World Histories From Below: Disruption and Dissent, 1750 to the Present - Softcover

Most of the chapters in this fine collection would work very well in the undergraduate classroom ... Each chapter chooses a small group of examples or moments to focus on, with brief mention of others, so students won't get buried in a mass of names and dates. The book as a whole could be assigned in thematic upper-level or graduate courses, both for its content and for the examples that the chapters provide about how to write comparative and world/global history on a specific topic in a research-paper length format. Because many of its examples are not ones often discussed, more advanced scholars of world history would gain by reading the book as well.
World History Connected

Antoinette Burton and Tony Ballantyne present a highly readable collection of essays that will challenge both scholars and students to rethink traditional approaches to world history ... Ambitious in scope but meticulous in detail, this collection functions equally well as a primer for undergraduate students or as a resource for advanced scholars seeking to draw wider transnational connections with their work ... The essays included in this volume present an impressively coherent narrative when read together but also function well as stand-alone pieces.
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History

This collection of essays goes a long way toward "localizing†? global history and at the same time "de-nationalizing†? the study of the past. Whereas globalization has tended to be understood in terms of transnational movements of people, goods, and ideas, the contributors here examine these phenomena in local contexts. At the same time, they analyze how seemingly disparate developments in various parts of the world have also been shared across national boundaries, thus fostering a world of hybridity in which we live. The volume should serve as an excellent starting point for the understanding of the closely interconnected and at the same time intensely localized world that exists today.
Akira Iriye, Harvard University, USA

An emphasis on global structures and forces tends to privilege elites and their accomplishments, especially in the grand narratives of student textbooks. This book is an antidote to such studies and places 'ordinary' people and subordinated subjects at the heart of its analysis, arguing that disruption and dissent are overlooked agents of historical change. The contributors range from leaders in the field to rising stars, and cover themes including:

- religious conversions
- political revolutions
- labor struggles
- body politics.

Each chapter takes a global view of the topic at hand, creating an accessible study of its subject from 1750 to the present day. World Histories From Below has the potential to refocus our entire approach to teaching world history.