Teaching decolonization beyond the nation: The case of West Africa

Reeves, Mark

Abstract

How should we teach the history of decolonization, especially in a wide-ranging survey course? Debate has typically raged over whether we should emphasize the actions of imperial governments over independence movements, and vice versa. However, yet another thorny question rears its head: what did "decolonization" really mean? Often we teach students about decolonization by simple statements such as, "India gained independence from Britain in 1947." From this statement, a student would presume that the country "India" pre-dated its colonization by Great Britain, and then emerged from that subjugation, whole again, in 1947. While a teacher would likely complicate that statement by acknowledging that "British India" actually split into states, one named India and the other "Pakistan," the student with little background knowledge might take this to mean that a previously unified India was then split in two.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016-06
• Deposit Date: Mar 14, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 14, 2023
• Journal: World History Connected
• Print ISSN: 1931-8642
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 2
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10464307
• Publisher URL: https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/13.2/reeves.html