African Anarchism - Mbah and Igariwey.pdf

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•
African Anarchism
The
History
of a Movement
by
Sam Mbah
&
I.E. lgariwey
-;:-.
See
Sharp
Press •
Tucson, Arizona
•
1997
Contents
Foreword
......
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
Preface
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111
1.
What Is Anarchism?
.............................
1
definitions; at1itudes toward
capitalism,
the
~tate,
religion,
and other
hierarchical
institutions; positive aspects-voluntary cooperation, mutual aid, decentralization,
horizontal
organization,
individual autonomy;
what
anarchism is
not (chaos,
terrorism);
origins
of anarcho·syndicalism
2. Anarchism in History ............................
18
Marx and Bakunin;
the First
International;
disagreement over the
role
of the state;
relationship to syndicalism and guild socialism
3. Anarchistic
Precedents in Africa .................... 27
anarchic elements in African traditional societies; African
communalism;
political
organization under communalism; administration of justice; traditional religions;
age grades; secret societies; eonomic aspects; work specialization, trade, and the
breakdown of communalism;
stateless
societies in Africa; the lgbo; the Niger
Delta peoples; the
Tallensi;
colonialism
and the
incorporation of
Africa into the
world capitalist
economy;
economic aspects of
colonialism;
the colonial
educational system;
class formation
in
post-colonial
Africa; hmdion
of
different
classes
in
post-colonial economies; African socialism; is there an African
anarchism?; anarchistic elements
in
African
socialism-Julius
Nyerere and
Ujamaa;
anarchist
groups
in South
Africa
and
Nigeria
4. The Development
of Socialism
in Africa
...............
54
class formation under colonialism; cooptation
of
localleoders; the
trade union
movement
and
the liberation
struggle in
Africa; the Nigerian labor union
movement;
lack of
revolutionary
perspective in Nigerian labor unions; the South
African labor
movement;
foundation of Communist Party
in
South Africa; the
"revolution"
in Guineo;
Sekou
Toure
and the Democratic Party
of Guineo;
the
Awareness
League
in
Nigeria
5. The Failure of Socialism in Africa ................... 72
ideology
and economic development; failure of Guinean
"revolution";
lessons
from Guinean Failure;
Tanzania, Julius
Nyerere
and
Ujamaa socialism; reasons
for
failure
of Ujamaa socialism; additional failures of"African
socialism"-
Ethiopia,
Burkina
Faso; state capitalism
and
instability;
one-party
ideologies
and
depoliticization;
military interventions
and their
effects;
political corruption and
social instability-case
studies of Ghana and Nigeria; the IMF's structural
adjustment programs
(SAPs),
electoralism,
and
Africa's future; economic and
social effects
of SAPs; constitutional
conventions; the human rights question;
repression in
Nigeria,
Libya, Ghana,
and Zimbabwe
6. Obstacles to the Development of Anarchism in Africa
.....
94
colonial
education
and its aftermath; the Western-style legal system; the
military;
ethnic
versus
class
consciousness;
religious and cultural factors; the need for
international
solidarity
7. Anarchism's Future in Africa ...................... 101
anarchism in
a
world
context;
the crises of capitalism and marxist "socialism";
Africa's dire
economic situation;
anarchism and the national question;
anorchism-the only
way out for Africa
Bibliography
............................
.
Index
.
...
........................
....
.
.
109
112
Foreword
This first-of-its-kind book should be of use to everyone with an
interest in either Mrica or anarchism. Authors Sam Mbah and I.E.
Igariwey begin hy lucidly explaining the basic principles and practices
of anarchism. After outlining what anarchism is and is not, they go on
LO
compare anarchism's principles and practices to those of other
social-change ideologies, specifically to marxist socialism.
The authors then move on to Africa, exploring at length the
"anarchistic elements" in many traditional (pre-colonial) African
societies. >.Text they examine the devastating effects of colonialism on
Africa's traditional societies and on Mrica's economic and political
structures, as well as the horrendous problems
left
in the wake of
colonialism: underdeveloped, debt-ridden dependent economies with
huge disparities bet'ween rich and poor; violent ethnic antagonisms
caused by the deliberate setting of ethnic group against ethnic group,
and hy the creation of aniJicial national boundaries; and European-
style governments, legal and educational systems, and military forces,
all quite unsuited to Mrican conditions.
Follm...ing this, the authors go on to examine the failed attempts at
social change by ''Mrican socialist" governments in the post-colonial
period, '"'i.th special attention to Julius Nyerere's Tanzania, Sekou
Toure's Guinea, and Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana. The unfortunate
conclusion they arrive at is that a humane, fundamental reconstruc-
tion of society is impossible in Africa, as elsewhere, via government.
This is not a hopeless condusion, however, as the authors state that
there
i5
a way out for Mrica-an anarchist reconstruction of its eco-
nomic and social structures. They also point out that because of the
many similarities between anarchist beliefs and practices and those of
traditionai.AJ'rican societies (which still survive to some extent), Africa
seems the most likely of all the continent<> to '"'itness a true social
revolution-a revolution in an industrial age based on the "anarchist
elements" in traditional Mrican societies.
On a more personal note, I shouJd apologize to any readers who
find a
few
minor Joose ends in this book. There is a reason for this: the

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