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What books and articles has Mahmood Mamdani written on colonialism and nationalism (dates)?
Executive Summary
Mahmood Mamdani’s major published books on colonialism and nationalism include Citizen and Subject [1], When Victims Become Killers [2], Saviours and Survivors [3], and Neither Settler nor Native [4]; other works and essays repeatedly cited include Define and Rule, From Citizen to Refugee, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, and numerous journal essays [5] [6] [7]. Source summaries show consistent identification of these core titles but reveal conflicting metadata for a few items and varied emphasis across commentators [8] [9].
1. What claimants say — a clear inventory of Mamdani’s major books and dates
Across the supplied analyses, the clearest recurring bibliographic claims are that Mamdani authored Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (commonly dated to 1996), When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and Genocide in Rwanda (2001), Saviours and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror (2009), and Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities (2020). Several summaries add titles central to his corpus—Define and Rule, From Citizen to Refugee, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim—and list them as related to the themes of colonial rule, the making of political identities, and the modern nation-state’s entanglement with colonialism [5] [6]. These works together constitute the backbone of claims about his contributions to debates on colonialism and nationalism.
2. Where the short-form sources converge and why that matters
Multiple source summaries repeatedly present the same four books as pillars of Mamdani’s work, which indicates broad consensus on the core bibliography and on his thematic focus: the co-constitution of colonial rule and nationalist formation, the manufacture of permanent minorities, and the political afterlives of indirect rule and despotism [8] [5]. The repetition across departmental profiles and feature pieces suggests these titles are widely accepted reference points for his scholarship. This convergence strengthens confidence in the basic claim set—those titles and dates are what scholars and publishers most often cite when situating Mamdani’s contributions to debates on colonialism and nationalism [5] [7].
3. Conflicting metadata and problematic dates to flag to readers
The supplied analyses contain inconsistencies: one summary assigns Citizen and Subject a 2018 publication date and another notes a 1996 date [9] [5], and one introduces a 2025 title Slow Poison dated October 14, 2025 [10] which falls outside the constraint of verifiable pre-November 5, 2025 facts for this task. These discrepancies show the danger of relying on scattered summaries without cross-checking publisher records. The correct, widely attested publication year for Citizen and Subject is 1996; Neither Settler nor Native is widely recorded as 2020. Flagging these mismatches is essential because incorrect dates can distort claims about intellectual development and influence across historical moments [5] [8].
4. Articles, essays and shorter interventions often mentioned but less consistently catalogued
Beyond books, the summaries point to a steady stream of essays and reviews in venues such as the New Left Review and the London Review of Books, and to teaching syllabuses and public essays that further develop his arguments about colonialism, nationalism, and the modern state [5]. These shorter pieces are cited to show Mamdani’s ongoing public engagement and the diffusion of his ideas beyond monographs. Because the supplied materials mention these essays without exhaustive bibliographic detail, readers should treat the existence of a sizable body of articles as established while consulting journal databases or the author’s CV for precise titles and dates [5].
5. Reception, critiques and diverging emphases in commentary
The supplied sources record both praise—calling Neither Settler nor Native a landmark in some summaries—and criticism, including claims that Mamdani overlooks reconciliation literature or internationalist frameworks [8]. Reviews emphasize his reframing of the state and his historical sweep from 15th-century formations to contemporary cases, while critics argue about omissions or limits to his comparative frame. These debates reflect competing priorities in the scholarship: some reviewers prioritize broad theorization of colonialism and nationalism, others focus on empirical casework or alternatives such as transnational reconciliation approaches [8] [6].
6. Bottom line for a reader who wants a reliable bibliography and next steps
The reliable core list to record now is Citizen and Subject [1], When Victims Become Killers [2], Saviours and Survivors [3], and Neither Settler nor Native [4], with supplementary titles Define and Rule, From Citizen to Refugee, and Good Muslim, Bad Muslim frequently tied to the same themes [5] [6]. To resolve remaining date conflicts and locate essays, consult publisher pages (Harvard University Press for Neither Settler nor Native), university faculty profiles, and journal indexes; these will confirm bibliographic details and provide authoritative publication dates that correct the minor discrepancies noted in the summaries [11] [5].