Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 2,600 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa. 
colonialism
The struggle to convert nationalism to Pan-Africanism
Taking stock of 50 years of African independence
Issa G Shivji
2011-08-11, Issue 544
cc S KAfrica’s ‘tale of treasures at one end and tragedies at the other cannot be understood’ without ‘locating it in the trajectory of worldwide capitalist accumulation,’ argues Issa Shivji.
Defining Zimbabwe's national heroes
Letter to the people of Zimbabwe
2011-08-10, Issue 544
cc G B2011 is a year for all Zimbabweans to begin to challenge those that lead the country and those that insist on imprisoning national consciousness in their versions of heroism and history, says the Committee of the Peoples Charter.
Endemic violence in postcolonial Namibia
Shaun R. Whittaker
2011-08-03, Issue 543
cc C M‘Colonialism signified nothing less than the collective traumatising of the Namibian people who must carry the heavy burden of the consequences for generations,’ writes Shaun R. Whittaker.
NATO's debacle in Libya
Alexander Cockburn
2011-07-19, Issue 540
cc S AWith support unravelling from within NATO itself, the organisation’s intervention in Libya is looking increasingly humiliated, writes Alexander Cockburn.
Beyond the genocidal concept of tribal homelands
On the East African Federation
Mahmood Mamdani
2011-07-14, Issue 539
cc Nukta 77'East Africa has two post-colonial traditions of citizenship', writes Mahmood Mamdani: territorial and ethnic. If the region is to have a political federation, it will need to be based on a common citizenship, he argues: 'Which one will it be?'
Edward Wilmot Blyden, grandfather of African liberation
Cameron Duodu
2011-07-06, Issue 538
cc WikimediaWhile George Padmore is well known as the ‘father of African emancipation’, Cameron Duodu reminds us of the life and ideas of Edward Wilmot Blyden, ‘the grandfather of African emancipation’.
African transformation: Only in our hands
Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
2011-07-07, Issue 538
cc S MSocial progress and transformation in Africa will be driven by the continent’s people themselves, writes Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe. Africa remains a net exporter of capital to the Western world, just as the remittances provided by Africans abroad far outweigh the ‘aid’ the continent receives, Ekwe-Ekwe underlines.
Race, class and transformation in South Africa
Sehlare Makgetlaneng
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc L LHow can the race question not be one of the key issues of concern for those who are for a better life for all South Africans? asks Sehlare Makgetlaneng.
George Padmore commemorated with plaque in London
Cameron Duodu
2011-06-30, Issue 537
© WikimediaWith ‘father of African liberation’ George Padmore commemorated with a plaque in London this week, Cameron Duodu reflects on Padmore’s enormous influence on the anti-colonial movement and his experiences in Trinidad, the US, the USSR, the UK and across Africa.
Contextualising Hillary Clinton’s ‘New Colonialism’ remark
Isaac Odoom
2011-06-22, Issue 536
cc US Gov.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jetted in to Africa recently, holding a press conference in Lusaka where she warned of a ‘new colonialism’ in Africa. Such warnings would be more credible to Africans if the US got its own record straight, points out Isaac Odoom.
From aid and humanitarianism to solidarity
Discourses on development and the realities of exploitation
Horace Campbell
2011-06-16, Issue 535
cc R OHorace Campbell charts Africa’s exploitative history of ‘aid’ and the struggle to establish a new global system rooted in dignity, equality and genuine social justice.
Frantz Fanon 50 years on
Richard Pithouse
2011-06-16, Issue 535
cc Wikimedia‘On 6 December 2011, 50 years will have passed since the death of Frantz Fanon. Around the world people are getting together in universities, trade union offices, shack settlements, prisons, church halls, and other places where people try to think together, to reflect on the meaning of an extraordinary man for us and our struggles here and now,’ writes Richard Pithouse.
India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power
Edited by Emma Mawdsley and Gerard McCann
Pambazuka Press
2011-06-16, Issue 535
Pambazuka Press is proud to announce the launch of ‘India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power’ a new title edited by Emma Mawdsley and Gerard McCann. 'With India and other emerging powers increasingly eyeing the rich resources of the African continent, this book by leading experts makes both timely and essential reading,' writes Yash Tandon, former executive director of the South Centre, Geneva. Featuring contributions from Padraig Carmody, Fantu Cheru, Alex Gadzala, Dave Harris, Paul Kamau, Dorothy McCormick, Renu Modi, Sanusha Naidu, Cyril Obi, Zarina Patel, Luke Patey, Zahid Rajan, Alex Vines and Simona Vittorini, the book enables readers to compare India to China and other 'rising powers' in Africa.
Faith and the politics of terrorism
Ayi Kwei Armah
2011-06-09, Issue 534
cc US ArmyAfrica’s intellectual history puts into clear perspective the burning issues of our day, including imperialism, globalisation and the culture of terrorism, argues Ayi Kwei Armah in this article from Global Breaking News. Retrieving that history would 'change our perception of Africa, and our self-perception as Africans, enabling us to leave the suffocating hold in which European domination has locked us.'
Face to face with the Congo
Part one
Cameron Duodu
2011-06-09, Issue 534
cc J K Cameron Duodu reflects on the exciting and challenging times he had in the Congo in the 1960s.
