Reconsidering Reparations
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
Reviews and Awards
"Olúfẹmi Táíwò's Reconsidering Reparations offers a novel, passionate, and compelling account of reparative justice in the contemporary world. Offering a "constructive" theory of reparations, Táíwò combines two pressing moral and political concerns: reparations for historical injustices, and environmental justice for future generations." -- Felix Lambrecht, University of Toronto, Ethics
"This book takes on the question of reparations for the damage wrought by colonialism and slavery. Drawing on the efforts of anti-colonial activists of the 20th century, Táíwò calls for a constructive approach to reparations to establish a new world order based on justice." -- J. M. Rich, CHOICE
"Colonialism isn't over. Instead of men in pith helmets, the rich now send pollution, climate catastrophe, development consultants and philanthropists. In this sweeping, subtle and sophisticated analysis, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò presents an iron-clad case for why colonialism's end must coincide with a reparative transformation in relations between the colonizer and colonized, in the Global North and South. It's required reading for anyone looking for the arguments to support a just, and healing, future." -- Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing and co-author of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
"Weaving together the long-held redistribution demands of revolutionary movements for racial justice and decolonization with the scientific imperative for immediate climate action, Olúf?'&mi Táíwò builds the irresistible case for decarbonization through reparation. Coursing with moral urgency and propelled by brilliant prose, this is more than argument. It's how we build the power needed to win." -- Naomi Klein, Author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
"An extremely welcome intervention into the contemporary debate about reparations." -- Vanessa Wills, The George Washington University
"In this forcefully argued book, Olufemi Taiwo grounds the case for reparations in a sweeping yet synthetic account of the historical origins of our starkly unequal world order. Weaving together multiple traditions of radical thought and attuned to the most pressing debates of our moment, Taiwo reveals reparations to be world-making in two potent senses of the term. As a means of dismantling and transforming Global Racial Empire--necessarily a project planetary in its spatial horizons and internationalist in the scope of its solidarities--reparations are in turn a requirement for saving the earth and human society from the climate crisis." -- Thea Riofrancos, author of Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador