Reparations for Slavery and Colonization: Contemporary Movements for Justice

Readings and Videos

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS AND VIDEOS
INTRODUCTION: KEY CONCEPTS
1	Introduction	No readings or videos assigned.
2	Anthropology and social justice	Readings Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Writing against Culture.” Chapter 8 in Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present. Edited by Richard G. Fox. School of American Research Press, 1991. ISBN: 9780933452787.  Mullings, Leith. “Interrogating Racism: Toward an Antiracist Anthropology.” (PDF) Annual Review of Anthropology 34 (2005): 667–93. Low, Setha M., and Sally Engle Merry. “Engaged Anthropology: Diversity and Dilemmas.” Current Anthropology 51, Supplement 2 (2008): S203–S226.
3	Reparations	Readings De Greiff, Pablo, ed. “Justice and Reparations.” Chapter 12 in The Handbook of Reparations. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: ‎9780199291922. [Preview with Google Books] Scott, David. “Preface: Debt, Redress.” Small Axe 18, no. 1 (2014): vii–x. Audio Listen to 1 episode of “Reparations: The Big Payback” podcast.
4	Colonialism, part 1: A very brief overview of European colonialism in Africa	Readings Shillington, Kevin. “The Nineteenth Century, before the European ‘Scramble for Africa’.” Section 7 in History of Africa. 4th ed. Red Globe Press, 2018. ISBN: ‎9781137504036. [Preview with Google Books]  ———. “The Impact and Nature of Colonial Rule, 1890–1945.” Section 9 in History of Africa. 4th ed. Red Globe Press, 2018. ISBN: ‎9781137504036. [Preview with Google Books] Ekechi, Felix. “The Consolidation of European Rule, 1885–1914.” In Africa, Vol. 3: Colonial Africa, 1885–1939. Edited by Toyin Falola. Carolina Academic Press, 2001, pp. 27–52. ISBN: ‎9780890897706.  Oyebade, Adebayo. “Colonial Political Systems.” In Africa, Vol. 3: Colonial Africa, 1885–1939. Edited by Toyin Falola. Carolina Academic Press, 2001, pp. 71–86. ISBN: ‎9780890897706.
5	Colonialism, part 2: Colonialism and violence	Readings Lazreg, Marnia. “Introduction.” In Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad. Princeton University Press, 2016. ISBN: ‎9780691173481. [Preview with Google Books] Fanon, Frantz. “On Violence.” Chapter 1 in The Wretched of the Earth. Translated from the French by Richard Philcox. Grove Press, 2021. ISBN: ‎9780802158635. [Preview with Google Books] Kaleck, Wolfgang. “On Double Standards and Emerging European Custom on Accountability for Colonial Crimes.” Chapter 1 in Colonial Wrongs and Access to International Law (PDF - 6.2MB). Edited by Morten Bergsmo, Wolfgang Kaleck, and Kyaw Yin Hlaing. Torkel Opsahl Academic Epublisher, 2020, pp. 1–12. ISBN: ‎9788283481334.
6	Reparations for colonialism	Readings Serumaga, Mary. “A Call for Reparations for Slavery and Colonisation.” Transition 119, Afro-Asian Worlds (2016): 1–5. Lu, Catherine. “Colonialism as Structural Injustice: Historical Responsibility and Contemporary Redress.” Journal of Political Philosophy 19, no. 3 (2011): 261–81. Newton, Melanie J. “Introduction: On History and Justice.” Small Axe 18, no. 1 (43) (2014): 1–6. Méténier, Clémentine. “Colonial Crimes: World Map of Justice Initiatives.” June 17, 2021. JusticeInfo.net.
ALGERIA
7	French colonization in Algeria and the case for reparations	Video “Chronicle of the Years of Fire.” YouTube.
8	Decolonization and the French-Algerian war	Video “Algérie 1er juillet 1962: Boufarik.” ina.fr. (Farewell speech by Christian Fouchet, French High Commissioner, on the day of the Algerian referendum.)
9	The nuclear tests in the Sahara	Reading Panchasi, Roxanne. “‘No Hiroshima in Africa’: The Algerian War and the Question of French Nuclear Tests in the Sahara.” (PDF) History of the Present 9, no. 1 (2019): 84–112.
