I was initially planning to use quarantine to read more, and I'm trying to get back on that horse. I just polished off Ernest Harsch's short biography on Thomas Sankara, and was curious if anyone had good book recommendations on imperialism/colonialism, preferably (though not exclusively) on their relationship to capitalism?

Having the line drawn for me between capitalism and imperialism was one of the biggest things that radicalized me, so I'd like to get some more "formal" education on the subject. And obviously fighting imperialism was a huge central running theme through Sankara's life.

So far I've got on my list:

  • Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Lenin
  • How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
  • Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano

Open to big-picture theory books or more specific history books! My next nonfiction book is probably going to be Blackshirts and Reds by Parenti so this would be after I finish that. If I don't respond to all of ya'll know that I still appreciate you. I may never get to some of these recs (I'm a slow and shitty reader) but I also think a thread like this is just a good general resource for anyone who posts/lurks here.

PS Thomas Sankara was an inspiring human being and if there's a hell Blaise Compaore has a special place in it waiting for him.

  • glimmer_twin [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Relevant stuff I’ve read or plan to read:

    The Jakarta Method

    Black Against Empire

    Columbus and Other Cannibals

    Settlers

    The Wretched of the Earth

    I know this is the book sub, but RevLeft Radio podcast also has a number of brilliant episodes on various colonial/anti-imperialist struggles, if you skim through their back catalogue there’s some awesome stuff, especially on Latin America.

    • perineumFalcon [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Seconding Jakarta Method. I listened to all the podcast interviews with Vincent Bevins and it's still really worth picking up the book. It's fascinating.

    • SoylentSnake [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Thanks for the list, u rock comrade! I'm an infrequent RevLeft listener and Breht definitely does a great job at bringing an anti-imperialist and internationalist perspective onto his show. I also listened to the TrueAnon and Chapo eps guesting Vincent Bevins so The Jakarta Method is definitely floating around on my "to-read someday" list as well. Will definitely research the others you posted.

  • acaboratory [she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago
    • American Exceptionalism and American Innocence (US Imperialism)
    • Management of Savagery - Max Blumenthal (US Imperialism in the Middle East)
    • Indigenous People's History of the United States (white colonialism / settlerism in the US and how it affected Native Americans)
  • gammison [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Two Faces of American Freedom for exploring how settler empire is ingrained in American law tradition and conceptions of American freedom, and because it offers a tangible alternative to all of it.

  • LamontCranston [any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Killing Hope by William Blum is a good introduction to what America has really been doing since WWII. It catalogs every single war, intervention, destabilization, coup, and friendly dictatorship supported.