Uncertain Futures: Out of Empire and Back in Again

Guest Speakers: Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, New York University

The narrative of a grand transition from a world of empires to a world of nation-states leaves out many types of political formations that intellectuals and activists were striving for in the 20th century. Our talk looks at alternative routes out of empire. We focus on two cases, with attention to antecedents and parallel projects: France and French Africa after 1945, and USSR/Russia after 1989. In both instances, the starting point for elite planners was their experience of empire and the threat of imperial collapse. In these times of uncertainty, leaders and activists were unsure about where sovereignty and citizenship should be located – in national, imperial, federal or confederal entities – and how new political units could be reconfigured. Our talk explores the trajectories and intersections of these alternatives over extended periods of time, their contingent resolutions, and the resurgence of both imperialist and nationalist projects in the 21st century.

Time and Place

Date: Monday 28 April 2025

Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm (including Q&A session and drinks reception)

Venue: The Oculus, Room OC0.04

"Jane and Frederick are two of the most interesting and sought after contemporary global historians."

(Signe Larsen, Warwick Law School)