2 - Variations in Postcolonial Imagination: Reflection on Senghor, Nyerere and Nkrumah
Corresponding Author(s) : Jimi O. Adesina
Africa Development,
Vol. 47 No. 1 (2022): Africa Development: Special Issue from the Post-Colonialisms Today Project Lessons to Africa from Africa: Reclaiming Early Post-Independence Progressive Policies
Abstract
This article aims to strengthen contemporary efforts to construct and
pursue a pan-African agenda by interrogating the postcolonial imaginings
of Léopold Sédar Senghor, Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah. To counter
the present-day tendency to erase and flatten the diversity of this period, the
article explores the variations and similarities of the three leaders’ approaches
to socialism, pan-African unity, nationhood, economic development,
epistemology and democracy. Through this contrast, the article derives some
broad lessons for the contemporary period, including the importance of
cultivating domestic resources (human, material and financial) rather than
being dependent on external forces; the need for countries to construct a
macro-vision that coordinates their economic, social and political projects;
and the importance of maintaining sovereignty of thought in policy thinking
on the continent to effectively break free from the universal, market-based
prescriptions that now dominate under neoliberalism.
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- Afari-Gyan, K., 1991, ‘Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore and W. E. B. Du Bois’, Research Review 7 (1): 1–10. Beck, L. J., 1997, ‘Senegal’s “patrimonial democrats”: incremental reforms and the obstacles to the consolidation of democracy’, Canadian Journal of African Studies 31 (1): 1–31. Biney, A., 2011, The Political and Social Thought of Kwame Nkrumah, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bjerk, P., 2015, Building a Peaceful Nation: Julius Nyerere and the Establishment of Sovereignty in Tanzania, 1960–1964, Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. Boye, F., 1993, ‘Economic Mechanisms in Historical Perspective’, in M. C. Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Bunting, I., 1999, ‘The heart of Africa: interview with Julius Nyerere on anticolonialism, New Internationalist, no.309 , available at:http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30/049.html, accessed 10 April 2018. Buuba, B. C., 1993, ‘Trade Unions, Political Parties and the State’, in M.C.Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft. Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Chachage, C. and Cassam, A., 2010, Africa’s Liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka. Chachage, S. L. C., 2007, ‘Social Policy and Development in East Africa: The Case of Education and Labour Market Policies’, in J. O. Adesina, ed., Social Policy in Sub-Saharan African Context: In Search of Inclusive Development, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Contee, C. G., 1971, The Encyclopedia Africana Project of W. E. B. DuBois’, African Historical Studies 4 (1): 77-91.Diagne, S. B., 2016, ‘Negritude’, in E. N. Zalta, ed., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford, CA: Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Diop, M. C., ed., 1993, Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Fouere, M. A., 2014, ‘Julius Nyerere, Ujamaa, and political morality in contemporary Tanzania’, African Studies Review 57 (1): 1–24. Gellar, S., 2005, Democracy in Senegal: Tocquevillian Analytics in Africa, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Grosfoguel, R., 2007, ‘The epistemic decolonial turn: beyond political-economy paradigms’,Cultural Studies 21(2–3): 211–23. Irele, A., 2003, ‘Francophone African philosophy’, in P. H. Coetzee and A. P. J. Roux, eds, The African Philosophy Reader: A Text with Readings, New York: Routledge. James, L., 2015, George Padmore and Decolonization from Below: Pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the End of Empire, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kamuzora, F., 2010, ‘Nyerere’s vision of economic development’, in C. Chachage and A. Cassam, eds., Africa’s liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka. Kanbur, R., 2016, ‘W. Arthur Lewis and the Roots of Ghanaian Economic Policy’, Working Paper 2016-06, Ithaca: Cornell University.
