development of Weltpolitik by placing it in the context of global economic competition-what Germans in 1900 called Weltwirtschaft-rather than inthe usual framework of national and domestic politics … this reviewer finds Learning Empire to be one of the most important books to appear in the German field in the last twenty years.' Jennifer Jenkins, H-Diplo'… [T]he book provides a thorough exploration of how six figures' economic thought shaped political and public debate over Germany's role in the world. The book also makes clear the distinctive elements of German understandings of empire that built on foreign trade, investment abroad, and informal economic spheres of influence. By paying attention to economists alongside other well-researched figures like missionaries or politicians, Grimmer-Solem brings a richer texture to the scholarship on global economics and capitalism in Imperial Germany.' Heidi Tworek, Business History Review'With his book Learning Empire, Erik Grimmer-Solem now provides another exciting perspective which finally puts the phenomenon of globalization in the second half of the nineteenth century into the wider context of the long-dominant view of Germany's outrageous 'grab' for world power.' Andreas Rose, German Historical Institute London Bulletin'… [Learning Empire] is a great success, in two senses. First, the book is a gold-mine of information about the experiences abroad of an influential network primarily of academic economists, but also of some key political figures who would come to play central roles in Weltpolitik. The collective picture that emerges here of a group of men influenced by their extensive international experiences is quite striking and persuasive. Second, Grimmer-Solem convincingly points to the 'smoking guns' that link those figures to the evolution of German imperial policy – in private letters, in political and academic appointments, in memoirs, in the details of publication histories of studies of the economics of various parts of the world, and so on.' Edward Ross Dickinson, Journal of World History'This book is a remarkable achievement. It succeeds admirably in tracing the imperial imaginary of liberal nationalist political economists and making it and the lineaments of a new age of global politics and economics central to German policymaking, thereby providing a new narrative of the trajectory of German imperialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.' Dirk Bonker, German Studies Review'Learning Empire is a revisionist work that expands the study of German empire beyond its traditional focus on colonies in Africa and the South Pacific and into the arena of international trade.' Jennifer Jenkins, H-Diplo'… one of the most important books to appear in the German field in the last twenty years. It revises and re-envisions many of the turning points that defined foreign and domestic policy …' Jennifer L. Jenkins, H-Net Reviews'… a compelling, substantial work.' J. P. Short, H-GermanTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Absent-Minded Empire, 1875–1897: 1. Frontier empire: the United States; 2. Island empire: Japan; 3. World economy: China and Venezuela; Part II. Empire Imagined, 1897–1907: 4. World policy; 5. The High Seas Fleet and power politics; 6. National efficiency and the new mercantilism; 7. Formal and informal empire; 8. Empire in crisis; Part III. Empire Lost, 1908–1919: 9. Colonial dreams; 10. World policy contained; 11. From world policy to world war; 12. War aims, peace resolutions, and defeat; Epilogue.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe British Empire employed a diverse range of strategies to establish and then maintain control over its overseas territories in the Middle East. This new interpretation of how Britain maintained order, protected its interests and carried out its defence obligations in the Gulf in the decades before its withdrawal from the region in 1971 looks at how the British government increasingly sought to achieve security with great economy of force by building up local militaries instead of deploying costly military forces from the home country. Benefitting from the extensive use of recently declassified British Government archival documents and India Office records, this highly original narrative weighs the successes and failures of Britain''s use of ''indirect rule'' among the small states of Eastern Arabia, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the seven Trucial States and Oman. Drawing important lessons for scholars and policymakers about the limitations of trying to outsource security to local partners, Security in the Gulf is a remarkable study of the deployment of British colonial policy in the Middle East before 1971.Trade Review'A must-read for all who are interested in the British period in the Gulf. It gives all the vital details as to how the British maintained internal security in the Gulf Arab shaikhdoms, amirates and sultanates in the mid-twentieth century. This is of vital significance to understanding the foundation and nature of the current security regimes in the Gulf Arab states.' Saul Kelly'Security in the Gulf fills an important lacuna in the scholarly literature about the last period of the Arabian states under British protection. Rossiter's book is engagingly written, deeply thoughtful, and extensively researched – it is a major contribution to the historical scholarship on the Gulf and the British Empire.' Zoltan Barany, University of TexasTable of ContentsIntroduction. Local militaries and imperialism; 1. Patterns of protection in the Gulf; 2. British India and local security arrangements; 3. Local militaries and intensified British interests; 4. Intervention or local means of coercion?: unrest in Bahrain and Qatar; 5. Local forces and Britain's Silver Age in the Gulf; 6. Securing the Gulf after Britain's withdrawal; Conclusion. Security on the cheap?

