White World Order, Black Power Politics: Book Tour and Discussion with Robert Vitalis, PhD

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

12:00 PM-2:00 PM

Robert Vitalis, PhD, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania

The questions students first asked in the black power demonstrations of the 1960s and 70s have lost none of their force. Vitalis will analyze the first 50 years of American international relations as a history of two disciplines, separate and unequal, one of which goes unrecognized by white political scientists and their social science kin until now.

“Racism and imperialism are the twin forces that propelled the course of the United States in the world in the early twentieth century and in turn affected the way that diplomatic history and international relations were taught and understood in the American academy. Evolutionary theory, social Darwinism, and racial anthropology had been dominant doctrines in international relations from its beginnings; racist attitudes informed research priorities and were embedded in newly formed professional organizations. In "White World Order, Black Power Politics," Robert Vitalis recovers the arguments, texts and institution building of an extraordinary group of professors at Howard University, including Alain Locke, Ralph Bunche, Rayford Logan, Eric Williams and Merze Tate, who was the first black female professor of political science in the country.

Within the rigidly segregated profession, the "Howard School of International Relations" represented the most important center of opposition to racism and the focal point for theorizing feasible alternatives to dependency and domination for Africans and African Americans through the early 1960s. Vitalis pairs the contributions of white and black scholars to reconstitute forgotten historical dialogues and show the critical role played by race in the formation of international relations.”

Books will be available for purchase by Barnes & Noble (credit cards preferred).

RSVP to Jacqueline Rios at jsr62@drexel.edu 

Contact Information

Jacqueline Rios
215.895.6910
jsr62@drexel.edu