African Decolonization and Radicalisms

(4 Credits)

Was political independence as separate nations the crowning achievement of post-World War II struggles against colonialism on the African continent? Which post-colonial futures did African intellectuals, activists, and ordinary people, envision and try to build? How have historians studied this time period? What sources and methods have they used? What arguments have they constructed? Through primary and secondary sources, we explore the networks and ideas that sustained 20th-century African radicalisms and decolonization, as well as the tensions and failures of these movements. We will move across key locales of decolonial worldmaking, from Accra to Algiers, and Bissau to Bandung.