Worldmaking after empire : the rise and fall of self-determination /

Though it is easy to imagine--for scholars as well as citizens--an automatic route from colony to fledgling nationhood, this impressive overview of black Anglophone thought and activism in the 20th century reminds readers that the goals of decolonization have been deeper and broader, envisioning new worlds as much as new states. Getachew (Chicago) offers a careful reading of speeches, writings, and actions of W. E. B. Du Bois, Eric Williams, Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, Michael Manley, and others and delineates a public sphere that challenged colonialism while seeking broad possibilities of rights and actions. Tracing this through debates before and with the League of Nations and the United Nations, the author shows how initiatives to avoid reductive nationalism led to short-lived federations in the Caribbean and Africa as well as a critical conception of global inequality in the New International Economic Order. Though the debates are dense, the author brings them to life with magisterial control of major writings and archival materials. This creates a splendid platform for wider discussions exploring the engagement of Irish and South Asian Anglophone political intellectuals and expanding comparative insights with the divergent spheres of French anti-colonialism. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Gary Wray McDonogh, Bryn Mawr College