Memories on African liberation (1956 - 1975): Part 2
Helmi Sharawy
2011-05-25, Issue 531
cc R OIn Part 1 of this two-part article, Helmi Sharawy took Pambazuka News back to 1950s Cairo, remembering the host of African liberation movements that had offices in the Egyptian city. This week he details the disillusionment that came with the series of post-independence coups, the implications of the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel and Nasser's eventual death.
France must now leave Côte d’Ivoire
Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
2011-05-03, Issue 527
cc WikipediaIn scenes redolent of the kidnapping of Patrice Lumumba and storming of Salvador Allende’s presidential palace, France’s recent activities in Côte d’Ivoire have been purely about establishing self-interested ‘regime change’, argues Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe.
Côte d’Ivoire: The logic of the absurd?
Pierre Sané
2011-03-10, Issue 520
cc UNIS Geneva The worst-case scenario for Côte d’Ivoire – outside of military intervention – seems to have been ruled out, but the West’s alternative strategy for ousting Laurent Gbagbo – economic and financial sanctions – will also destroy the country, argues Pierre Sané. Is it a question of ‘imposing Alassane Ouattara at all costs’, no matter what the true outcome of the election might have been?
Western Sahara: 35 years of colonisation and exile is enough
Peter Kenworthy
2011-03-10, Issue 520
cc Wikimedia CommonsRecognised and supported by an extensive range of governments and countries across the globe, Western Sahara’s colonisation and exploitation at the hands of Morocco must come to an end, writes Peter Kenworthy.
No more imposed policies: Challenges for Africa
Demba Moussa Dembele
2011-02-24, Issue 518
cc T N IIn an interview with Rosa Moussauoi and Chantal Delmas, Demba Moussa Dembele discusses Western-imposed policies for Africa, the faces of contemporary imperialism, the notion of China’s ‘yellow peril’ and reinvigorating the struggle against neoliberalism.
Lumumba, Gbagbo and Ki-moon
Okello Oculi
2011-02-03, Issue 515
cc UN PhotoUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's failure to understand the workings of communal democracy in Africa put him in a weak position to negotiate for peace in Côte d’Ivoire, argues Okello Oculi.
Tribute to Patrice Lumumba on the 50th anniversary of his assassination
Carlos Martinez
2011-01-20, Issue 513
cc ROWhy was Lumumba killed? Because he was a ‘relentless, dedicated, intelligent, passionate anti-colonialist, Pan-Africanist and Congolese nationalist’ with ‘the unstinting support of the Congolese masses’ who ‘stood in the way of Belgium’s plan to transform Congo from a colony into a neo-colony,’ writes Carlos Martinez.
Rumba, Lumumba and I
Awino Okech
2011-01-20, Issue 513
cc R CAwino Okech outlines how, following the assassination of Lumumba, the stage was set for ‘political patronage and plunder’ – essentially a pact between elites and former colonial masters. But there is still the possibility for latter day Lumumbas to challenge governments.
Patrice Lumumba: The rise and assassination of an African patriot
Cameron Duodu
2011-01-20, Issue 513
cc AzisCameron Duodu remembers working as a journalist in Ghana and documenting Patrice Lumumba’s dramatic rise to power - and subsequent assassination - from afar. In so doing he uncovers why Lumumba is such an important historical figure who 'was not assassinated merely as a person, but as an idea'.
Snapshots of Lumumba
Chambi Chachage
2011-01-19, Issue 513
cc WikimediaWhy is it that the image of legendary Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba continues be so important to Africa? Chambi Chachage explores.
Lumumba and war politics in the Congo
Okello Oculi
2011-01-20, Issue 513
cc WikimediaWhen Washington and Brussels ordered the killing of Patrice Lumumba 50 years ago, ‘little did they know that they were inventing an immortal African martyr for freedom; and making a vital investment for Congo’s rebirth today,’ writes Okello Oculi.
Lumumba’s ideal and the symbolism of his life
Lyn Ossome
2011-01-20, Issue 513
cc Cato‘The ideals that Lumumba stood for remain very relevant given the situation in which majority of Africans find themselves today,’ writes Lyn Ossome.
50 years after Lumumba: The burden of history
Iterations of assassinations in Africa
Horace Campbell
2011-01-20, Issue 513
cc AzisIt wasn’t just Patrice Lumumba his assassins wanted to kill, it was the genuine self-determination, dreams and aspirations of African people, writes Horace Campbell, reflecting on the murder of the DRC’s (Democratic Republic of Congo) first prime minister on 17 January 1961.
Notes on contemporary imperialism
Phases of imperialism
Prabhat Patnaik
2011-01-13, Issue 512
cc WikimediaPrabhat Patnaik explores ‘the third phase’ of modern imperialism, ‘marked by the hegemony of international finance capital’, globalisation, and the pursuit of neo-liberal policies’, and the opportunities opened up by the capitalist crisis for transitions to socialism.
Regulating land grabbing?
Saturnino Borras Jr and Jennifer Franco
2010-12-16, Issue 510
cc M f BPreviously reviled as ‘land grabs’, international institutions increasingly paint the global land rush as ‘large-scale land investments’, providing fertile ground for ‘win-win’ development schemes. But, caution Saturnino Borras Jr and Jennifer Franco, ‘any scheme that guarantees only winners and no losers deserves our scepticism and a closer look.’