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat do anti-colonial histories mean for politics in contemporary India? How can we understand a political terrain that appears crowded with the dead, heroic figures from past struggles who call the living to account and demand action? What role do these ''afterlives'' play in the inauguration of new politics and the fashioning of possible futures? In this engaging and innovative analysis of anti-colonial afterlives in modern South Asia, Chris Moffat crafts a framework that takes the dead seriously - not as passive entities, ceremonially invoked, but as active interlocutors and instigators in the present. Focusing on the iconic revolutionary martyr Bhagat Singh (19071931), Moffat establishes the problem of inheritance as central to the forms and futures of democracy in this postcolonial polity. Tracing Bhagat Singh''s revenant presence in India today, he demonstrates how living communities are animated by a sense of obligation, duty or debt to the dead.Trade Review'In this tightly argued investigation of the figure of the revolutionary nationalist Bhagat Singh, Moffat explores the relationship between history as documentary facts, and history as political mythology. A timely intervention at a juncture where Indian history is more contested than ever before.' Thomas Blom Hansen, Stanford University, California'A highly original study of India's revolutionary history, Chris Moffat's book is unique in exploring the surprising afterlife of this past. More than nostalgia for a losing argument in Indian politics, Moffat argues that the revolutionary past has come to possess a spectral agency. This is a nuanced and sophisticated study of historical consciousness in modern India.' Faisal Devji, University of Oxford'In this imaginative reckoning with the spectacular and spectral afterlives of Bhagat Singh, Chris Moffat offers a brilliant account of history as hauntology. Based on sustained archival research and wide-ranging field work, India's Revolutionary Inheritance compels us to understand why and how some dead continue to have such a purchase in the world of the living. A historical and conceptual tour de force.' Sumathi Ramaswamy, Duke University, North Carolina'This impressive book offers not only a deeply insightful account of Bhagat Singh's afterlives, but also a very timely and critical reflection on disciplinary history's rigid boundaries between past and present. Moffat makes an exceptionally important argument about how politics is often more about gesture and action than doctrine and belief.' Ajay Skaria, University of Minnesota'Chris Moffat's Book India's Revolutionary Inheritance is a welcome addition to the list of works that seek to overcome the tropes of failure and defeat … Moffat's book is then not only a challenge to intellectual orthodoxiesn in History, but is also a political intervention in our possible futures.' Ammar Ali Jan, Radical Philosophy'Moffat's work … with its blend of field and archive, provides an excellent example for how scholars might go about studying the tangled temporal orders of contemporary South Asian politics, one in which the divine, the dead and the living all play a part.' Rahul Rose, South Asia@LSE'This book is the result of [Moffat's] rigorously academic, scholarly and yet social change-oriented research.' Chaman Lal, Countercurrents.org'… unquestionably the most arresting scholarly study thus far of Bhagat Singh …' Vinay Lal, Cultural CritiqueTable of ContentsIntroduction: the work of the dead; Part I: 1. Lahore and the possibility of politics; 2. What is to be done?; 3. Infinite Inquilab; Part II: Prologue; 4. Bhagat Singh's corpse; 5. In league with the dead; 6. Life and death in monuments; Conclusion: a politics of inheritance.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWilliam Penn (1644-1718) Quaker activist, theorist of liberty of conscience, and colonial founder and proprietor played a central role in the movement for religious liberty on both sides of the Atlantic for more than four decades. This volume presents, for the first time, a fully annotated scholarly edition of Penn''s political writings over the course of his long public career, tracing his thinking from his early theorisation of religious toleration and liberty of conscience in England, as a leading member of the Society of Friends during the 1670s, to his colonial undertaking in Pennsylvania a decade later, his controversial role in the years leading up to the 1688 Revolution, and the ongoing consequences of that Revolution to his future prospects. Penn''s political writings provide an illuminating window into the increasingly sophisticated and influential movement for liberty of conscience in the early modern world.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; Introduction; Note on the Texts; Part I. Political Liberties: 1. The Peoples Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted (1670); 2. Englands Present Interest Discover'd (1675); 3. England's great interest in the choice of this Parliament (1679); 4. The Great and Popular Objection Against the Repeal of the Penal Laws and Tests (1688); Part II. Toleration and Liberty of Conscience: 5. The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience (1670); 6. The Proposed Comprehension (1673); 7. One Project for the good of England (1679); 8. A Perswasive to Moderation (1686); Part III. Pennsylvania: 9. Some account of the Province of Pennsilvania in America (1681); 10. The Fundamental Constitutions of Pennsilvania (unpublished, summer 1681); 11. The Frame of Government and Laws agreed upon in England (1682); 12. The Charter of Privileges (1701); Part IV. Broader Perspectives: 13. An Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe (1693); 14. A Brief and Plain scheame (unpublished, 1697); 15. Proposal for the Advancement of Trade in America (unpublished, 1697); Bibliography; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book tells a story of radical educational change. In the early nineteenth century, an imperial civil society movement promoted modern elementary 'schools for all'. This movement included British, American and German missionaries, and Indian intellectuals and social reformers. They organised themselves in non-governmental organisations, which aimed to change Indian education. Firstly, they introduced a new culture of schooling, centred on memorisation, examination, and technocratic management. Secondly, they laid the ground for the building of the colonial system of education, which substituted indigenous education. Thirdly, they broadened the social accessibility of schooling. However, for the nineteenth century reformers, education for all did not mean equal education for all: elementary schooling became a means to teach different subalterns 'their place' in colonial society. Finally, the educational movement also furthered the building of a secular 'national education' in EnglanTable of ContentsList of figures; List of tables; List of abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: empire civil society, and educational transformation in India; 1. A colonial experiment in education, Madras, 1789–1796; 2. Education of the poor, 1805–1813; 3. Missionaries, empire, and the cause of universal education, 1792–1824; 4. Race, class, and gender: the social agenda of education, 1809–1830; 5. Rules and numbers: transforming rural education, 1814–1830; 6. Intellectual conquest: education societies, 'useful knowledge', and the Bengal Renaissance, 1817–1854; 7. Civil society, government, and educational institutional-building, Bombay presidency, 1819–1882; 8. Teaching the marginalized: universal education and the politics of inequality, 1789–1937; Conclusion: the emergence of public elementary schooling in an imperial frame; Bibliography; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe British Empire entered the twentieth century in a state of crisis, with many in the legal establishment fearing that the British constitution could no longer cope with the complexity of imperial institutions. At the same time, the military establishment feared the empire was becoming impossible to defend from multiplying threats. In this innovative study, Jesse Tumblin shows how Britain and its largest colonies, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa, were swept up in a collective effort to secure the Empire in the early twentieth century. The hierarchy of colonial politics created powerful incentives for colonies to militarize before World War I, reshaping their constitutional and racial relationships toward a dream beyond colonial status. The colonial backstory of a century of war and violence shows how these dreams made ''security'' the dominating feature of contemporary politics.Trade Review'This is the best work of its kind since Max Beloff's Imperial Sunset a full fifty years ago. But it goes further than that earlier study by grappling with the racial and nationalist dimensions of the many endeavours to establish a lasting British imperial federation throughout the storm-tossed twentieth century.' Paul Kennedy, Yale University, Connecticut'A brilliant work of original scholarship. Tumblin's theoretical approach and archival globetrotting provides a much-needed new perspective on the constitutional evolution of the British Empire. An important read for any student of colonialism and the First World War.' John C. Mitcham, Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit, Pennsylvania'A highly revealing exploration of the nexus between imperial security concerns and international sovereignty that ultimately led to the Statute of Westminster. The Quest for Security is especially valuable for its inclusion of Ireland and India alongside the white settler dominions. Strongly recommended.' John Beeler, University of AlabamaTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Colonial federationism, security, and the South African War; 2. Lessons of South Africa: security and political culture in the British world, 1902–1906; 3. Security, race, and dominion status, 1907–1909; 4. The collapse of consensus and control, 1910–1914; 5. Race, conscription, and the meaning of sovereignty in war; 6. The sharp sickle: new realities of sovereignty in the British Empire, 1918–1926; Epilogue – the Statute of Westminster: a once and future sovereignty;