- Killick, T., 2010, Development Economics in Action: A Study of Economic Policies in Ghana, Abingdon: Routledge. Maldonado Torres, N., 2007, ‘On the coloniality of being: contributions to the development of a concept’, Cultural Studies 21 (2): 240–70. Mamdani, M., 2012, Define and Rule: Native as Political Identity, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Mazrui, A., 1966, ‘Nkrumah: the Leninist Czar’, Transition 26: 8–17. Mazrui, A. A., 1999, ‘Seek ye first the political kingdom’, in A. A. Mazrui and C. Wondji, eds, Africa Since 1935, Oxford: James Currey.Mbodj, M., 1993, ‘The State of the Groundnut Economy’, in M. C. Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Mignolo, W., 2007, ‘Introduction: coloniality of power and de-colonial thinking’, Cultural Studies 21 (2–3): 155–67. Mkandawire, T., 1999, ‘Tribute to Julius K. Nyerere’, Geneva: South Centre. Mkandawire, T., 2001, ‘The Need to Rethink Development Economics’, UNRISD Meeting on ‘The Need to Rethink Development Economics’, 7–8 September 2001, Cape Town, South Africa. Geneva: UNRISD. Mkandawire, T., 2005, ‘African intellectuals and nationalism’ in T. Mkandawire ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London: Zed Books.Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J., 2013a, Coloniality of Power in Postcolonial Africa: Myths of Decolonization, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J., 2013b, ‘Why decoloniality in the 21st century?’, The Thinker 48: 10–15.Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J., 2018, Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization, London: Routledge.
- Nkrumah, K., 1957, Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah, Edinburgh:T.Nelson.Nkrumah, K., 1959, Ghana’s Development Plan: Broadcast Speech by the Prime Minister, Dr.KwameNkrumah, M.P. on the Eve of Development Day, 1 July, Accra: Government Printer. Nkrumah, K., 1962 a, Gate-way to Ghana: Speech by Osagyefo the President, on the Occasion of the Official Opening of the Tema Harbour, 10 February, Accra: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Nkrumah, K., 1962b, Statement by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on Certain Aspects of African Unity, 20,January, Accra: Government Printer. Nkrumah, K., 1962c, Towards Colonial Freedom: Africa in the Struggle against World Imperialism, London: Heinemann. Nkrumah, K., 1963a, Africa Must Unite, London: Heinemann. Nkrumah, K., 1963b, The African Genius, speech delivered at the opening of the Institute of African Studies, [microform], Accra: University of Ghana. Nkrumah, K., 1964, Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization and Development with Particular Reference to the African Revolution, London: Heinemann. Nkrumah, K., 1965, Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, London: Nelson. Nkrumah, K., 1968, Dark Days in Ghana ,London: Panaf.Nkrumah, K., 1973, Revolutionary Path, London: Panaf. Nyerere, J. K., 1962a, ‘The second scramble’, Tanganyika Standard, Dar es Salaam. Nyerere, J.K.,1962b, ‘“Ujamaa”: the basis of African socialism’, Tanganyika Standard,Dar es Salaam. Nyerere, J. K., 1963, ‘A United States of Africa’, Journal of Modern African Studies 1 (1): 1–6.Nyerere, J. K., 1967a, Education for Self-reliance, Dar es Salaam: Government Printer.Nyerere, J. K., 1967b, Socialism and Rural Development, Dar es Salaam: Government Printer. Nyerere, J. K., 1968, Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism, Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press. Nyerere, J. K., 1969, Nyerere on Socialism, Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press. Nyerere, J. K., 1973, Socialism: The Rational Choice, Dar es Salaam: University of Dar es Salaam. Nyerere, J.K., 1976, The Third World and the International Economic Structure, address given by President Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere in the Federal Republic of Germany, 4 May, Dar es Salaam: Tanzam International Marketing. Nyerere, J.K., 1978, Crusade for Liberation, Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press. Nyerere, J. K., 2010, ‘“President Nyerere talks to El País”, 1991, Interviewed by Ana Camacho’, in C. Chachage and A.Cassam, eds., Africa’s Liberation: the Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka.Nyerere, J. K., 2013a, ‘Without unity, there is no future for Africa’, New African, https://newafricanmagazine.com /3723/, accessed 15 June 2018. Nyerere, J. K., 2013b, Women’s Freedom: Women are Eagles, Not Chickens, Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Nyerere, M. J. K., 1975, ‘Education for liberation in Africa’, Prospects 5 (1): 3–11. Oloruntoba, S. O. and Falola, T., 2018, ‘Introduction: Contextualizing the Debates of Politics, Governance and Development’, in S.O.Oloruntoba and T. Falola, eds, The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Quijano, A., 1971, Nationalism and Capitalism in Peru: A Study in Neo-imperialism, New York: Monthly Review Press. Quijano, A., 2000, ‘Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America’, International Sociology 15 (2): 215–32. Quijano, A., 2007, ‘Coloniality and modernity/rationality’, Cultural Studies 21(2–3): 168–78.Reuters News Agency, 1964, ‘Nkrumah escapes assassin 5th time; security guard fatally shot–assailant is arrested’, New York Times 3 January ,https:// www.nytimes.com/1964/01/03/archives/nkrumah-escapes-assassin-5th-time-security-guard-fatally-shot.html, accessed 12 June 2018.
