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democracy
Tribute to Samir Amin
Issa G Shivji
2011-09-06, Issue 546
cc M MGIn the era of globalisation, post-modernism and culturalism, many a Marxist intellectual of the 1960s and 1970s has metamorphosed, abandoning the class stand of the working people against the voracious capitalist system and imperialism. Not so Samir Amin. He has stood firm against capitalist barbarism. He does not mince his words nor does he capitulate to intellectual fashions. He does not seek accolades from Western scholarship nor does he curry favours to be counted among the 'best' 100 intellectuals. He remains steadfast in the great struggle of national liberation and social emancipation of the working people of the world. He remains anchored in class struggles at 80 as strongly as he was at 30 when he wrote his 'Class Struggle in Africa'.
Happy birthday Samir Amin!
Norman Girvan
2011-09-06, Issue 546
cc WikimediaYour prodigious, insightful work on the nature of world capitalism, its origins and evolution, and on the long but necessary transition to socialism has educated, enlightened and inspired us over the last half a century. Truly you are one of the most original thinkers of the 20th and early 21st century. Your treatment of Eurocentricity and on the epistemological and philosophical consequences of the worldwide expansion of European capitalism has given us a frame of reference within which the cultural diversity of humanity is validated as an intrinsic part of authentic socialism.
Saying ‘thank you’ to Samir Amin as he turns 80
Bill Fletcher, Jr
2011-09-06, Issue 546
cc 3ArabawyAlthough I only met Samir Amin in late 2010, I had studied his work for decades, finding in them superior analyses and inspiration. In fact, after reading so much of his work I was quite unprepared for the person I actually met. He was very down to earth, incredibly funny, and could actually listen, the latter characteristic not one that can ever be taken for granted, particularly in the case of individuals who gain iconic status.
Is the IMF obstructing Kenya’s devolution process?
Charles Abugre
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc IMF'If a government based on devolution and the dispersal of power is to be given a chance, the IMF’s role in political horse-trading in Kenya should be curtailed,' argues Charles Abugre.
WikiLeaks Haiti: The Aristide files
Kim Ives and Ansel Herz
2011-08-10, Issue 544
cc B P'US officials led a far-reaching international campaign aimed at keeping former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide exiled in South Africa, rendering him a virtual prisoner there for the last seven years, according to secret US State Department cables,' write Kim Ives and Ansel Herz.
Egypt: Pharaoh in a cage
Dibussi Tande
2011-08-04, Issue 543
cc S R'The surreal images of ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on a hospital bed inside an iron cage in a Cairo courtroom have been the leading topic in the African blogosphere this week,' writes Dibussi Tande.
US debt ceiling debate and the alternatives
Horace Campbell
2011-08-04, Issue 543
cc P SIn the wake of the passing of the Budget Control Act to prevent the US defaulting on its debts, Horace Campbell stresses the need for progressive people to organise to oppose militarisation, defend livelihoods and social security protection, and chart the path towards alternatives.
From the middle distance: Ethiopian journalist in exile
Abiye Teklemariam
2011-07-21, Issue 540
cc BBCRon Singer interviews Abiye Teklemariam, founding editor of 'Addis Neger’ (‘New Addis’), which until 2009 was Ethiopia’s leading dissident newspaper.
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?'
Kleptocratic capitalism: Challenges of the green economy for sustainable Africa
Yash Tandon
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc G LAfrica remains at the mercy of a self-interested international ruling class interested purely in maximising profit at all costs and consolidating its position, writes Yash Tandon. As the continent faces up to the enormous challenge of climate change and the creation of a sustainable ‘green economy’, it must look inwards and draw upon its own expertise and resources and resist the temptation to rely on compromised external ‘experts’, Tandon stresses.
Green Thursday in the life of the nation of Senegal
The day everything changed and a ticking bomb finally exploded
Arame Tall
2011-06-29, Issue 537
The inspiring uprisings in Senegal represent ‘a ticking bomb finally exploding’, writes Arame Tall, with a highly diverse cross-section of Senegalese society out in force to protest the dearth of economic opportunities, political mismanagement and governmental scandals: ‘What has taken place in Senegal is most of all a reclaiming by a people of a voice they thought they had a lost and a dignity even they themselves had forgotten they had.’
Is the 'global coalition' obstructing Africa’s progress?
Zaya Yeebo
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc MoghawemtThe ‘global coalition’ is ultimately a mere front for the dominance of Western economic and political interests over genuine democratisation for the peoples of Africa, writes Zaya Yeebo.
‘Africa 2.0’: Myth or reality?
Dibussi Tande
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc F FA series of conferences in Africa and Europe focused on the role of social media in promoting democracy and good governance in Africa has triggered discussion about its real impact on the continent. Dibussi Tande rounds up commentary from African bloggers.
Igboland: Freedom, survival, future
Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc WikimediaForty years on, first and second generations of Igbo ‘removed from their parents and grandparents respectively who freed British-occupied Nigeria in 1960 and survived the follow-up genocide’, are ‘once again tasked and poised to restore’ their ‘lost sovereignty’, writes Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe.
