Julian Go, "Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory"

A critical discussion of the book "Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory" with Brown University scholars and the author, Julian Go, Professor of Sociology, Boston University.
Social scientists have long resisted the radical ideas known as postcolonial thought, while postcolonial scholars have critiqued the social sciences for their Euro-centric focus. However, in "Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory", Julian Go attempts to reconcile the two seemingly contradictory fields by crafting a postcolonial social science. Contrary to claims that social science is incompatible with postcolonial thought, this book argues that the two are mutually beneficial, drawing upon the works of thinkers such as Franz Fanon, Amilcar Cabral, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak. Go concludes with a call for a "third wave" of postcolonial thought emerging from social science and surmounting the narrow confines of disciplinary boundaries.
This event is part of a year-long series of talks and workshops entitled “Critical Sociologies of Race and Empire,” developed by a group of faculty and students in Sociology and American Studies. This series will explore new sociological work on race and empire from critical perspectives such as postcolonial and Du Boisian sociology.
Brown University
March 2, 2017