An Asian Drama: The Asian Relations Conference, 1947. Issue 3 (4th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thakur, Vineet
• Is Part Of: International history review. Volume 41:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 673
• Page End: 695
• Publication Date: 2019-05-04
• Subjects: Asianism -- Bandung -- decolonisation -- development -- migration -- international order; History -- Periodicals; Histoire; History; Internationale politiek; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 905
• DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2018.1434809
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0707-5332

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The Asian Relations Conference has long served as a historical footnote to the more famous Bandung Conference of 1955. In this paper, however, I argue that this Conference needs to be read and analysed independently. As the opening act of decolonial solidarity, this Conference juxtaposes the moment and the movement of decolonisation, alerting us to the promises and pitfalls of both. In particular one needs to be conscious of its Eurocentric readings which almost always place the 'Third World' within the context of the Cold War project and thus are incapable of understanding its historical relevance.