A diagnosis of contemporary forms of racism, race and nationalism: a conversation with Professor Paul Gilroy

Abstract

Described as one of the most intellectually formidable cultural and social theorists of our time, Paul Gilroy has reshaped debates on racism, nationalism and multiculturalism. In April 2018, Prof. Paul Gilroy returned to Norway for the first time in over a decade for a series of public and academic events in Oslo and Bergen. Gilroy appeared at events held at the Houses of Literature in Oslo and Bergen, and the Universities of Oslo and Bergen, which took place between the 17th and 20th of April 2018 and marked the 25th anniversary of the publication of Gilroy’s seminal work for which he is arguably best known, his 1993 classic The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness [Harvard University Press]. This article is a transcript of a conversation held at the House of Literature in Oslo on the 17th of April 2018 between Professor Paul Gilroy (King's College London, UK) and Associate Researcher Sindre Bangstad (KIFO, Norway). It has been annotated for clarifications and contextualization in an effort to bring this conversation in line with Professor Gilroy’s work, legacy and thoughts on the current historical moment, in light of his own intellectual labour. As such this interview illuminates some of the ways in which Paul Gilroy offers a diagnosis of the contemporary political climate while also accounting for this moment in relationship to his own work throughout the years on the interconnectedness of race, racism, and nationalism.