Paul Gilroy is one of the leading postcolonial thinkers today, and a central name within fields like critical race studies. A Professor Emeritus at University College London, he is known for publications like There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack and Against Race. His most influential work, however, is his theory about the Black Atlantic, first published in 1993.
Gilroy shows how millions of enslaved people, sent to both sides of the Atlantic through the trans-Atlantic slave trade, developed a distinct Black identity across borders, and a Black culture, fusing elements from Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean. Through readings of music, writers and thinkers like Richard Wright and W. E. B. Du Bois, Gilroy advances his theory, from the premise of culture and identity as something non-essential, hybrid and fluid.
Gilroy’s thoughts have had far-reaching influence both in the academic world and in popular culture. How does he perceive the book’s reception and application now, more than 30 years later? And what has changed in the public discourse, as well as in the material conditions, related to racism and anti-racism, culture and identity since then?
Tony Sandset is a researcher at the University of Oslo, where his work has included cultural meetings, ethnicity, and “race” in a historical context. He will join Paul Gilroy for a conversation about racism and anti-racism, and the emergence of a Black culture and identity across the Atlantic.
The conversation will be in English.
The event is supported by NORAD.
