Race and Resistance Reading

One small yet nevertheless crucial part of decolonisation is to foster constant vigilance concerning racism’s long global history, with particular attention to how this history has shaped the theories, methods, and cultural artefacts at the centre of our research and pedagogy. While there has been no shortage of online bibliographies dedicated precisely to the task of consciousness-raising, the breadth of geographical and historical expertise within MLAC creates a unique opportunity to expand existing lists across a significantly wider scope of space and time. This, in turn, can further highlight the complexity of racism’s transnational entanglements and regional variations, in addition to adumbrating hidden lines of solidarity, the resurrection of which should aid in our commitment to anti-racism.

To this end, we feature here ongoing recommendations from MLAC staff of scholarly literature on the topic of race, and of resistance. From Ottoman slave narratives to Afro-Japanese activists – from the medicalization of race in the Anglo-Caribbean to the role of colonialism in climate change – these works serve as an armoury of ideas with which to equip ourselves as we resist racism. Clicking on each title will bring you to a short description, as well as information concerning modules that further explore the themes in question; where available, a link to a digital edition (Durham account required) has been provided.

Happy critical reading!