# Decolonization and Disorder

Historian Dane Kennedy examined three waves of European decolonization, from the late 18th century through the late 20th century, and the violence and discord that accompanied the transitions. Kennedy's presentation "Decolonization and Disorder," was sponsored by the Library's John W. Kluge Center and the National History Center. According to Kennedy, who is the Elmer Louis Kayser Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University, the public holds two major misconceptions concerning European decolonization. The first is that decolonization was, in most instances, a reasonably well-planned and peaceful transition, a willing relinquishment of power by imperial authorities to their colonial subjects. The second misconception is that decolonization was a uniquely modern event, a post-World War II turning point that marked the end of empires and the culmination of the age of nation-states. "Third World" decolonization, however, which came in the second half of the 20th century, was preceded by an era of "Old World" decolonization in the early 20th century and an era of "New World" decolonization in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. "Each of these moments of decolonization was precipitated by global war and accompanied by considerable violence and a renewed, if modified, form of imperialism. Recent scholarship on the era of decolonization that followed World War II has shifted attention from the plans drawn up at negotiating tables to the chaos…

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2008
- By: Library Of Congress
- Genres: History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687983/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021687983?play=1)