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen the full abolition of slavery appeared on the political agenda in the Atlantic world the institutional arrangements that underpinned the peculiar institution changed dramatically. Although many have studied these transformations, their urban dimension has remained underappreciated. The contributions to this volume offer an in-depth look at cities in the British and French Caribbean, the United States, West-Central Africa, Brazil, and South Africa. Rather than treating urban slavery as a more benign counterpoint to the brutal plantation complex, the articles explore how cities were part and parcel of slave societies and demonstrate how methods of control as well as routes to emancipation changed in the century before emancipation. Urban slavery has greatly impacted urban landscapes and its legacy as well as practices of remembrance and memorialization can be found in many former slave societies.Table of ContentsIntroduction: urban slavery in the age of abolition Karwan Fatah-Black; 1. Comparative perspectives on the urban black Atlantic on the eve of abolition Wim Klooster; 2. Slaves and slavery in Kingston, 1770–1815 Trevor Burnard; 3. The expansion of slavery in Benguela during the nineteenth century Mariana P. Candido; 4. Freedom of movement, access to the urban centres, and abolition of slavery in the French Caribbean Marion Pluskota; 5. Families, manumission, and freed people in urban Minas Gerais in the era of Atlantic abolitionism Mariana L. R. Dantas and Douglas C. Libby; 6. Disappearing from abolitionism's heartland: the legacy of slavery and emancipation in Boston Jared Ross Hardesty; 7. Runaway slaves in antebellum Baltimore: an urban form of marronage? Viola Franziska Müller; 8. Remembering slavery in urban Cape Town: emancipation or continuity? Samuel North; Afterword: ghosts of slavery Ana Lucia Araujo.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEuropean unity is a dream that has appealed to the imagination since the Middle Ages. Its motives have varied from a longing for peace to a deep-rooted abhorrence of diversity, as well as a yearning to maintain Europe's colonial dominance. This book offers a multifaceted history that takes in account the European imagination in a global context.Trade Review“Its critical meta-narrative stressing the dark sides and shortcomings attending the imaginings of European unity appears both timely and empirically sound. … this book without doubt not only sets new accents for European studies but also qualifies as an introductory textbook for students.” (Florian Greiner, European History Quarterly, Vol. 48 (1), 2018)“A strikingly rich and nuanced picture of the political and intellectual historical pedigree of European integration … .” (R. Lesaffer, American Historical Review, February, 2017)“It brilliantly shows that, beyond irenic discourses which present Europe as a land of freedom, tolerance, and diversity, there is another reality and another history of violence, exclusion, and obsession with uniformity” (Carl Bouchard, Peace & Change, Vol. 42 (1), January, 2017)“Historians have rarely offered such a well-balanced and well informed history of (Anti-)Europeanism … .” (Peter Pichler, History, Vol. 102 (349), January, 2017)“It is learned, impressively so, without being boring for even a single page, and it is subversive since it shows the dark sides of the noble quest for peace – an inbuilt tendency of the integration project to suppress diversity and to dominate. The current circumstance of Europe gives it a particularly sharp edge”. (J. H. H. Weiler, European Journal of International Law, Vol. 28 (1), 2017)“The period of time covered is, certainly, wide and multifaceted, and the nine chapters that make up the book are densely filled with historical details and information. … Imagining European Unity since 1000 AC encourages a reflection on the lessons from the past, illuminating the understanding of the present.” (Marta Postigo Asenjo, Global Intellectual History, Vol. 1 (2), 2017)“Pasture’s complex analysis works against the historiographic grain for studies on Europeans search for unity. … Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper division undergraduates and above.” (P. G. Wallace, Choice, December, 2015)Table of Contents1. 'Peace for our time': The European Quest for Peace 2. Peace in Christendom? 3. Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Evaporating Dream of a Perpetual Peace 4. Peace during the Concert 5. Between Empire, Market and Nation 6. The Long War 7. Hope and Deception 8. Pacification by Division 9. Epilogue: The EC's Colonial Empire

