Book Review of George Padmore’s: Black Internationalism by Rodney Worrell

Abstract

The publication of Rodney Worrell’s work on the political ideas and practical politics of George Padmore is a monumental contribution to global Pan-African scholarship. The book is a major contribution to the fields of Africana Studies, Pan-Africanism, Caribbean Political Thought, Black radicalism and Marxist historiography. One strength of the book resides in the author’s training as a historian and political scientist. The book benefits from Worrell’s disciplined use of the methods of historical research combined with the analytical insights of political science relevant to the production of a work devoted chiefly to the study of the ideas and political activism of a major twentieth-century political actor, of Caribbean origin, George Padmore. His serious and detailed treatment of Padmore’s Pan-Africanism, which, perhaps for marketing purposes, he now refers to as “black internationalism”, has now undoubtedly cemented his place as a leading authority on the subject.