Torchbearers

One way historians provincialize New Diplomatic History ( ndh ) is through a microhistorical lens that focuses on specific diplomatic actors, spaces, and rituals. My contribution responds to several distinct nodes highlighted in the text “Provincializing ‘New’ Diplomatic History: An Interdisciplinary Manifesto,” namely those that promote inclusivity, as well as methodological innovations. My response explores the diplomatic practices of African students based in the United States and Canada under the chapter-based All-African Students Union of the Americas ( aasua ). To do this, I bypass official diplomatic archives to challenge hidden orthodoxies and assumptions. I illuminate the aasua ’s diplomatic practices (from its inception in 1953 until 1961 when it reorganized itself as the Pan-African Students Organization in the Americas) to illustrate the Manifesto’s reflections and, subsequently, enhance them

Diplomacy · Diplomatic history · European union · International relations · Soviet union · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Race, History, and American Society