Read more less

Book SynopsisViceroys tells the important story of the British aristocracy sent to govern India during the reigns of five British monarchs and the role it played in the shaping of the modern British identity.Trade ReviewA richly rewarding work of history * Military History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe object of this volume is to lay open to the public the most extensive and extraordinary system of crime which the world ever witnessed. It is a system which has been in full operation for more than three hundred years, and continues yet in unabating activity of evil. The apathy which has hitherto existed in England upon this subject has proceeded in a great measure from want of knowledge. National injustice towards particular tribes, or particular individuals, has excited the most lively feeling, and the most energetic exertions for its redress -- but the whole wide field of unchristian operations in which this country, more than any other, is engaged, has never yet been laid in a clear and comprehensive view before the public mind. It is no part of the present volume to suggest particular plans of remedy. The first business is to make known the nature and the extent of the evil -- that once perceived, in this great country there will not want either heads to plan or hands to accomplish all that is due to the rights of others, or the honour and interest of England.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book presents the history of the Ukrainian settlement in Australia and associated subjects, such as the role of the Diaspora in maintaining Ukrainian identity, and an analysis of various aspects of Ukrainian literature and culture, both synchronic and diachronic. The conference at which the papers in this volume were presented was one of the many manifestations of a wish by Ukrainian scholars and community members alike, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Ukrainian settlement in Australia.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Political Thought of African Independence: An Anthology of Sources brilliantly frames the debates that captivated the world as former European colonies in Africa began their transition to sovereign rule in the 1950s and ’60s. Its wealth of key documents are enhanced by Gregory Smulewicz-Zucker's General Introduction, part introductions, headnotes, and annotations, providing needed contextual information and supports for readers.Trade Review"A great accomplishment. Not only does Smulewicz-Zucker's anthology bring together a diverse array of sources (54 in total), it also weaves together what are more or less canonical sources in twentieth-century African political thought with many unexpected, yet equally rich and illuminating, items. Smulewicz-Zucker has chosen material from all of the continent’s major regions, including . . . documents from more than two-dozen different countries, international and regional organizations, and conferences. Moreover, he has organized the material in a way that creates an engaging and powerful narrative articulating the complicated history of African independence. This outstanding collection will surely find its way into undergraduate courses in fields as diverse as African history, international relations, comparative politics, and even political theory." —Jeffrey Ahlman, Smith College, author of Living with Nkrumahism: Nation, State, and Pan-Africanism in Ghana (Ohio University Press, 2017)"These African voices will expose readers to the events and ideas that gave shape to African political thought—from aspirations for power within the Anglican church and control over defining local and national cultures, to asserting national identities and conceptions of regional and continental unity. Taken together, they open a window onto the myriad ideas of, and struggles for, independence in Africa." —Benjamin Talton, Temple University"Smulewicz-Zucker’s Political Thought of African Independence is an excellent collection. I'm not only impressed by the selection of texts but also moved by a number of the pieces included in the book." —Bill Fletcher Jr., former president of TransAfrica Forum"Smulewicz-Zucker's anthology of primary sources pertinent to the political imagination of, and ideologies informing, African independence is . . . a very welcome resource for teachers and researchers everywhere. The collection is vast and quite comprehensive, comprising four parts, each with a short introductory essay. The assemblage of such a diverse range of texts, traversing the length and breadth of the continent, is an effective way to challenge the teleology of the nation-state. The mini-introductions offer teachers numerous avenues for the exploration of the materials in the classroom setting, and for the development of lines of questioning for student writing assignments. By broadening the conversation beyond the political realm to incorporate religious, social, cultural, and (to a far lesser extent) gendered aspirations of autonomy and agency, Smulewicz-Zucker has provided a highly teachable and engaging pedagogical product." —Benjamin N. Lawrence, University of Arizona, in African Studies Review Table of ContentsContents: IntroductionPart One: Early Visions of Independence Introduction 1. Samuel Crowther – Letter to the Secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, 1841 2. James Africanus Horton – Advice to the Rising Generation in West Africa, 1868 3. The Fante Confederation Constitution, 1871 4. Edward Blyden – The Origin and Purpose of Colonization, 1881 5. W.E.B. Du Bois – To the Nations of the World, 1900 6. Mojola Agbebi – The West African Problem, 1911 7. J.E. Casely Hayford – Race Emancipation – Particular Considerations: African Nationality, 1911 8. Marcus Garvey – If You Believe the Negro Has a Soul, 1921 Part Two: Paths to Independence Introduction 9. The Fifth Pan-African Congress – Resolutions, 1945 10. Jomo Kenyatta – Speech at the Kenya African Union, 1952 11. George Padmore – Communism and Black Nationalism, 1956 12. Félix Houphouet-Boigny – French Africa and the French Union, 1957 13. Charles de Gaulle – The Franco-African Community, 1958 14. The All-African People’s Conference – Resolution on Imperialism and Colonialism, 1958 15. Bibi Titi Mohammed – “Travel for TANU”: Interview, 1958 16. Sekou Touré - The Political Leader Considered as the Representative of a Culture, 1959 17. Gamal Abdel Nasser – The Philosophy of the Revolution, 1959 18. Harold Macmillan – Wind of Change, 1960 19. Henrik Verwoerd – Response to Macmillan 20. Patrice Lumumba – Two Speeches, 1960 21. The United Nations – Declaration on Granting Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, 1960 22. K.A. Busia – The Challenge of Nationalism, 1962 Part Three: Independence Struggles Introduction 23. Karari Njama – Reflections on the Mau Mau Oath, 1952 24. Albert Luthuli – The Road to Freedom is Via the Cross, 1952 25. The Algerian National Liberation Front – Proclamation of the FLN, 1954 26. The Federation of South African Women – The Women’s Charter, 1954 27. The South African Congress of the People – The Freedom Charter, 1955 28. The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, 1956 29. Ndabaningi Sithole – White Supremacy and African Nationalism, 1959 30. Nelson Mandela – I am Prepared to Die, 1964 31. Ian Smith – Announcement of Unilateral Declaration of Independence, 1965 32. Harold Wilson – Position of the British Government on the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Rhodesia, 1965 33. Amilcar Cabral – The Weapon of Theory, 1966 34. Andimba Toivo ya Toivo - Freedom for Namibia, 1968 35. Emeka Ojukwu – The Ahiara Declaration, 1969 36. Eduardo Mondlane – The Struggle for Independence in Mozambique, 1969 Part Four: Legitimating Independence Introduction 37. Kwame Nkrumah – I Speak of Freedom, 1961 38. Tom Mboya – Tensions in African Development, 1961 39. Kabaka Mutesa II – Decision to Co-operate with Uganda, 1961 40. Sir Ahmadu Bello – Regional Government, 1962 41. Julius Nyerere – Ujamaa: The Basis of African Socialism, 1962 42. Organization of African Unity – Founding Charter, 1963 43. Haile Selassie I – A Call to African Leaders, 1963 44. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa – Addis Ababa, 1963 45. Nnamdi Azikiwe – Tribalism: A Pragmatic Instrument for National Unity, 1964 46. Jomo Kenyatta – A One Party System, 1964 47. Léopold Sédar Senghor – African Socialist Humanism, 1964 48. Kwame Nkrumah – Consciencism, 1964 49. Kanyama Chiume and Ex-Malawian Ministers – Appeal to the U.N. and O.A.U. 50. J.B. Danquah – Letter from Prison to Kwame Nkrumah, 1964 51. Vera Chirwa – Origins of the Cabinet Crisis, 1964 52. Obafemi Awolowo – Thoughts on Nigerian Constitution, 1966 53. Kenneth Kaunda – African Development and Foreign Aid, 1966 54. The Tanganyika African National Union – The Arusha Declaration: On the Policy of Self-Reliance in Tanzania, 1967

Read more less

Book Synopsis"This outstanding collection makes available for the first time a remarkable range of primary sources that will enrich courses on women as well as Latin American history more broadly. Within these pages are captivating stories of enslaved African and indigenous women who protest abuse; of women who defend themselves from charges of witchcraft, cross-dressing, and infanticide; of women who travel throughout the empire or are left behind by the men in their lives; and of women’s strategies for making a living in a world of cross-cultural exchanges. Jaffary and Mangan's excellent Introduction and annotations provide context and guide readers to think critically about crucial issues related to the intersections of gender with conquest, religion, work, family, and the law." —Sarah Chambers, University of MinnesotaTrade Review"Mangan and Jaffary's volume offers an impressive collection of primary sources for Latin American women’s history. It includes texts covering a diversity of women, times, and places across this broad region; shows that women were agents of survival and change for themselves and others; and humanizes the experience of colonial life for specific individuals and families across a long period. This book will be very usable in courses on Latin American, gender, social, and cultural history. I highly recommend it." —Susan Kellogg, University of Houston"When I teach colonial Latin America again, I will be glad to use this book. The strengths include the primary documents written by women, including some indigenous and African women, during a time when their recorded personal testimonies are scarce. I also note the insightful analysis and suggested readings that the editors include, all of which are welcome additions to this book." —René Harder Horst, Appalachian State University

