George Padmore and decolonization from below : pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the end of empire / Leslie James.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

James, Leslie, 1980- author.

Series:

Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Padmore, George, 1902-1959.

Padmore, George.

Nationalism--Africa--History--20th century.

Nationalism.

Decolonization--Africa--History--20th century.

Decolonization.

Pan-Africanism--History--20th century.

Pan-Africanism.

History.

Africa--History.

Africa.

African diaspora.

Physical Description:

x, 274 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Summary:

From his base in London, the Trinidad-born Marxist, George Padmore, was a central figure of mid-twentieth century pan-Africanism who became critically involved in debates about the nature and practice of European imperialism. Focusing on Padmore's political manoeuvring, Leslie James traces his politics through the ongoing influence of the Caribbean and the legacy of the Garvey movement; the international communist movement and Soviet decolonization; debates about fascism and colonialism; the new 'reform' rhetoric apparent in World War II; the beginnings of the Cold War; and, pivotally, post-war African politics that confronted a wealth of new dynamics including independent Ghana, apartheid South Africa, and the Mau Man Emergency in Kenya. Within the ideas and political practice of this forthright man lie a number of common questions about the circulation of ideas, the shape of black radical thought, and the weight of Cold War politics within the modern history of European imperialism and the end of empire. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: the artful anti-colonialist

Origins: "The most completely political Negro"

Putting empire in black and white: Padmore's ideas about race and empire

"The long, long night is over": a war of opportunity?

Writing anti-imperial solidarity from London: George Padmore's colonial journalism, 1940-1951

The psychological moment: the Colonial Office, pan-Africanism, and the problem of the Soviet Union, 1946-1950

A buttress for the "beacon light"

The era of Padmore the "outsider": nation, diaspora, and modernity, 1950-1956

Ghana, death, and the afterlife

Conclusion: "The soliloquy of Africa".

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781137352019

1137352019

OCLC:

894025549