A hidden history connects India and the United States, the world's two largest democracies. From the late nineteenth century through the 1960s, activists worked across borders of race and nation to push both countries toward achieving their democratic principles. At the heart of this shared struggle... Les mer

A hidden history connects India and the United States, the world's two largest democracies. From the late nineteenth century through the 1960s, activists worked across borders of race and nation to push both countries toward achieving their democratic principles. At the heart of this shared struggle, African Americans and Indians forged bonds ranging from statements of sympathy to coordinated acts of solidarity. Within these two groups, certain activists developed a colored cosmopolitanism, a vision of the world that transcended traditional racial distinctions. These men and women agitated for the freedom of the "colored world," even while challenging the meanings of both color and freedom. Colored Cosmopolitanism is the first detailed examination of both ends of this transnational encounter. Nico Slate tells the stories of neglected historical figures, like the "Eurasian" scholar Cedric Dover, and offers a stunning glimpse of people we thought we knew. Prominent figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Swami Vivekananda, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Martin Luther King Jr. emerge as never before seen. Slate reveals the full gamut of this exchange--from selective appropriations, to blatant misunderstandings, to a profound empathy--as African Americans and South Asians sought a united front against racism, imperialism, and other forms of oppression.

Colored Cosmopolitanism is a testament to a solidarity that thrived despite painful contradictions. A detailed, compelling history that is also an example of effortless storytelling. -- Amitava Kumar, author of A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb Deeply researched, subtly argued, and written with verve and clarity, Colored Cosmopolitanism demonstrates the porousness of national borders--and the importance of international connections for social justice movements. This is superior transnational history. -- Thomas Borstelmann, author of The Cold War and the Color Line Nico Slate's important book reveals how African Americans and Indians framed a fluid 'colored cosmopolitanism,' embracing an anti-imperial and anti-racist conception of freedom. -- Mary L. Dudziak, author of Exporting American Dreams Nico Slate provides a wide-ranging tour of the interactions that knit together the African American and South Asian freedom movements, as intellectuals and activists fashioned new ideas of freedom and justice, pushing against each others' worlds to find more generous renderings of social practice and political strategy. -- Vijay Prashad, author of The Karma of Brown Folk and The Darker Nations An original, thorough, and elegant consideration of the connections between the Indian and American freedom struggles--and a persuasive reconsideration of the ways in which activists conducted those struggles and conceived of their freedom. -- Stephen Tuck, author of We Ain't What We Ought To Be

Nico Slate is Assistant Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University. Lukk