Trustee for the Human Community : Ralph J. Bunche, the United Nations, and the Decolonization of Africa

Ralph J. Bunche (1904–1971), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, was a key U.S. diplomat in the planning and creation of the United Nations in 1945. In 1947 he was invited to join the permanent UN Secretariat as director of the new Trusteeship Department. In this position, Bunche played a key role in setting up the trusteeship system that provided important impetus for postwar decolonization ending European control of Africa as well as an international framework for the oversight of the decolonization process after the Second World War. Trustee for the Human Community is the first volume to examine the totality of Bunche’s unrivalled role in the struggle for African independence both as a key intellectual and an international diplomat and to illuminate it from the broader African American perspective. These commissioned essays examine the full range of Ralph Bunche’s involvement in Africa. The scholars explore sensitive political issues, such as Bunche’s role in the Congo and his views on the struggle in South Africa. Trustee for the Human Community stands as a monument to the profoundly important role of one of the greatest Americans in one of the greatest political movements in the history of the twentieth century. Contributors: David Anthony, Ralph A. Austen, Abena P. A. Busia, Neta C. Crawford, Robert R. Edgar, Charles P. Henry, Robert A. Hill, Edmond J. Keller, Martin Kilson, Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Jon Olver, Pearl T. Robinson, Elliott P. Skinner, Crawford Young "Ralph J. Bunche (1904-1971), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, was a key U.S. diplomat in the planning and creation of the United Nations in 1945. In 1947 he was invited to join the permanent UN Secretariat as director of the new Trusteeship Department. In this position. Bunche played a key role in setting up the trusteeship system that provided important impetus for postwar decolonization ending European control of Africa as well as an international framework for the oversight of the decolonization process after the Second World War." "Trustee for the Human Community is the first volume to examine the totality of Bunche's unrivaled role in the struggle for African independence both as a key intellectual and as an international diplomat and to illuminate it from the broader African American perspective." "These commissioned essays examine the full range of Ralph Bunche's involvement in Africa. The scholars explore sensitive political issues, such as Bunche's role in the Congo and his views on the struggle in South Africa. Trustee for the Human Community stands as a monument to the profoundly important role of one of the greatest Americans in one of the greatest political movements in the history of the twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET Ralph Bunche : African American intellectual / Martin Kilson Ralph Bunche and the dawn of Africanist scholarship / David Anthony The making of an Africanist : Ralph Bunche in South Africa, 1937 / Robert Edgar Ralph Bunche and the decolonization of African studies : the paradox of power Morality, and scholarship / Elliott P. Skinner Ralph Bunche the Africanist : revisiting paradigms lost / Pearl T. Robinson Decolonization through trusteeship : the legacy of Ralph Bunche / Neta C. Crawford An unexpected challenge : Ralph Bunche as field commander in the Congo, 1960 / John Olver Ralph Bunche and Patrice Lumumba : the fatal encounter / Crawford Young Ralph Bunche, Patrice Lumumba, and the first Congo crisis / Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja Africa in the global decolonization process : the road to postcoloniality / Ralph A. Austen French Togoland : the road to self-government in French Africa / Ebere Nwaubani. Ralph J Bunche (1904-1971), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, was a key US diplomat in the planning and creation of the United Nations in 1945. This book examines the totality of Bunche's unrivalled role in the struggle for African independence.