Paul Gilroy

Paul Gilroy is a major intellectual figure whose writings have led contemporary debates around race and the ‘Black Atlantic’. Gilroy argues that our ideas about race are socially constructed by colonisation, philosophy, science and consumer capitalism but that the survival tools generated by those vulnerable to racism offer the key to challenging these racist constructions.

This volume:

• Introduces and contextualises Gilroy’s writing and key ideas
• Explains and elaborates on many of the cultural references from Punk music to Hegelian thought
• Emphasises the international relevance of Gilroy’s thought – expanding the examples to a variety of cities and countries

Emphasising the timelessness and global relevance of Gilroy’s work, this useful book will appeal to anyone approaching Gilroy for the first time or seeking to further their understanding of race relations and the Black Atlantic.

Paul Gilroy has been a controversial force at the forefront of debates around race, nation, and diaspora. Working across a broad range of disciplines, Gilroy has argued that racial identities are historically constructed, formed by colonization, slavery, nationalist philosophies, and consumer capitalism.

Paul Williams introduces Gilroy’s key themes and ideas, including:

• the essential concepts, including ethnic absolutism, civilizationism, postcolonial melancholia, iconization, and the ‘black Atlantic’
• analysis of Gilroy’s broad-ranging cultural references, from Edmund Burke to hip-hop
• a comprehensive overview of Gilroy’s influences and the academic debates his work has inspired.

Emphasizing the timeliness and global relevance of Gilroy’s ideas, this guide will appeal to anyone approaching Gilroy’s work for the first time or seeking to further their understanding of race and contemporary culture.