Anti-Imperial Metropolis

Michael Goebel is a historian of modern Latin America in its global connections. He is currently Professor of Latin American and Global History at Freie Universität Berlin.

• Introduction; 1. Surveying the crossroads of the world: Paris at the intersection of global migrations; 2. Building communities: everyday ethnicity and popular culture; 3. Lovers, husbands, fathers, workers, and soldiers: private life and work; 4. Learning and imparting lessons in anti-imperialism: students in the Latin Quarter; 5. The clearinghouse of world politics: international relations and colonialism; 6. Communist intermediaries: the French Left, the Comintern, and anti-imperialists; 7. A revolutionary lingua franca: anti-imperialism, civic rights, and the republican ethos; 8. Vernacularizing nationalism: an outcome foretold?; Conclusion.

'Anti-Imperial Metropolis will reorient the way we think about the global intellectual and political history of decolonization and nationalism, and deserves to be essential reading in both undergraduate and graduate courses on modern international affairs. Michael Goebel's thought-provoking account of the role played by migrant intellectuals from diverse regions of the world living in interwar Paris in creating the post-imperial imagination of the world order helps us better understand the curious links among nationalism, internationalism, and social history of immigration to Europe from the colonies. This is indeed one of the best books I have read in recent times.' Cemil Aydin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill