Review: African Anarchism: The history of a movement
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Friday March 04, 2005 23:13 by Deirdre Hogan - WSM
Review of a book is written by two members of the Awareness League, an anarcho-syndicalist organisation in Nigeria
Review of a book is written by two members of the Awareness League, an anarcho-syndicalist organisation in Nigeria
Review: African Anarchism:
The history of a movement
by Sam Mbah and I.E. Igariwey
See Sharp Press £6.95
Few people would associate anarchism with Africa. However, it is
certainly beginning to take root in there. This book is written by
two members of the Awareness League, a 1000-strong
anarcho-syndicalist organisation in Nigeria. Starting with a good
introduction to anarchism, the authors outline its relationship with
Africa in an attempt to "enrich anarchism and anarchist principles
with an African perspective and to carve a place for Africa within
the framework of the worldwide anarchist movement".
Although anarchism as a conscious social movement is relatively
new in Africa, pre-colonial African societies contained many
"anarchic elements". This book presents a very interesting study of
anarchist tendencies in traditional African societies. While
certainly not anarchist, these societies, based on communalism, were
self-governing and independent where "every individual without
exception takes part, either directly or indirectly in the running of
community affairs at all levels."
Mbah and Igariwey go on to illustrate their point by giving three
case studies of stateless societies in pre-colonial Africa: the Igbo,
the Niger Delta people and the Tallensi. Some common characteristics
in the structure of such societies were the lack of centralisation,
the communal mode of production, and the general absence of social
stratification.
Capitalism arrives
Capitalist influences were first introduced to Africa during the
push for economic expansion that accompanied the Industrial
Revolution in Europe. The slave trade and other European foreign
business interests along the coastal regions of Africa facilitated
the gradual breakdown of the communal mode of production in Africa.
Then the Berlin conference and the subsequent partition of Africa
ensured the "enthronement of imperial interests over those of
traditional societies".
Wage labour, taxation, the introduction of money, trade,
investment and the social institutions and bureaucracy built to
maintain the imperialist system are cited as some of the weapons used
to incorporate Africa into the world capitalist economy.
The authors discuss how Africa's incorporation into the global
economy was peripheral in that it "did not give rise to a fully
capitalist economy; the end result was, rather, a distorted,
unbalanced capitalist structure". This created Africa's culture of
dependence on the advanced capitalist countries so that profits were
(and still are) constantly being transferred from Africa to the
advanced capitalist countries.
Another major effect of colonialism was the formation of new
social classes. For example, due to the new taxation laws imposed on
the indigenous people, a new group of migrant wage-earners emerged.
In response to the inferior socio-political and economic status
imposed on the vast majority of Africans, trade unions began to
emerge. Mbah and Igariwey offer a detailed analysis of the trade
union movements in Nigeria and South Africa, criticising their
hierarchical structures. The lack of a revolutionary perspective and
the self-serving political ambitions of the leadership are some of
the reasons why the trade union movement has failed to maximise its
potential.
An African road to socialism?
Nor did "African socialism" - for the most part based on the
Soviet/Eastern European model - succeed in changing the status quo.
Most post-colonial African states see strong governments as of vital
importance. Rather than believing the African people capable of
organising their own lives, the ruling party or government must lead
the people. "Some of the most backward, most reactionary regimes that
ever set foot on African soil were socialist ones, some led by
military officers who shot their way to power."
Mbah and Igariwey go on to discuss the present crises in Africa:
the abject poverty of about 90% of African people side by side with
the vast wealth and decadence of the political leaders, the appalling
human rights records of the ruling elite, the huge foreign debt of
underdeveloped and dependent African economies and the political
corruption and social instability throughout Africa. The authors come
to the conclusion that the only way out of Africa's crises is
anarchism.
"For Africa in particular, long-term development is
possible only if there is a radical break with both capitalism and
the state system - the principal instruments of our arrested
development and stagnation". They see a return to the traditional
"anarchic elements" in African communalism as the inevitable next
step. "The goal of a self-managed society born out of the free will
of its people and devoid of authoritarian control and regimentation
is as attractive as it is feasible in the long run".
This well-structured and informative book provides a unique
anarchist analysis of Africa. The authors give an in-depth study of
the causes of Africa's current crises, outlining clearly the
revolutionary potential of Africa and the many reasons why anarchism
is indeed Africa's only way out.
Deirdre Hogan
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