Read more less

Book SynopsisA New Statesman Book of the Year, 2021 ‘Follow Iain Sinclair into the cloud jungles of Peru and emerge questioning all that seemed so solid and immutable.’ Barry Miles From the award-winning author of The Last London and Lights Out for the Territory, a journey in the footsteps of our ancestors. Iain Sinclair and his daughter travel through Peru, guided by – and in reaction to – an ill-fated colonial expedition led by his great-grandfather. The family history of a displaced Scottish highlander fades into the brutal reality of a major land grab. The historic thirst for gold and the establishment of sprawling coffee plantations leave terrible wounds on virgin territory. In Sinclair’s haunting prose, no place escapes its past, and nor can we. ‘The Gold Machine is a trip, a psychoactive expedition in compelling company.’ TLSTrade Review‘Follow Iain Sinclair into the cloud jungles of Peru and emerge questioning all that seemed so solid and immutable. The Gold Machine made me angry, sad, envious of Sinclair’s beautiful, evocative prose and grateful that I did not have to endure a soroche headache to gain a new understanding of colonial attitudes and the damage we have done.’ -- Barry Miles‘A glorious achievement, by turns drily humorous and darkly atmospheric.’ -- Ian Thomson, FT‘The Gold Machine is an intense negotiation with [Sinclair’s] ancestor… the driest of wit… Sinclair is incapable of writing a dull sentence, and his style in many ways reflects the hallucinatory nature of the tropics. I cannot think of many authors who can combine “sordid pilgrimage”, “manufactured myths” and “Jungian misdirection” in a single paragraph… The classic tropes of Sinclair’s work are all here, although transposed onto the Peruvian backdrop… The Gold Machine is a form of alchemy, and Sinclair is a wry sorcerer throughout.’ -- The Spectator‘The journey is richly imaginative, Sinclair’s mind sparkling with connections… The Gold Machine is a trip, a psychoactive expedition in compelling company. We finish it reeling slightly, and feeling grateful to have undertaken this journey without having to leave home.’ -- Miranda France, TLS‘Impeccably researched’ -- The New Yorker‘Other than Peter Ackroyd, nobody knows London better than Sinclair. Here, five decades into a distinguished writing career, he ventures farther afield, traveling to Peru on the trail of a Scottish ancestor who sought his fortune in coffee… Fans of travel literature will prize this shimmering account of a journey into the past.’ -- Kirkus, starred review‘In this magnificent book, Iain Sinclair and his daughter follow their culpable, intrepid ancestor into Peru, towards a coffee-black heart of colonial darkness. Of course the old man is looking for gold, and finding it, on every page, in every line. A sultry masterpiece.’ -- Alan Moore‘Marshalling his exceptional skills of social observation and narrative, Britain’s finest modern essayist Iain Sinclair strikes south in The Gold Machine… he conducts an elegiac dialogue between generations and sinks into the deep past.’ -- New Statesman, Books of the Year, 2021‘Sinclair’s discursive, intensely literate prose knits together time and place.’ -- Washington Post, Best travel books of 2021‘Swapping London for Lima, Hackney for Huancayo, in an unexpected departure from more familiar territory, The Gold Machine tracks a feverish descent into the darkness of Peru’s colonial past, as Sinclair follows in the footsteps of his nineteenth-century forbear. Written with his customary linguistic flair, this is a vivid and revealing addition to a unique body of work.’ -- Merlin Coverley, author of Psychogeography‘Excavator, outlier, alchemist. Sinclair’s formidable gaze turns backwards, forwards and touchingly inwards. A father–daughter pilgrimage to the rapids and along the bloodline: panning for salt, coffee, gold, misdeeds, consequences, presence, absence, family…and self. Disarmingly tender, generous and brimming. A book of wonder (noun and verb), from first word to last I was agog.’ -- Keggie Carew, author of Dadland‘Like Fitzcarraldo carrying a boat over mountains to fabulous worlds, Sinclair backpacks all the known legends, skeletons and lies, to tightrope a lurching dazzling bridge between generations. His, ours and those to come. Splendid in corruption. Wealthy in shock. This is the invaders' New Testament. Jamming gold coins in our eyes for lenses, leaving nothing to pay the boatman, because after this reads you, there is no place to go. A masterpiece.’ -- B. Catling, author of The Vorrh Trilogy‘Sinclair is the laureate of the peripatetic and The Gold Machine is his Heart of Darkness. It is the brilliantly written narrative of a long, dark journey into his own familial past. The magic begins on page 1 and continues to its end.’ -- Duncan Wu, Raymond A. Wagner Professor of Literature, Georgetown University‘Iain Sinclair remains the reigning ambassador from the kingdom of books, a fifty-year argument for the practice and legitimacy of writing. The Gold Machine extends the argument. Sinclair and his daughter travel to Peru and re-create the colonial expedition of his great-grandfather, pathways laid out in the forgotten ancestor’s published works. This is what the template has always been, will always be. Find an old book, absorb its secret message, go outside and destroy yourself in its service. Brilliant.’ -- Jarett Kobek, author of I Hate the Internet‘This is some of the best prose Sinclair has ever written – its poetic playfulness always in energetic tandem with razor-sharp observation. The book also transcends the genres you throw at it. It is a post-colonial essay haunted, if not deeply disturbed, by what the complex literary spirits of Conrad, Poe, Burroughs, Ginsberg and Ed Dorn bring to the party, a peripatetic séance in Amazonia often rudely interrupted by reality. This is an enthralling read.’ -- Paul Tickell, film-maker and journalist‘Ceylon, Australia and Peru, as well as Dundee, Maesteg and, of course, Hackney too. The Gold Machine thrusts a sharp and revealing probe into the not always leafy heartlands of Britain’s imperial past. Perfect reading for anyone keen to understand how this history continues to weigh on the present, and a prophetic last word for those Brexit-crazed champions of “unwoke” England who refuse to accept that it is over.’ -- Patrick Wright, Professor (emeritus) of Literature, History and Politics, King’s College London‘This book is further proof that, when he leaves London, Iain Sinclair’s gifts of observation expand to suit his subject. In The Gold Machine he follows the psychic and physical resonances of a visionary ancestor through the personal origin myth he has explored in poetry and prose all his life. Marshalling his exceptional skills of social observation and narrative, Britain’s finest modern essayist strides South. Travelling with his daughter Farne he conducts an elegiac dialogue between generations and sinks into the deep past, making profound associations, travelling back and forth in time through a rapidly changing Peru on the trail of the mysterious Arthur Sinclair.’ -- Michael Moorcock‘The physical journey begins in Lima; the intellectual voyage, as Sinclair devotees might guess, is serpentine… Prospective readers may wonder how this avowed Londoner gets on outside the M25. The answer is that he fares well… Sinclair fulfils his “unspoken obligation” to go to the Amazon with honesty and nerve… he has drawn attention to a predatory past that Britain has long forgotten.’ -- Literary Review‘Sinclair uses his passion for psychogeography to tell the story of what has happened in the years since the Peruvian Corporation left the Ashaninka people, how monetization exploited generational farming practices and left them in ruins… a thrilling ride.’ * Booklist *‘Sinclair’s observations are sharp and vital… [The Gold Machine] stands in the long line of travel books where it is the journey, rather than its inspiration, that proves to be compelling.’ * Geographical Magazine *‘This book follows the eye-opening journey of the author and his daughter through Peru. It deftly contrasts the country’s eco-tourism industry of today with the colonial incursions of his great-grandfather – a displaced Highlander – and his thirst for gold.’ -- Scots Magazine‘Sinclair walks every inch of his wonderful psychogeographies, pacing out huge word-courses like an architect laying out a city on an empty plain.’ -- J.G. Ballard‘Sentence for sentence, there is no more interesting writer at work in English.’ -- John Lanchester

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2021 Cundill History Prize Winner of the 2021 Frederick Douglass Prize 'A richly detailed account of a gripping human story' Washington Post '[An] epic history ... a sweeping, thoughtful narrative' Los Angeles Times On Sunday 27 February, 1763, thousands of slaves in the Dutch colony of Berbice - in present-day Guyana - launched a massive rebellion which came amazingly close to succeeding. Surrounded by jungle and savannah, the revolutionaries and their enslavers struck and parried for an entire year. In the end, the Dutch prevailed because of one advantage: their access to soldiers and supplies. Blood on the River is the explosive story of this little-known revolution, one that almost changed the face of the Americas. Drawing on 900 interrogation transcripts collected by the Dutch when the Berbice rebellion finally collapsed, which were subsequently buried in Dutch archives, historian Marjoleine Kars reconstructs an extraordinarily rich day-by-day account of this pivotal event. Blood on the River provides a rare, in-depth look at the political vision of enslaved people at the dawn of the Age of Revolution. An astonishing original work of history, Blood on the River will change our understanding of revolutions, slavery and of the story of freedom in the New World.Trade ReviewA riveting addition to the history of the search for freedom in the Americas * Kirkus Reviews *A richly detailed account of a gripping human story -- H.W. Brands * Washington Post *[An] epic history ... A sweeping, thoughtful narrative, joining a new wave of books that make visible previously dismissed Black voices -- Carolyn Kellogg * Los Angeles Times *A gripping tale about the human need for freedom ... The story of the Berbice Rebellion begs to be told, and Kars' telling is impressive -- Martha Anne Toll * NPR Books *A model for how academic history can reach a wide audience, a narrative-driven work which presents pioneering archival scholarship in which we can hear the voices of the enslaved protagonists ... Kars represents the complexities of the rebellion without romanticising it -- Bethan Fisk * History Today *A powerful book that will appeal to experts and - thanks to the lively and accessible writing style - the general public alike * Black Perspectives *This striking study unearths a meaningful chapter in the history of slavery * Publishers Weekly *Meticulously researched and careful to prioritize the perspectives of the marginalized, Blood on the River offers a fascinating glimpse of the complex history of slavery in the Americas * Booklist *A must-read for anyone interested in slave revolts and the history of Atlantic slavery * Library Journal *[A] masterpiece ... Marjoleine Kars has unearthed a little-known rebellion in the Dutch colony of Berbice and rendered its story with insight, empathy, and wisdom. You'll find no easy platitudes herein. Instead, you'll find human beings in full relief, acting with courage, kindness, calculation, and mendacity in their quest for self-determination. Blood on the River is a story for the ages -- Elizabeth Fenn, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan PeopleTakes readers on a moving journey deep into a colonial heart of darkness. Drawing on rich and challenging sources, Marjoleine Kars reveals enslaved people making a rebellion that lingers in memory and landscape -- Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Internal Enemy and William Cooper's TownThis is required reading for historians of the Black Atlantic world -- Jennifer Morgan, professor of history at New York University and author of Reckoning with SlaveryOne of the great slave revolts in modern history has at last found a gifted historian to tell its epic tale. Using a breathtaking archival discovery to make the Berbice rebels vivid flesh-and-blood actors, Marjoleine Kars deeply enriches the global scholarship on the history of slavery and resistance -- Marcus Rediker, author of The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and FreedomVivid ... The aborted attempt at freedom she chronicles provides a harrowing counterpoint to the American and French revolutions that would soon follow -- Russell Shorto, author of The Island at the Center of the WorldMarjoleine Kars has brought from the archives the voices of the enslaved, both in hope and in defeat. A tale of importance for our time -- Natalie Zemon Davis, author of Trickster Travels and The Return of Martin Guerre

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring the nineteenth century, Maori women produced letters and memoirs, wrote off to newspapers and commissioners, appeared before commissions of enquiry, gave evidence in court cases, and went to the Native Land Court to assert their rights. He Reo Wahine is a bold new introduction to the experience of Maori women in colonial New Zealand through Maori women's own words - the speeches and evidence, letters and testimonies that they left in the archive. Drawing from over 500 texts in both English and te reo Maori written by Maori women themselves, or expressing their words in the first person, He Reo Wahine explores the range and diversity of Maori women's concerns and interests, the many ways in which they engaged with colonial institutions, as well as their understanding and use of the law, legal documents, and the court system. The book both collects those sources - providing readers with substantial excerpts from letters, petitions, submissions and other documents - and interprets them. Eight chapters group texts across key themes: land sales, war, land confiscation and compensation, politics, petitions, legal encounters, religion and other private matters. Beside a large scholarship on New Zealand women's history, the historical literature on Maori women is remarkably thin. This book changes that by utilising the colonial archives to explore the feelings, thoughts and experiences of M?ori women - and their relationships to the wider world.Trade ReviewHe Reo Wahine makes for fascinating reading bringing together as it does a wide range of nineteenth-century Maori women's voices out from colonial archives and in to the public purview. The extensive quotes, excerpts and wholesale reproductions of texts which fill many of He Reo Wahine's pages make for a rich, generative reading experience which is carefully guided by the authors' narrative."" - Arini Loader, Victoria University of Wellington ""This book presents a rich and ranging collection of Maori women speaking from the nineteenth-century archive. The hopes, the persistence, the effort to set down a cause are all apparent in the words of women presented in these pages. It is in various measures an inspiring, instructive and agonising read."" - Charlotte Macdonald, Victoria University of Wellington

