Postcolonial Justice

Postcolonial Justice addresses a major issue in current postcolonial theory and beyond, namely, the question of how to reconcile an ethics grounded in the reciprocal acknowledgment of diversity and difference with the normative, if not universal thrust that appears to energize any notion of justice. The concept of postcolonial justice shared by the essays in this volume carries an unwavering commitment to difference within and beyond Europe, while equally rejecting radical cultural essentialisms, which refuse to engage in ＂utopian ideals＂ of convivial exchange across a plurality of subject positions. Such utopian ideals can no longer claim universal validity, as in the tradition of the European enlightenment; instead they are bound to local frames of speaking from which they project world.

Anke Bartels is senior lecturer in English at the University of Potsdam; Lars Eckstein is Professor of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures outside of GB and the US at the University of Potsdam; Nicole Waller is Professor of American Studies at the University of Potsdam; Dirk Wiemann is Professor of English Literature at the University of Potsdam.