Conversations in Postcolonial Thought

Offering 12 interviews with postcolonial thinkers in the social sciences and humanities, this collection features theorists such as Sara Ahmed and Paul Gilroy. Topics range from Bob Marley to the Black Panthers, Fanon to feminism, and anti-apartheid to the academy, uncovering thought provoking adventures about resistance and empowerment.

"This insightful and much needed book draws on the thoughts of a range of contemporary scholars of 'race', racism, ethnicity, and decolonial thought to shed light on the politics of the postcolonial in contemporary 'post-race' times. It meticulously draws out the lived interaction between thought and activism in the productions of these thinkers. Its range across 'race', ethnicity, gender, and location makes this text exceptional. This is a must read for serious contemporary post-colonial scholarship." - Shirley Anne Tate, Associate Professor in Race and Culture, The University of Leeds, UK and Visiting Professor, Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, The University of The Free State, South Africa

"This is a rare, engagingly powerful, and indispensable text that refuses to circumvent the epistemologically messy and lived space of knowledge production. Through the venue and art of conversational engagement with a range of scholars - from areas as diverse as gender studies, sociology, literature, geography, and more - the reader is provided with a rich diversity and complex conceptualization of the meaning of postcolonial thought and agency. Resonating with a Jazz motif of open-ended inquiry, Sian's powerful text is improvisatory in spirit and movement. Conversations in Postcolonial Thought is a text that has resulted in a co-creative act, a rich dialogical space that ought to change fundamentally how we currently theorize and practice the meaning of postcolonial." - George Yancy, Professor of Philosophy, Duquesne University, USA

"A creative collection of writings that carefully explores behind the curtains of the intellectual tradition of postcolonial thought. Deploying an insightful methodology, this book makes accessible to a broader public the thoughts of some of the contemporary moment's most outstanding thinkers. For students seeking greater understanding and depth, you must read Katy Sian. She reveals her own intellectual journey in order to cast light on the journeys taken by these scholars. In the process she wept, smiled, and spoke. It is all in there. Read it. You will not be disappointed." - Kwame Nimako, Visiting Professor of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Katy P. Sian is a Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester, UK. She is the author of Unsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict: Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial Formations and co-author of Racism, Governance, and Public Policy: Beyond Human Rights.