Skip to main content Accessibility help
×

Maintenance update

Due to planned maintenance, between 07:00 - 16:00 (UTC) purchasing will not be available. We apologise for any inconvenience.

  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. In Search of Power
  • Cited by 37
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      05 December 2012
      12 November 2012
      ISBN:
      9781139149396
      9781107022997
      9781107654716
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139149396
      Dimensions:
      (234 x 156 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.66kg, 382 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (234 x 156 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.54kg, 382 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Area Studies, American History after 1945, American Studies, American Government, Politics and Policy, History, Politics and International Relations
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Area Studies, American History after 1945, American Studies, American Government, Politics and Policy, History, Politics and International Relations
    Information

    Book description

    In Search of Power is a history of the era of civil rights, decolonization and Black Power. In the critical period from 1956 to 1974, the emergence of newly independent states worldwide and the struggles of the civil rights movement in the United States exposed the limits of racial integration and political freedom. Dissidents, leaders and elites alike were linked in a struggle for power in a world where the rules of the game had changed. Brenda Gayle Plummer traces the detailed connections between African Americans' involvement in international affairs and how they shaped American foreign policy, integrating African American history, the history of the African Diaspora and the history of United States foreign relations. These topics, usually treated separately, not only offer a unified view of the period but also reassess controversies and events that punctuated this colorful era of upheaval and change.

    Awards

    A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2013

    Reviews

    ‘In Search of Power is a masterpiece. Plummer has seamlessly woven together a thought-provoking tapestry from often disparate threads in African-American, African, Caribbean, international, and American history. In doing so she deepens the complexity of these struggles. It was not just the Left that fought; it was not always the liberals who compromised and capitulated; and it was not always racially binary. In Search of Power is simply the result of a historian at the top of her craft.’

    Carol Anderson - Emory University, Atlanta, and author of Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944–1955

    ‘With theoretical sophistication and historical nuance, Brenda Gayle Plummer has written a wonderfully provocative book. In Search of Power boldly illustrates the productive work of ‘hybrid histories’ as it charts the complex convergence of the hopes, dreams, and failures of black freedom struggles at home and abroad. I suspect we will be grappling with this book for a long time to come.’

    Eddie S. Glaude, Jr - Princeton University, New Jersey

    ‘Judicious in its assessments, passionately written and with some memorable turns of phrase, Plummer has brought together a lot of information from disparate sources to provide a well-etched portrait of a particularly turbulent era in African American history.’

    Philip Chrimes Source: International Affairs

    '… [an] important new book …'

    Jim H. Meriwether Source: H-Diplo (h-net.org/~diplo/)

    'In her stunning study of African Americans during the era of decolonization, Brenda Gayle Plummer makes a major contribution that will be widely read. Thoroughly researched and elegantly written, In Search of Power adds to understanding of the incredibly diverse people of color who struggled for power during the long and tumultuous 1960s.'

    Andy DeRoche Source: Journal of American History

    'In Search of Power is a needed reminder to scholars and students focusing on this period and the aftermath that while we rightly examine the parallel struggles of blacks in America and those in Africa and the colonized Americas, the struggles were not identical and the failed expectations for African American rights in the United States can be better understood by looking at the relationship of these two struggles.'

    Elizabeth West Source: Amerikastudien/American Studies

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.