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe period 1995 to 2004 was the UN's International Decade of World Indigenous Peoples. This reflected the increasing organisation of indigenous peoples around a commonality of concerns, needs and ambitions. In both New Zealand and Canada, these politics challenge the colonial structures that social and political systems are built upon.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Engaging Indigeneity; Nga Tangata Whenua; Sovereignty Lost, Tino Rangatiratanga Reclaimed, Self-Determination Secured, Partnership Forged; Aboriginal Peoples of Canada; Re-Priming the Partnership; Contesting the Constitutional Terrain, Shifting the Foundational Rules; Indigeneity at the Edge; Index.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor hundreds of years, a rich French heritage has marked the history and culture of Newfoundland and Labrador. Yet the contributions of French settlers and fishing communities have not received the recognition they deserve. The French presence in Newfoundland from the early 18th century to the early 20th is a story of both strife and cooperation: sovereignty over the island belonged to the British, but France enjoyed the right to fish along an extensive part of the shoreline, known as the French Treaty Shore. As with many long-term relationships, this one was marked by sharp differences, but also times of peaceful coexistence. A Mixed Marriage offers a look back at this period from the eyes of those who were there. Included are the full text of ship''s surgeon C.J.A. Carpon''s Voyage to Newfoundland and four reports from French naval officers who were part of the fisheries protection patrol, most translated for the first time. Featuring observations of fishing and hunting practices, stories of on-board surgeries, on-land festivities, and a sprinkling of curious tales, these texts together offer new insight into life on the French Shore of Newfoundland.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines the lives and tenures of all the consorts of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs of England between 1485 and 1714, as well as the wives of the two Lords Protector during the Commonwealth. The figures in Tudor and Stuart Consorts are both incredibly familiar—especially the six wives of Henry VIII—and exceedingly unfamiliar, such as George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne. These innovative and authoritative biographies recognise the important role consorts played in a period before constitutional monarchy: in addition to correcting popular assumptions that are based on limited historical evidence, the chapters provide a fuller picture of the role of consort that goes beyond discussions of exceptionalism and subversion. This volume and its companions reveal the changing nature of English consortship from the Norman Conquest to today.Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, DynastyPart I: Tudor ConsortsChapter 2: The Tudor Consorts: History and MemoryChapter 3: Elizabeth of York: Tudor Trophy WifeChapter 4: Katherine of Aragon: Diligent Diplomat and Learned Queen Chapter 5: Anne Boleyn: Traditionalist and ReformerChapter 6: Jane Seymour: Saintly QueenChapter 7: Anne of Cleves: Survivor QueenChapter 8: Katherine Howard: Victim?Chapter 9: Katherine Parr: Wartime Consort and AuthorChapter 10: Philip II of Spain: King, Consort, and SonChapter 11: The Literary Afterlives of the Tudor ConsortsPart II: Stuart ConsortsChapter 12: The Stuart Consorts and Scotland, 1603–1707Chapter 13: Anna of Denmark: Daughter, Wife, Sister, and Mother of KingsChapter 14: Henrietta Maria: Dangerous ConsortChapter 15: Elizabeth and Dorothy Cromwell: InterreginasChapter 16: Catherine of Braganza: The PoliticianChapter 17: Mary Beatrice of Modena: A Queen ObservedChapter 18: George of Denmark: The Quiet Protestant Hero Chapter 19: The Stuart Consorts, 1603–1714: Representation, Agency, and Anxiety

Read more less

Book SynopsisMedia depictions of Arabs and Muslims continue to be framed by images of camels, belly dancers, and dagger-wearing terrorists. But do only Hollywood movies and TV news have the power to frame public discourse? This interdisciplinary study transfers media framing theory to literary studies to show how life writing (re-)frames Orientalist stereotypes. The innovative analysis of the post-9/11 autobiographies "West of Kabul, East of New York", "Letters from Cairo", and "Howling in Mesopotamia" makes a powerful claim to approach literature based on a theory of production and reception, thus enhancing the multi-disciplinary potential of framing theory.Trade Review"Although the book discusses only autobiographiesas an effective reframing tool, it stands out as an astounding monograph about Arab/Muslim American scholarship in general, and will be of use to diverse scholarsin pursuit of ethnic, transnational, and postcolonial studies." Ali A. Alhajji, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 106 (2016)

