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Film, Video Decolonization and Disorder

Event video

About this Item

Title

  • Decolonization and Disorder

Summary

  • Historian Dane Kennedy examined three waves of European decolonization, from the late 18th century through the late 20th century, and the violence and discord that accompanied the transitions. Kennedy's presentation "Decolonization and Disorder," was sponsored by the Library's John W. Kluge Center and the National History Center. According to Kennedy, who is the Elmer Louis Kayser Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University, the public holds two major misconceptions concerning European decolonization. The first is that decolonization was, in most instances, a reasonably well-planned and peaceful transition, a willing relinquishment of power by imperial authorities to their colonial subjects. The second misconception is that decolonization was a uniquely modern event, a post-World War II turning point that marked the end of empires and the culmination of the age of nation-states. "Third World" decolonization, however, which came in the second half of the 20th century, was preceded by an era of "Old World" decolonization in the early 20th century and an era of "New World" decolonization in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. "Each of these moments of decolonization was precipitated by global war and accompanied by considerable violence and a renewed, if modified, form of imperialism. Recent scholarship on the era of decolonization that followed World War II has shifted attention from the plans drawn up at negotiating tables to the chaos and upheaval that occurred on the ground. My talk will examine this shift of focus, stressing the role of ethnic violence and mass migration in the process of decolonization," Kennedy said.

Names

  • Library of Congress
  • John W. Kluge Center (Library of Congress), sponsoring body

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 2008-07-09.

Headings

  • -  Biography, History
  • -  Government, World Affairs
  • -  Government, Law

Notes

  • -  Classification: History (General) and History of Europe.
  • -  Dane Kennedy.
  • -  Recorded on 2008-07-09.
  • -  Researchers.

Medium

  • 1 online resource

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021687983

Online Format

  • video
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body John W. Kluge Center. Decolonization and Disorder. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -07-09, 2008. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687983/.

APA citation style:

Library Of Congress & John W. Kluge Center, S. B. (2008) Decolonization and Disorder. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -07-09. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687983/.

MLA citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body John W. Kluge Center. Decolonization and Disorder. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -07-09, 2008. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021687983/>.