Seminar Series: Margaret Kohn – Political Theories of Decolonization Postcolonialism and the Problem of Foundations

January 30, 2012

The Department of Political Science presents:

Margaret Kohn – Political Theories of Decolonization Postcolonialism and the Problem of Foundations

NEW Date! Friday, March 16, 2012
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Sidney Smith Hall Room 3130

Reception (3:30 – 5:00 p.m.) to follow in SSH 3037
(Please RSVP FOR RECEPTION ONLY to Sari Sherman.)

Political Theories of Decolonization provides an introduction to some of the seminal texts of postcolonial political theory. The difficulty of founding a new regime is an important theme in political theory, and the intellectual history of decolonization provides a rich–albeit overlooked–opportunity to explore it.

Many theorists have pointed out that the colonized subject was a divided subject. This book argues that the postcolonial state was a divided state. While postcolonial states were created through the struggle for independence, they drew on both colonial institutions and reinvented pre-colonial traditions. Political Theories of Decolonization illuminates how many of the central themes of political theory such as land, religion, freedom, law, and sovereignty are imaginatively explored by postcolonial thinkers. In doing so, it provides readers access to texts that add to our understanding of contemporary political life and global political dynamics.