Transnational Solidarity - (Racism, Resistance and Social Change) by Zeina Maasri & Cathy Bergin & Francesca Burke (Paperback)

About the Book

This book excavates forgotten histories of solidarity which were vital to radical political imagination during the long sixties. It decentres the conventional Western loci of this critical historical moment by instead foregrounding transnational solidarity with, and across, anticolonial and anti-imperialist liberation struggles.

Book Synopsis

Transnational solidarity excavates the forgotten histories of solidarity that were vital to radical political imaginaries during the 'long' 1960s. It decentres the conventional Western focus of this critical historical moment by foregrounding transnational solidarity with, and across, anticolonial and anti-imperialist liberation struggles. The book traces the ways in which solidarity was conceived, imagined and enacted in the border crossings -- of nation, race and class -- made by grassroots activists.

This diverse collection draws links between exiled revolutionaries in Uruguay, post-colonial immigrants in Britain, and Greek communist refugees in East Germany who campaigned for their respective causes from afar while identifying and linking up with wider liberation struggles. Meanwhile, Arab immigrants in France, Pakistani volunteers and Iraqi artists found myriad ways to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Neglected archives also reveal Tricontinental Cuban-based genealogies of artistic militancy, as well as transnational activist networks against Portuguese colonial rule in Africa.

Bringing together original research with contributions from veteran activists and artists, this interdisciplinary volume explores how transnational solidarity was expressed in and carried through the itineraries of migrants and revolutionaries, film and print cultures, art and sport, political campaigns and armed struggle. It presents a novel perspective on radical politics of the global sixties which remains crucial to understanding anti-racist solidarity today.

With a foreword by Vijay Prashad.

From the Back Cover

Transnational solidarity excavates the forgotten histories of solidarity that were vital to radical political imaginaries during the 'long' 1960s. It decentres the conventional Western focus of this critical historical moment by foregrounding transnational solidarity with, and across, anticolonial and anti-imperialist liberation struggles. The book traces the ways in which solidarity was conceived, imagined and enacted in the border crossings -- of nation, race and class -- made by grassroots activists.

This diverse collection draws links between exiled revolutionaries in Uruguay, post-colonial immigrants in Britain, and Greek communist refugees in East Germany who campaigned for their respective causes from afar while identifying and linking up with wider liberation struggles. Meanwhile, Arab immigrants in France, Pakistani volunteers and Iraqi artists found myriad ways to express solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Neglected archives also reveal Tricontinental Cuban-based genealogies of artistic militancy, as well as transnational activist networks against Portuguese colonial rule in Africa.

Bringing together original research with contributions from veteran activists and artists, this interdisciplinary volume explores how transnational solidarity was expressed in and carried through the itineraries of migrants and revolutionaries, film and print cultures, art and sport, political campaigns and armed struggle. It presents a novel perspective on radical politics of the global sixties which remains crucial to understanding anti-racist solidarity today.

Review Quotes

'This valuable collection of essays casts fresh light on a very significant period of anticolonial resistance and connected struggles across national borders. Its global scope decentres the geopolitical West without obscuring the links between various movements in the 'long sixties'. Textured histories of transnational solidarity, at all times a demanding practice, are particularly welcome at a time when anti-imperialism too often devolves into a simplistic campism.'
Priyamvada Gopal, author of Insurgent Empire, University of Cambridge

'This is an important and politically timely collection which foregrounds the agency of activists from the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and South Asia in shaping the left internationalisms that defined the 'Global Sixties'. It also reinscribes the centrality of anticolonial solidarity to events such as '1968' in Paris and the emergence of the anti-apartheid movement. Through doing so it provides necessary resources for thinking about left futures and global transnational solidarities.'
David Featherstone, author of Solidarity, University of Glasgow

About the Author

Zeina Maasri is a Senior Lecturer on the Humanities Programme at the University of Brighton

Cathy Bergin is a Principal Lecturer on the Humanities Programme at the University of Brighton

Francesca Burke is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Brighton