Read more less

Book SynopsisPinar Tuzcu explores rapper Lady Bitch Ray's performance and particularly her use of the term Kanackin. She combines issues of popfeminism and postmigration through speculative methodology and invites us to forget prescriptive definitions by proposing paradoxicality as a source to diversify our concepts of feminism. By means of Situational Analysis, her study works through the contradictory forms of positioning that occurred in group discussions with Turkish-German university students about Lady Bitch Ray's music videos. In this book, Tuzcu argues that these contradictory forms of positioning bear traces of emergent discourses that reach beyond Western-centric descriptions of feminism in Germany.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Southern Africa, marriage used to be widespread and common. However, over the past decades marriage rates have declined significantly. Julia Pauli explores the meaning of marriage when only few marry. Although marriage rates have dropped sharply, the value of weddings and marriages has not. To marry has become an indicator of upper-class status that less affluent people aspire to. Using the appropriation of marriage by a rural Namibian elite as a case study, the book tells the entwined stories of class formation and marriage decline in post-apartheid Namibia.Trade Review"It is an intricate analysis of how transformations in Namibian marriage practices have been framed and structured by dramatic political and economic changes in the twentieth century, and thus how the vantage point ofmarriage is a productive tool from which to study how personal experiences reflect larger social shifts." Rachel Spronk, African Studies Review, 63/4 (2020) "With its balanced discussion of the regional literature the monograph is a good read for social scientists doing research in the Southern African region and of value to anyone researching gender and family relations. In addition, it is an inspiration for anyone interested in class relationsin Africa." Astrid Bochow, Anthropos, 115 (2020) "This is a rich and valuable study, of-fering a nuanced and historically sensitive ap-proach to an important question." Meredith McKittrick, H-Net-Reviews, 6 (2020) "This monograph provides a superb ethnography and a fruitful resource for understanding most of the core issues that revolve around marriage and the lack thereof in a Namibian community. It has much value as an anthropological study that indicates how new consumption patterns affect traditional institutions." Stephanie Rudwick, Modern Africa, 7/2 (2019)Table of ContentsList of Tables; List of Figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Fransfontein Fieldwork; History Through Biography; Post-Apartheid Livelihoods; Contemporary Fransfontein Marriages; From Decline to Distinction; Forming Families; Intimacy Outside Marriage; Conclusion; Reference List.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new take on Afrofuturism, this book gathers together a range of contemporary voices who, carrying legacies of 500 years of contact between Africa, Europe, and the Americas, reach towards the stars and unknown planets, galaxies, and ways of being. Writing from queer and feminist perspectives and circumnavigating continents, they recalibrate definitions of Afrofuturism. The editors and contributors of this exciting volume thus reflect upon the re-emergence of Black visions of political and cultural futures, proposing practices, identities, and collectivities. With contributions from AfroFuturist Affair, John Akomfrah, Jamika Ajalon, Stefanie Alisch, Jim Chuchu, Grisha Coleman, Thomas F. DeFrantz, Abigail DeVille, M. Asli Dukan with Wildseeds, Kodwo Eshun, Anna Everett, Raimi Gbadamosi, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Milumbe Haimbe, Ayesha Hameed, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Kara Keeling, Carla J. Maier, Tobias Nagl, Tavia Nyongo, Rasheedah Phillips, Daniel Kojo Schrade, Nadine Siegert, Robyn Smith, Greg Tate and Frohawk Two Feathers.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection investigates the concept of modernity in music and its multiple interpretations in Europe and East Asia. Through contributions by both European and East Asian musicologists it discusses how a decentered understanding of musical modernity could be matched on multiple historiographical perspectives while being attentive to the specificities of local music and their narratives in East Asia and Europe. The essays connect local, global and transnational history with sociological theories of modernity and modernization, making the volume an important contribution to overcoming the Eurocentric dichotomy between western music and world music within the field of historical musicology.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis study investigates power, belonging and exclusion in British society by analysing representations of the mosque, the University of Oxford, and the plantation in novels by Leila Aboulela, Robin Yassin-Kassab, Diran Adebayo, David Dabydeen, Andrea Levy, and Bernardine Evaristo. Lisa Ahrens combines Foucault's theory of heterotopia with elements of Wolfgang Iser's reader-response theory to work out Black British and British Muslim literature's potential for destabilising exclusionary boundaries. In this way, new perspectives open up on the intersections between space, power and literature, intertwining and enriching the discourses of Cultural and Literary Studies.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSouth Africa's post-apartheid narrative is one of democracy and equality - but its flaws run deep, argues Ives S. Loukson. Disclosing prejudices about whiteness, homosexuality and democracy in the "staged society", he claims the concept of relation as an adequate framework for the embodiment of "profane democracy" understood in Agambian terms. Its fluidity is equated to openness and transparency that are relevant dimensions for profane democracy. A demonstration of literary criticism practiced as a fecund interdisciplinary activity, Loukson's study lays the foundation for post-apartheid criticism different from post-colonial criticism.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book explores the formative correlations and inventive transmissions of Anglophone Arab representations ranging from early 20th century Mahjar writings to contemporary transnational Palestinian resistance art. Tracing multiple beginnings and seminal intertexts, the comparative study of dissonant truth-making presents critical readings in which the notion of cross-cultural translation gets displaced and strategic unreliability, representational opacity, or matters of act advance to essential qualities of the discussed works' aesthetic devices and ethical concerns. Questioning conventional interpretive approaches, Markus Schmitz shows what Anglophone Arab studies are and what they can become from a radically decentered relational point of view. Among the writers and artists discussed are such diverse figures as Rabih Alameddine, William Blatty, Kahlil Gibran, Ihab Hassan, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Emily Jacir, Walid Raad, Ameen Rihani, Edward Said, Larissa Sansour, and Raja Shehadeh.Trade Review"Markus Schmitz offers a brilliant retheorization of both the poetic practices of Anglophone Arab cultural production and the potential future directions of critical practices of Anglophone Arab (literary and cultural) studies." Christian David Zeitz, Anglistik, 32 (2021)Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Setting in Motion: The Trans-Location of Anglophone Arab Cultures; Endings as Desert(ed) Starts; Beginnings as Cultural Novelties: Intertexts and Discursive Affinities; Khalid's Book and How Not to Bow Down Before Rihani; Nocturnal Traces and Voyaging Critique: From Shahrazad to Said; Reading Anglophone Arab Enunciations Across Genres: Narrative Display, Performative Evidence, and the Parafiction of Theory; The Challenge of Anglophone Arab Studies: For a Post-Integrationist Critical Practice; Works Cited; Image Credits; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe expression "to come out of the closet" calls for an analysis of how language and notional as well as social spaces interact and intersect to constitute "queer". This performative book, a product of artistic research, is an exploration of the proverbial closet through linguistics, queer, and postcolonial theory. It is a project in which opacity, minority, and improvisation happen on the levels of content, analysis, and typography. Eleven queer slangs from around the world become part of an exploration of queerness and knowledge from the Periphery through autoethnography, Édouard Glissant's concept of opacity, José Muñoz's disidentifications, and Gloria Anzaldúa's performative writing. Theory, personal accounts, and art are interwoven to offer an interdisciplinary reading of the slangs as queer methods of survival and resistance.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe impulse for the recent transformations in the Arab world came from the Maghreb. Research on the region has been on the rise since, yet much remains to be done when it comes to interdisciplinary comparative research. The Maghreb is a heterogeneous region that deserves thorough investigation. This volume focuses on Entanglements as a cross-field and cross-lingual concept to generate a new approach to the region and its inner interdependencies as well as exchanges with other regions. Eminent researchers conceptualize Entanglements through the description of various thematic fields and actors in motion, addressing culture, politics, social affairs, and economics.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2001, Freestyle, a survey exhibition curated by Thelma Golden at the Studio Museum in Harlem, introduced both a young generation of artists of African descent and the ambitious yet knowingly opaque term post-black to a pre 9-11 and pre-Obama world. In Taking Stakes in the Unknown, Nana Adusei-Poku contextualizes the term post-black in its socio-historical and cultural context. Whilst exploring its present legacy and past potential, she examines works by artists who were defined as part of the post-black generation: Mark Bradford, Leslie Hewitt, Mickalene Thomas and Hank Willis Thomas - and, by expanding the scope of the definition, the Black German artist Philip Metz.

Read more less