America, América. A New History of the New World

The historian Greg Grandin (Yale University) will focus in his talk on the throughline argument of his new book, America, América, making the case that the Conquest of the New World, and the ideological struggles between first empires and then between the United States and Latin American republic gave rise to the norms and institutions associated with today’s beleaguered liberal internationalism, what some refer to as the “rules-based order.” 

Most historians of, say, the League of Nations or the United Nations, tend to focus on transatlantic intellectual currents, on inter-imperial rivalry, decolonization, world wars, and the rise of the United States. Greg Grandin instead argues that to appreciate of the full arc of Conquest, the Age of Conquest, the end of the Doctrine of Conquest, and now the revival of Conquest one must look directly at ideological rivalry that took place in the New World over the course of five centuries. Overall, Greg Grandin presents a history of North and South America as deeply intertwined and mutually constitutive developments, with enduring consequences for colonialism, racism, universalism, and modern forms of governance.

Greg Grandin (external link, opens in a new window) is the Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Professor of History at Yale University (external link, opens in a new window) and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of a number of prize-winning books. His most recent book, America, América: A New History of the New World won the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award and was a finalist for the Cundill Prize, the Kirkus Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. 

Moderation: Susan Neiman (external link, opens in a new window) (Director Einstein Forum)