Tuesday 3 February 2015, 6.30 - 8.00pm, room B.13, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields
Speaker: Dr Leslie James; Discussants: Professor Richard Drayton, Professor Bill Schwarz; Chair: Professor Arne Westad
The British Empire is now seen as a ‘patchwork’ of connections negotiated in precise contexts over time, rather than an integrated imperial structure shaped by a unified vision. Concurrently, the rising tide of anti-colonial activity after the First and Second World Wars is often described as part of a changing ‘mood’, where anti-racism and human rights held greater currency and where diplomacy was redefined and relocated outside sovereign state structures as part of a crucial ‘moment’ where new futures were imagined. But if the British Empire was not a hegemonic structure but a loose system, what implications did this have for anti-colonial organisers?
From his base in London, the Trinidad-born Marxist, George Padmore, directed a constantly evolving strategy to end British imperial rule across Africa and the Caribbean. In this public talk, Leslie James will discuss her new book, George Padmore and Decolonization From Below: Pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the End of Empire, which will be launched at the event.
Book reviews
‘One cannot read this book without understanding the complexities of George Padmore as it successfully weaves his extraordinary political life, reviews his prodigious political journalism and details some of the deep personal relationships he had. This is the finest historical scholarship to date on George Padmore.’
Anthony Bogues, Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences and Critical Theory, Brown University
‘George Padmore is a fascinating figure whose life and thought bear on many of the most important aspects of modern history: race, radical anti-colonialism, the end of empire and the role of the USSR. Leslie James’s book is a major contribution to British, imperial and world history.’
C. A. Bayly, Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge, and Professor, Queen Mary, University of London
‘… a full and nuanced account of the remarkable life and career of George Padmore, including his importance to the notable international network of black intellectuals from the 1920s to 1950s, and, in particular, his intellectual and political contribution to the development of both anti-colonial nationalism in Africa through his relationship to such key figures as Jomo Kenyatta, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah, and the still illusive goal of a transformative Pan-Africanism.’
Bruce Berman, Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University, Canada
Speaker
Dr Leslie James is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Birmingham. Previously she was Lecturer in World History at Cambridge University and was Pinto Post-doctoral Fellow at LSE IDEAS in 2012-13.
Discussants
Professor Richard Drayton is Rhodes Professor of Imperial History at King's College London
Professor Bill Schwarz is Professor of English at Queen Mary University of London.
Chair
Professor Arne Westad is Director of LSE IDEAS.
Location
Room B.13, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Map.