Not only did the anticolonial movements of the past two centuries help bring down the global order of colonial empires, they also produced novel, innovative and vital social thought. Anticolonialism has been largely ignored in conventional Europe-centered social thought and theory, but this book shows how our sociological imagination can be expanded by taking challenges to colonialism and imperialism seriously. Amidst their struggles to change the world, anticolonial actors offer devastating critiques of it, challenging the racism, economic exploitation, political exclusions and social inequalities central to imperialism and colonialism. Anticolonial thinkers and activists thereby seek to understand the world they are struggling against and, in the process, develop new concepts and theorize the world in new ways. Chapters by leading scholars help uncover this dissident tradition of social thought as the authors discuss an array of anticolonial thinkers, activists and movements from Palestine, India, South Africa, Brazil, Algeria and beyond.

‘A powerful and timely contribution, this volume recovers the rich intellectual tradition of anticolonial thought, illuminating its profound impact on social theory. Through incisive analyses and global perspectives, it challenges entrenched imperial frameworks and offers transformative insights for understanding and resisting the enduring structures of colonialism and neocolonialism today.'

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza - Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives and Professor of African Studies, Howard University

‘This innovative and searching volume makes the case that anticolonial thinkers produced a distinct and coherent body of social theory that is indispensable for our understanding of the contemporary world. As these essays show, despite the epistemic violence central to colonial domination - the destruction of languages, intellectual traditions, and forms of self-knowledge – it was those who suffered that subjection who developed the theoretical tools necessary to understand it.

Jennifer Pitts - Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Science, The University of Chicago