Coffee will be served at 3:30pm. The event will start at 4:00pm.
Title
National Belonging in Liberation Struggles and after Decolonization: The Examples of Guinea-Bissau and Guinea
Abstract
In both liberation struggles and the aftermath of decolonization, both states/liberation movements and citizens had complex and often contradictory ideas about what the nation should be, and what citizens should be asked to do to either bring the nation into being, or to develop it nationally. Using the examples of Guinea-Bissau and neighboring Guinea, this talk will explore these tensions in both states. In Guinea-Bissau, both during and following the war, there were deep tensions involving national belonging and of who was willing to properly sacrifice for the country’s independence. While many fought for the liberation army to free the country from Portuguese rule, others served as Portuguese commandos, and even larger numbers either fled the country or did not clearly take a side. In Guinea, the government of Sékou Touré defined citizenship to sacrificing for the economic and political development of the whole country, resulting in the flight of about 30 percent of Guineans. These two case studies offer us new perspectives in what it meant to be a postcolonial citizen across much of the decolonizing world.
Speaker
David (Dave) Glovsky, Assistant Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, is a historian of 19th and 20th century West Africa, with a focus on Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. His research and teaching interests include histories of mobility and migration, borderlands, spatial history, Islam, citizenship, pastoralism, gender, and histories of popular culture/sport. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on a variety of topics in African History and African Studies, with an eye to understanding the global dimensions and connections of African societies and peoples, both in the past and present. His research, teaching, and service is animated by a focus on social justice and equity, and in broadening historical perspectives to include oppressed and underrepresented communities. He welcomes inquiries from scholars, current graduate students, and potential graduate students interested in related questions/geographies or who simply want to connect, especially those wanting to learn more about how to apply to graduate school in the United States.
Before becoming an academic, Professor Glovsky worked in a variety of fields, including a stint doing live statistics for college football and basketball at ESPN, three years as a college hockey broadcaster and sports columnist, and in K-12 education. His interest in African History developed after spending two years in southern Senegal as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the town of Dabo. His experience living and working in Fulbe/Fulani communities throughout southern Senegal inspired him to return to academic life and explore the historical context of the area where he had lived. As a result, he believes that intellectual expertise comes from a variety of lived perspectives and experiences, not just from within the classroom.
About the International History Seminar
If you are interested in attending this semester’s events and joining the International History Seminar, please send an email confirming your interest to the Hayes Chair Graduate Research Associate, Ian Gammon, at hayeschairgra@osu.edu, and you will be included on the mailing list going forward. Materials will only be pre-circulated to people on the mailing list.
