Synopses & Reviews
Recent scholarship in political theory has focused on the treatment of colonialism in the writings of canonical thinkers such as Locke, Burke, Mill, Diderot, Tocqueville, Smith, and Kant, revealing the extent to which the subject of colonialism and imperialism dominated the minds of great thinkers as the colonial project took place. While such scholarship provides fascinating insight into the possible problems of enlightenment thought, it tends to ignore the voices of thinkers who spoke from the position of the colonized. Political Theories of Decolonization will fill a gap in postcolonial political critique by serving as an introduction to theorists who struggled with the question of how to found a new political order when the existing ideas and institutions were implicated in a history of domination. Looking at the writings of Gandhi, Ngugi, al-Afghani, and Mariategui, among several others, the authors aim to explain how the work of these thinkers engage in thematic continuities--constituting postcolonial political thought--and add to liberal democratic understandings of political power, as well as illuminate how many of the central questions of political theory are imaginatively explored by postcolonial writers.
Review
"This is a welcome book--one of the very few to provide an overview of anti-colonial struggles and post-colonial experiences from Latin America and Africa to India and Asia. The authors should be congratulated for eloquently demonstrating the relevance of these struggles and experiences for contemporary political theory. Decolonization for the authors is not simply an accomplished fact--because colonialism still persists in many guises and post-colonialism itself conjures up unresolved issues. The most prominent issue is how anti-colonial struggles can lead to a regime without unjust domination, that is, how democracy can be a form of genuine 'self-rule.'" --Fred Dallmayr, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, and author of Beyond Orientalism and Dialogue among Civilizations
"This book fills an important gap in the rich field of post-colonial studies. It allows us, for the first time, to see in a systematic way the deep and subtle thinking and links among those who did the actual mental and physical work of decolonization--work performed without the theoretical hubris of assuming a blank slate. Kohn and McBride have made an important contribution in a crowded field." --Uday Singh Mehta, Professor in the Social Sciences, Amherst College, and author of Liberalism and Empire and The Anxiety of Freedom
"Kohn and McBride's important volume is the beginning, rather than the end, of a conversation that points toward fascinating directions for future thinking. It should not only be compulsory reading for any political theorist interested in questions of power, domination, exploitation and privilege (or lack thereof), it should spur conversations about the decolonization of political theory itself, through new answers and new questions that emerge from the postcolonial world."--Theory and Event
"The authors demonstrate the importance of postcolonial political thought in thinking about the timeless questions of political theory in wholly new, innovative, and ultimately emancipatory ways. This timely book is a welcome contribution to the ways that contemporary political reality is understood. Essential." --CHOICE
"Authoritarianism, civil and ethnic conflict, and political instability have characterized many postcolonial states, and the theories of decolonization analyzed by Kohn and McBride shed light on why this has been the case. The authors clearly explain why these problems need to be understood as legacies of colonial institutions and practices. A distinctive feature of Political Theories of Decolonization is its focus on "the voice of the colonized." Equally important is the authors' attentiveness to the multiple, and at times contradictory, messages and programs offered by theories of decolonization. The authors need to be commended for reminding political scientists that the challenging questions about global justice, democratic citizenship, and human rights can no longer be addressed without a careful examination of colonialism and its legacies." --Perspectives on Politics
Synopsis
Political Theories of Decolonization provides an introduction to some of the seminal texts of postcolonial political theory. The difficulty of founding a new regime is an important theme in political theory, and the intellectual history of decolonization provides a rich--albeit overlooked--opportunity to explore it.
Many theorists have pointed out that the colonized subject was a divided subject. This book argues that the postcolonial state was a divided state. While postcolonial states were created through the struggle for independence, they drew on both colonial institutions and reinvented pre-colonial traditions. Political Theories of Decolonization illuminates how many of the central themes of political theory such as land, religion, freedom, law, and sovereignty are imaginatively explored by postcolonial thinkers. In doing so, it provides readers access to texts that add to our understanding of contemporary political life and global political dynamics.
Synopsis
Political Theories of Decolonization provides an introduction to some of the seminal texts of postcolonial political theory. The difficulty of founding a new regime is an important theme in political theory, and the intellectual history of decolonization provides a rich--albeit overlooked--opportunity to explore it.
Many theorists have pointed out that the colonized subject was a divided subject. This book argues that the postcolonial state was a divided state. While postcolonial states were created through the struggle for independence, they drew on both colonial institutions and reinvented pre-colonial traditions. Political Theories of Decolonization illuminates how many of the central themes of political theory such as land, religion, freedom, law, and sovereignty are imaginatively explored by postcolonial thinkers. In doing so, it provides readers access to texts that add to our understanding of contemporary political life and global political dynamics.
Synopsis
How can Western Modernity be analyzed and critiqued through the lens of enslavement and colonial history? The volume maps out answers to this question from the fields of Postcolonial, Decolonial, and Black Studies, delineating converging and diverging positions, approaches, and trajectories. It assembles contributions by renowned scholars of the respective fields, intervening in History, Sociology, Political Sciences, Gender Studies, Cultural and Literary Studies, and Philosophy.
Synopsis
Can Western modernity be analyzed and critiqued through the lens of enslavement and colonial history? As this volume reveals, such analysis is not only possible, it is essential to our understanding of contemporary race relations and society generally. Drawing from the fields of postcolonial, decolonial, and black studies, this book assembles contributions from renowned scholars that offer timely and critical perspectives from a variety of disciplines, including history, sociology, political science, gender studies, cultural and literary studies, and philosophy.
About the Author
Sabine Broeck is professor of African American studies, gender studies, and black diaspora studies at the University of Bremen, Germany. She is the author of
White Amnesia--Black Memory?: American Women's Writing and History and coauthor of
Americanization--Globalization--Education.
Carsten Junker is assistant professor of North American literary and cultural studies at the University of Bremen. He is the author of Frames of Friction: Black Genealogies, White Hegemony, and the Essay as Critical Intervention.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Political Theory and Decolonization
1. Postcolonial Political Theory and the Problem of Foundations
2. Islamic Political Thought and Imperialism
3. Grounds of Resistance: Land as Revolutionary Foundation
4. Self-Determination Reconsidered: Revolutions of Decolonization and Postcolonial Citizenship
5. Colonialism and the State of Exception
6. The Philosophy of Liberation
Conclusion: Gandhi and the Critique of Western Civilization