People

Oleksa Drachewych

Assistant Professor of History at Western University, Ontario

Oleksa specializes in the history of international communism in the interwar period (1919-1939) and in the international and transnational influence of the Bolshevik Revolution. He is the author of The Communist International, Anti-Imperialism and Racial Equality in British Dominions, published with Routledge, and the co-editor of Left Transnationalism: The Communist International and the National, Colonial and Racial Questions, published with McGill-Queen’s University Press. Both projects use a transnational and comparative lens to develop a better understanding of the international communist movement. Through his research, Oleksa argues that the communist movement cannot simply be viewed locally or internationally, but also must be considered transnationally and comparatively. This approach suggests a much more heterogenous movement and experience for adherents than previous scholars have suggested. He has two new book projects underway. The first book examines the international influence of the Bolshevik Revolution on civil and human rights movements in the twentieth century. This work shows how the ideal of the Bolshevik Revolution lived on in many ways, even while the Soviet Union diverged from that same ideal. The second project is a document collection on the Communist International and the National, Colonial and Racial Questions. This collection will provide other scholars with a starting point for their research on the international communist movement on these topics during the interwar period.