'Each movement will neglect the other at its peril' : the International African Service Bureau and British socialism, 1929-1947
This thesis is a study of the entangled histories of socialist and anticolonial politics in Britain and its colonies during the early twentieth century. It seeks in particular to show that British pan-Africanism and the left-wing currents that surrounded the Independent Labour Party had a far more important reciprocal impact than previous studies have recognised. The International African Service Bureau was formed in London in 1937. Along with its predecessor, the International African Friends of Abyssinia, and successor, the Pan-African Federation, this organisation was central to the history of twentieth-century pan-Africanism. Alumni of the IASB include activists who became African presidents (Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah), mentors to African heads of state (George Padmore), and one of the century's most influential theorists (C.L.R. James). IASB members were at the heart of many of the debates within the British socialist movement during the 1930s and 1940s. However, no previous study has satisfactorily located the IASB's place within the British socialist movement. Historians of British socialism have generally paid limited attention to the politics of black socialists. Historians of black radicalism,
Williams, Theo Paul
'Each movement will neglect the other at its peril' : the International African Service Bureau and British socialism, 1929-1947. This thesis is a study of the entangled histories of socialist and anticolonial politics in Britain and its colonies during the early twentieth century. It seeks in particular to show that British pan-Africanism and the left-wing currents that surrounded the Independent Labour Party had a far more important reciprocal impact than previous studies have recognised. The International African Service Bureau was formed in London in 1937. Along with its predecessor, the International African Friends of Abyssinia, and successor, the Pan-African Federation, this organisation was central to the history of twentieth-century pan-Africanism. Alumni of the IASB include activists who became African presidents (Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah), mentors to African heads of state (George Padmore), and one of the century's most influential theorists (C.L.R. James). IASB members were at the heart of many of the debates within the British socialist movement during the 1930s and 1940s. However, no previous study has satisfactorily located the IASB's place within the British socialist movement. Historians of British socialism have generally paid limited attention to the politics of black socialists. Historians of black radicalism,
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