10	The law and claims for justice	Readings Löytömäki, Stiina. “The Law and Collective Memory of Colonialism: France and the Case of ‘Belated’ Transitional Justice.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 7, no. 2 (2013): 205–23. Merry, Sally Engle. “Human Rights Law and the Demonization of Culture (And Anthropology Along the Way.)” PoLar: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 26, no. 1 (2003): 55–76. Video Kelly Picard, Assistant Professor of Law, Université Jean Monnet, Saint Etienne: “ State’s Responsibility for Historical Injustices before International Institutions / Courts.” YouTube.
11	Case workshop (narrative, legal instruments, defining the crime)	No readings or videos assigned.
12	Measuring harm	Readings James, Erica Caple.  “The Political Economy of ‘Trauma’ in Haiti in the Democratic Era of Insecurity.” Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 28 (2004): 127–49. Petryna, Adriana. “Nuclear Payouts: Knowledge and Compensation in the Chernobyl Aftermath.” Anthropology Now  1, no. 2 (2009): 30–39. Darity, William Jr. “Forty Acres and a Mule in the 21st Century.” Social Science Quarterly 89, no. 3 (2008), 656–64. “The Mau Mau Settlement: Setting the Record Straight.” June 13, 2013. Kenya Human Rights Commission. “The Mau Mau Claims.” Leigh Day.
13	Case workshop (measuring harm)	No readings or videos assigned.
BELGIUM
14	Belgium’s colonial past	Reading Fraiture, Pierre-Philippe. “Belgium and Its Colonies: Introduction.” In A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures: Continental Europe and its Empires. Edited by Prem Poddar, Rajeev S. Patke, and Lars Jensen. Edinburgh University Press, 2011, pp. 7–11. ISBN: ‎9780748644827.  [Preview with Google Books] Video Lumumba: Death of a Prophet. Directed by Raoul Peck. Black and White, Color, 69 min. 1991.
15	Colonial legacy and African diasporas in Belgium, part 1	Readings Human Rights Council. “Visit to Belgium: Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.” (PDF) August 14, 2019. General Assembly, United Nations. Demart, Sarah. “Congolese Migration to Belgium and Postcolonial Perspectives.” African Diaspora 6, no. 1 (2013): 1–20.
16	Transitional justice and Belgium’s colonial past	Reading van der Merwe, Hugo, and M. Brinton Lykes.  “Racism and Transitional Justice.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 14, no. 3 (2020): 415–22. Video “Relevance of a Transitional Justice Framework to Address Belgium’s Colonial Past - Annah Moyo.” YouTube.
17	Colonial legacy and African diasporas in Belgium, part 2	Readings Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” In Identity: Community,  Culture, Difference. Edited by Jonathan Rutherford. Lawrence And Wishart Ltd., 1990. ISBN: 9781909831803. Gregoire, Nicole. “Identity Politics, Social Movement and the State: ‘Pan-African’ Associations and the Making of an ‘African Community’ in Belgium.” African Diaspora 3, no. 1 (2010): 159–81.
18	Case workshop	Video Ornella Rovetta, Postdoctoral Researcher, Université Libre de Bruxelles: “Using Archives to Support Mobilizations for the Recognition of Belgium’s Colonial Past.” YouTube.
19	Race and identity in Europe	Readings El-Tayeb, Fatima. “‘The Birth of a European Public’: Migration, Postnationality, and Race in the Uniting of Europe.” American Quarterly 60, no. 3 (2008), 649–70. Small, Stephen. “Theorizing Visibility and Vulnerability in Black Europe and the African Diaspora.” (PDF - 1.2MB) Ethnic and Racial Studies 41, no. 6 (2018): 1182–97. Otele, Olivette. “Identity and Liberation: African Europeans Today.” Chapter 7 in African Europeans: An Untold History. Basic Books, 2021. ISBN: ‎9781541619678. [Preview with Google Books]
20	Race, Blackness, and political engagement across borders	Readings Mulings, Leith. “Race and Globalization.” Souls 6, no. 2 (2004): 1–9. Keaton, Tricia Danielle. “‘Black (American) Paris’ and the French Outer-Cities: The Race Question and Questioning Solidarity.” Chapter 6 in Black Europe and the African Diaspora. Edited by Darlene Clark Hine, Trica Danielle Keaton, and Stephen Small. University of Illinois Press, 2009. ISBN: ‎9780252076572. [Preview with Google Books] Video Flâner webseries episode: “Gaëlle et Christelle”. Directed by Cecile Emeke. Color, 17 mins. 2014.
21	Case workshop	No readings or videos assigned.