The engaging and wide-ranging discussions published here explore contemporary political realities in Africa through a ‘social movement’ lens.
Detailing the nuances of social movement politics in 12 West African countries during the 2010-2013 period, they present a chronicle of the socio-political struggles that have taken place in the region. In so doing, this volume answers key questions related to these movements. What logic drives them? What forms do they take? What has been their political impact? Can we speak of a resurgence of social movements? If so, are these a response to the crisis of ‘representative democracy’? Did they give rise to new forms of expression and democratic participation? What challenges do they bring?
Discontent vis-à-vis liberalism in its political and economic dimensions seems to be the trigger of the numerous popular uprisings and protests that occur in the region. In spite of their ambiguities and limitations, these struggles currently seek to remove a double disconnect: that between citizens and the ‘representatives’ and that between the economy and society, between what capital wants and what the people aspire to.
Ndongo Samba Sylla, the editor of this volume, is a Senegalese economist, programme and research manager at the West Africa Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Author of The Fair Trade Scandal. Marketing poverty to benefit the Rich (translated from French by Pluto Press 2014), he is the editor of “Rethinking Development” (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation 2014). His recent research work deals with the history of the word ‘democracy’.
Gabriel Kuhn
Besides prominent Black anarchists such as Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin and Kuwasi Balagoon (whose main works – Anarchism and the Black Revolution and A Soldier’s Story: Revolutionary Writings by a New Afrikan Anarchist, respectively – have recently seen new editions), Atticus Bagby-Williams and Nsambu Za Suekama discuss radical Black theorists such as Frantz Fanon and Cedric Robinson. The engagement with the latter is of particular interest, as Robinson is mainly known for his work on Black Marxism. However, the subtitle of Robinson’s main work, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition, suggests why Atticus Bagby-Williams and Nsambu Za Suekama would find it useful to relate Robinson’s studies to the emergence of Black anarchism. By doing so, they are making a very valuable contribution to the history of radical thought.
In their concluding chapter, “Toward Black Autonomy,” Atticus Bagby-Williams and Nsambu Za Suekama write that “contributions of Black anarchist politics will be vital towards building a more liberated post-capitalist world.” This, without doubt, is true. Track down a copy, read, and learn. — Gabriel Kuhn: LeftTwoThree https://lefttwothree.org/anarchism-and-the-black-radical-tradition/