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Forces: Decolonization Project Spring '24

Research guide curated for the Forces that Shaped the Modern World Late 20th-Century Decolonization Project, Spring Term 2024
Secondary sources are the bridge between background reading and historical evidence. These sources take a particular position, and contain an analysis of documents and material in order to support an argument. Secondary sources can be written by scholars via books and peer-reviewed journals, or published in newspapers and magazines written by experienced journalists.
Use the following organizers to track your work:

Secondary Sources: Online Resources

Scholarly Collections from Bunn Library: 
For more, visit the library's Online Resources page. Use the filters to limit to secondary sources in history. For help understanding and skimming a scholarly source, use this checklist and take notes. 
CIAO The most comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs.
Gale in Context: World History Covers modern world history, with full-text articles and primary sources.
Gale in Context: Global Issues Offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics, and current events. Featured are hundreds of continuously updated issue and country portals that bring together a variety of specially selected, highly relevant sources for analysis of social, political, military, economic, environmental, health, and cultural issues. To get started, view the Decolonization topic overview. 
HeinOnline A legal database that includes international resources. Select the collection "World Constitutions Illustrated" for access to constitutions by country, as well as supporting resources such as articles and bibliographies. 
ProQuest: A vast library of periodicals (newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals) covering a wide range of subjects. To search, select the Full Text checkbox so that your results yield only material that you can access, and use filters to limit results to scholarly articles.
JSTOR: A highly selective digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines. Use the Advanced Search and limit to Articles and Books.
Project MUSE: A comprehensive selection of prestigious humanities and social sciences journals. Every journal is heavily indexed and peer-reviewed, with critically acclaimed articles by the most respected scholars in their fields.
Academic Search Engines:
Google Scholar: Google Scholar is a free search engine that allows users to search for academic content (such academic papers, dissertations, theses, and case law) across the web, including content owned by Bunn Library. Results with full-text access will have a link in the column to the left of the title.
Resources (Collections and Individual Articles) from the Web:
Decolonization in South East and South Asia, 1945-1948 from the Imperial War Museum UK
Empire, Commonwealth, and Decolonization from the National Archives UK
The Legacy of the Philippine Struggle for Independence in 1945 published by The Wilson Center
South African History Online Large, comprehensive resource on South African and African history and culture.
BBC Story of Africa: Independence Provides a detailed introduction to the independence movements across Africa, including supporting primary sources, and case studies for specific countries (linked below). 
Timeline provides a basic overview of the years countries gained independence
Case Study: Congo
Case Study: Kenya
This is not an exhaustive list! If you decide to venture out to search on the web, make sure you apply a critical eye to the sources that you encounter. Can you trace the author and their credentials? What is the publishing organization? 

Print and eBooks from Bunn Library

Suggested book titles to start your research:
Country and Region Specific Resources: