Meet the Archive: “Decolonisation: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories”

Course description

This session introduces Decolonisation: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories, a Gale digital archive that brings together rare primary sources documenting independence movements across more than seventy former colonial regions. You’ll explore pamphlets, newsletters, correspondence, posters, and organisational records that reveal how nationalist politics, labour activism and postcolonial governments developed from the perspectives of the communities driving these changes.

Covering materials from the late 19th century through the early 21st century, the session will guide you through the archive’s extensive regional coverage—spanning Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Australasia and the Americas—and demonstrate how these sources can support research, teaching and decolonising approaches to curriculum design. By the end, you’ll understand how to use the archive to access diverse, locally produced voices that challenge Eurocentric narratives and enrich comparative and historical inquiry.