Worldmaking after Empire

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Decolonization transformed the international order in the twentieth century. Standard narratives depict the end of colonialism as a straightforward shift from empires to nations, equating self-determination with nation-building, which downplays the radical nature of this change. This account draws on the political thought of anticolonial figures like Nnamdi Azikiwe, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Kwame Nkrumah, revealing their ambitious vision to reshape not just nations but the world. It demonstrates that African, African American, and Caribbean anticolonial nationalists were not merely focused on nation-building. In response to racialized sovereign inequality, exemplified by interwar Ethiopia and Liberia, Black Atlantic thinkers challenged international racial hierarchies and proposed alternative worldviews. They aimed to establish an egalitarian postimperial world by advocating for self-determination within the United Nations, forming regional federations in Africa and the Caribbean, and creating the New International Economic Order. Utilizing archival sources from Barbados, Trinidad, Ghana, Switzerland, and the UK, this work reinterprets the history of decolonization, reevaluates the challenges faced by anticolonial nationalism, and offers fresh insights into contemporary debates about the international order.