Paul Gilroy has been a controversial force at the forefront of debates around race, nation, and diaspora. Working across a broad range of disciplines, Gilroy has argued that racial identities are historically constructed, formed by colonization, slavery, nationalist philosophies, and consumer capitalism.

Paul Williams introduces Gilroys key themes and ideas, including:

• the essential concepts, including ethnic absolutism, civilizationism, postcolonial melancholia, iconization, and the black Atlantic
• analysis of Gilroys broad-ranging cultural references, from Edmund Burke to hip-hop
• a comprehensive overview of Gilroys influences and the academic debates his work has inspired.

Emphasizing the timeliness and global relevance of Gilroys ideas, this guide will appeal to anyone approaching Gilroys work for the first time or seeking to further their understanding of race and contemporary culture.