THE INTERNAL COLONY
Race and the American Politics of Global Decolonization

A Conversation with Author Sam Klug
Assistant Teaching Professor of History, Loyola University Maryland

Moderated by:
Dr. Dwayne Wright, GW Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration

This event is co-sponsored by GSEHD, the GW Elliott School of International Affairs Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the ESIA Leadership, Ethics, and Practice Initiative.

*Due to the inclement weather, this event will be held virtually on Zoom.Register to attend the event via Zoom >

About This Book

In The Internal Colony, Sam Klug reveals the central but underappreciated importance of global decolonization to the divergence between mainstream liberalism and the Black freedom movement in postwar America. Klug reconsiders what has long been seen as a matter of primarily domestic policy in light of a series of debates concerning self-determination, postcolonial economic development, and the meanings of colonialism and decolonization. These debates deeply influenced the discord between Black activists and state policymakers and formed a crucial dividing line in national politics in the 1960s and 1970s.

The result is a history that broadens our understanding of ideological formation—particularly how Americans conceptualized racial power and political economy—by revealing a much wider and more dynamic network of influences. Linking intellectual, political, and social movement history, The Internal Colony illuminates how global decolonization transformed the terms of debate over race and social class in the twentieth-century United States.

About The Author

Dr. Sam Klug is an Assistant Teaching Professor of History at Loyola University Maryland. His research focuses on Black internationalism, U.S. foreign relations, global decolonization, and the history of ideas. His writing has appeared in Politico Magazine, Vox, Boston Review, Dissent, and other venues.