Breaking the Wall of National History

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In this video from the 2010 Falling Walls Conference, historian Frederick Cooper lectures on how history can answer today's most pressing questions. Cooper has taught at Yale, Harvard, University of Michigan, and New York University; held guest professorships around the world; and earned countless acknowledgments like the Best Book in African Studies Award and fellowships from the Rockefeller Institute, Guggenheim Foundation, and Mellon Foundation. Known worldwide for the articulation of the concept of a "gatekeeper state," Cooper brings an academic perspective that is rooted in years of research on labor and political movements in Africa and broader conceptualizations of colonialism, citizenship, equality, and development, as well as critical readings of overused concepts of globalization, identity, and modernity. With this background, Cooper seeks to transcend the common frameworks of the nation-state and provide an alternative analysis of world history.