New Books in Critical Theory

Martin Thomas, "The End of Empires and a World Remade: A Global History of Decolonization" (Princeton UP, 2024)

May 3, 2025

Martin Thomas, a Professor of imperial history at the University of Exeter, dives into the intricate dynamics of decolonization and its ties to globalization. He discusses how the decline of empires reshaped international politics and sparked independence movements. Through case studies, such as Ghana and Iran, he reveals the challenges of true independence and the lingering effects of neocolonialism. Thomas also examines the role of violence in decolonization struggles and highlights the importance of women's movements in addressing structural inequalities.

48:51

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Martin Thomas

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Quick takeaways

Decolonization is a multifaceted journey involving political independence, economic sovereignty, and cultural dimensions, rather than a singular endpoint.

The rise of transnational solidarity among oppressed groups underscores the interconnectedness of struggles for equality, highlighting women's pivotal roles in these movements.

Deep dives

The Concept of Decolonization

Decolonization is a complex process that extends beyond the political notion of ending foreign domination, involving cultural and economic dimensions as well. It is viewed as an ongoing struggle rather than a singular event, requiring communities to attain self-determination and independence while confronting historical inequalities. Modern interpretations often relate decolonization to issues of systemic racism and societal practices that reflect colonial legacies, thus expanding the conversation to include cultural and institutional frameworks. The idea that meaningful decolonization includes an active engagement on equal terms in global contexts marks a significant shift in understanding its implications.

Intro

1min

Exploring Global Decolonization: A Collective Historical Perspective

3min

Redefining Decolonization

11min

Decolonization and Globalization in Africa

5min

Iran's Geopolitical Alliances and Decolonization Dynamics

13min

The Existential Dimension of Decolonization and the Role of Violence

5min

Decolonizing Violence and Solidarity

8min

Empires, until recently, were everywhere. They shaped borders, stirred conflicts, and set the terms of international politics. With the collapse of empire came a fundamental reorganization of our world. Decolonization unfolded across territories as well as within them. Its struggles became internationalized and transnational, as much global campaigns of moral disarmament against colonial injustice as local contests of arms. In this expansive history, Martin Thomas tells the story of decolonization and its intrinsic link to globalization. He traces the connections between these two transformative processes: the end of formal empire and the acceleration of global integration, market reorganization, cultural exchange, and migration.

The End of Empires and a World Remade: A Global History of Decolonization (Princeton UP, 2024) shows how profoundly decolonization shaped the process of globalization in the wake of empire collapse. In the second half of the twentieth century, decolonization catalyzed new international coalitions; it triggered partitions and wars; and it reshaped North-South dynamics. Globalization promised the decolonized greater access to essential resources, to wider networks of influence, and to worldwide audiences, but its neoliberal variant has reinforced economic inequalities and imperial forms of political and cultural influences. In surveying these two codependent histories across the world, from Latin America to Asia, Thomas explains why the deck was so heavily stacked against newly independent nations.
Decolonization stands alongside the great world wars as the most transformative event of twentieth-century history. In The End of Empires and a World Remade, Thomas offers a masterful analysis of the greatest process of state-making (and empire-unmaking) in modern history.

Martin Thomas is professor of imperial history and director of the Centre for Histories of Violence and Conflict at the University of Exeter. A fellow of the Leverhulme Trust and the Independent Social Research Foundation, he is the author of Violence and Colonial Order: Police, Workers and Protest in the European Colonial Empires, 1918–1940; Fight or Flight: Britain, France, and the Roads from Empire; and other books.

Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.

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