Challenging Imperialism Across Borders: Recent Studies of Twentieth-Century Internationalist Networks against Empire

Abstract

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the global dimensions of twentieth-century imperialism and anti-imperialism. Historians, themselves part of an increasingly interconnected world, have been drawn to investigate the links between anti-colonial activists working in different parts of the globe. After a period in which most studies had focused either on the perspective of imperial decision makers in Europe or on that of nationalist activists within the framework of one single colony, more recently scholars have argued that the first of these approaches underrates the agency of anti-imperialists in interactions with the imperial rulers, while the second makes it difficult to explain broader, global trends, including the surprising near-simultaneity of decolonisation in large parts of the world between 1945 and 1970. Instead, historians now argue that we need to take into account the inherently internationalist visions of many activists in this period, which led them to travel the world, interact with their counterparts from other colonies, develop shared views of anti-imperialism and provide each other with practical and ideological support. This review article examines some of the most successful monographs to be published in this field between 2014 and 2018.