Science, the future, and the revolutionary moment
Review of Michio Kaku’s ‘Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100’
Horace Campbell
2011-06-30, Issue 537
cc JoeMichio Kaku’s new book shows how science and technology are transforming ‘social relations among humans and between humans and the universe,’ writes Horace Campbell, but it fails to convey that ‘[t]echnological revolution by itself cannot change society; it requires the intentional and purposeful intervention of humans to make a break from traditions of slavery, bondage and exploitation.
Striking back at Egyptian workers
Hesham Sallam
2011-06-23, Issue 536
cc A HCan the new post-Mubarak Egypt succeed in addressing the socio-economic grievances that helped spark the January 25 uprising? The ‘prevailing discourse among Egyptian elites and opinion makers, however, already signals that the answer is no,’ writes Hesham Sallam.
Egypt: The old repression resurfaces
Sokari Ekine
2011-06-23, Issue 536
cc H HThe situation in Egypt is increasingly complex writes Sokari Ekine, where power still lies with the remnants of the state and military, and the old mechanisms of repression are starting to reappear.
Senegal: The coming of age of an heir apparent
Amy Niang
2011-06-23, Issue 536
cc WikimediaIf the US really believes in democracy, how can it support Abdoulaye Wade’s plans to have his son succeed him as Senegal’s president, asks Amy Niang.
Lessons from the uprisings in the Maghreb
Gustave Massiah
2011-05-26, Issue 531
cc E YThe revolutionary uprisings underway across the Maghreb region offer five initial lessons, says Gustave Massiah.
Political perspectives for Egyptian socialism
Egyptian Socialist Party
2011-05-25, Issue 531
The newly formed Egyptian Socialist Party brings together supporters of the country’s transition into a socialist society to work together to develop a coherent strategy to ‘guide the people in the right direction’. In the following paper, the party sets out its perspectives and goals. The Egyptian Socialist Party will be launched in Cairo on 18 June.
How might things move forward in Libya?
Yash Tandon
2011-05-25, Issue 531
cc BRQ NetworkNATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) sustained assault on Libya ought to lead to calls for its leaders’ prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC), writes Yash Tandon, though ‘we know this will not happen’. A new regime run by ‘the people’, Tandon stresses, will merely see itself at the service of empire, helping to ensure access to oil, shore up Europe against refugees and bolster the region against forces deemed threatening such as Hamas and Iran; the challenge remains for Libyans themselves to sort out their differences and unite.
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.
Hypocritical Washington raises Middle East tensions
Can democracy activists undo US and IMF damage?
Patrick Bond
2011-05-25, Issue 531
cc Wikimedia‘[P]olitical reconciliation between Washington and fast-rising Arab democrats is impossible,’ writes Patrick Bond, as civil society reformers in Palestine express their disgust with Barack Obama’s 19 May policy speech on the Middle East and North Africa.
South Africa: On democracy
Richard Pithouse
2011-05-25, Issue 531
© abahlali.orgSouth Africans are told that voting is all about making their ‘own choice’, but in most cases, it’s ‘a very limited choice between two competing factions of the elite that are equally invested in scaling back people’s legitimate aspirations for a just society into an insanely unequal society contained with state violence, new forms of spatial segregation and “service delivery”’, observes Richard Pithouse.
Memories on African liberation (1956 - 1975)
A personal experience from Egypt
Helmi Sharawy
2011-05-19, Issue 530
cc S CHelmi Sharawy takes Pambazuka News back to 1950s Cairo, remembering the host of African liberation movements that had offices in the Egyptian city. In part one of this two-part article, the second of which will be published by Pambazuka News next week, he reflects on the role of Egypt in the liberation struggle.
Taking land and votes without payment
Ronald Wesso
2011-05-19, Issue 530
cc A SANC Youth League leader Julius Malema can only get away with unconstitutional statements calling for black South Africans ‘to take the land without payment’ because there are no social movements strong enough to put his words into action, writes Ronald Wesso.
Journalist in a paper democracy
Interview with Eskinder Nega
Ron Singer
2011-05-12, Issue 530
cc S AIn a series of two interviews, Ron Singer engages with dissident Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega about the EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front), how his wife was forced to give birth while in prison and the politics of identity.
An African reflection on Tahrir Square
Mahmood Mamdani
2011-05-12, Issue 529
cc E OWhile European interpretations of the events of Egypt’s Tahrir Square see the uprising’s roots through a lens of ‘coloured’ revolutions following the decline of the Soviet Union, Mahmood Mamdani instead stresses the resemblance to South Africa’s Soweto in 1976, a struggle ‘identified with the onset of community-based organisation’.
Whose dictator is Gaddafi?
Yash Tandon
2011-05-12, Issue 529
cc P DYash Tandon explains the contradictions of ‘imperial finance capital’ in controlling neo-colonial states like Libya. While Gaddafi was being ‘accommodated’ by imperial powers, the ‘Arab Spring’ forced their hand, he says.
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories…
Amilcar Cabral
2011-05-11, Issue 529
cc CaboindexIn these 1965 writings, Amílcar Cabral, the Guinea-Bissau leader assassinated in 1973, discusses the responsibilities of those involved in revolution.