- Senghor, L. S., 1964, On African Socialism, New York: Frederick A. Praeger. Senghor, L. S., 1998, ‘Negritude and African Socialism’, in P. H. Coetzee and A. P.J. Roux, eds, The African Philosophy Reader, London: Routledge. Senkoro, F. E. M. K., 2017, ‘Education in Tanzanian National-building Project’, in J. Adesina, ed., [E-mail to. FEMK Senkoro], 18 August. Shivji, I. G., 2010, ‘The village in Mwalimu’s thought and political practice’, in C. Chachage and A. Cassam, eds, Africa’s Liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka. Sylla, A., 1993, ‘Reform Options for the Educational System’, in M. C. Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Wil iams, T. O., Mul, M., Biney, C. A. and Smakhtin, V., 2016, The Volta River Basin: Water for Food, Economic Growth and Environment, London: Routledge.
References
Afari-Gyan, K., 1991, ‘Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore and W. E. B. Du Bois’, Research Review 7 (1): 1–10. Beck, L. J., 1997, ‘Senegal’s “patrimonial democrats”: incremental reforms and the obstacles to the consolidation of democracy’, Canadian Journal of African Studies 31 (1): 1–31. Biney, A., 2011, The Political and Social Thought of Kwame Nkrumah, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bjerk, P., 2015, Building a Peaceful Nation: Julius Nyerere and the Establishment of Sovereignty in Tanzania, 1960–1964, Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. Boye, F., 1993, ‘Economic Mechanisms in Historical Perspective’, in M. C. Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Bunting, I., 1999, ‘The heart of Africa: interview with Julius Nyerere on anticolonialism, New Internationalist, no.309 , available at:http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30/049.html, accessed 10 April 2018. Buuba, B. C., 1993, ‘Trade Unions, Political Parties and the State’, in M.C.Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft. Dakar: CODESRIA.
Chachage, C. and Cassam, A., 2010, Africa’s Liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka. Chachage, S. L. C., 2007, ‘Social Policy and Development in East Africa: The Case of Education and Labour Market Policies’, in J. O. Adesina, ed., Social Policy in Sub-Saharan African Context: In Search of Inclusive Development, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Contee, C. G., 1971, The Encyclopedia Africana Project of W. E. B. DuBois’, African Historical Studies 4 (1): 77-91.Diagne, S. B., 2016, ‘Negritude’, in E. N. Zalta, ed., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford, CA: Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Diop, M. C., ed., 1993, Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Fouere, M. A., 2014, ‘Julius Nyerere, Ujamaa, and political morality in contemporary Tanzania’, African Studies Review 57 (1): 1–24. Gellar, S., 2005, Democracy in Senegal: Tocquevillian Analytics in Africa, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Grosfoguel, R., 2007, ‘The epistemic decolonial turn: beyond political-economy paradigms’,Cultural Studies 21(2–3): 211–23. Irele, A., 2003, ‘Francophone African philosophy’, in P. H. Coetzee and A. P. J. Roux, eds, The African Philosophy Reader: A Text with Readings, New York: Routledge. James, L., 2015, George Padmore and Decolonization from Below: Pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the End of Empire, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kamuzora, F., 2010, ‘Nyerere’s vision of economic development’, in C. Chachage and A. Cassam, eds., Africa’s liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka. Kanbur, R., 2016, ‘W. Arthur Lewis and the Roots of Ghanaian Economic Policy’, Working Paper 2016-06, Ithaca: Cornell University.
Killick, T., 2010, Development Economics in Action: A Study of Economic Policies in Ghana, Abingdon: Routledge. Maldonado Torres, N., 2007, ‘On the coloniality of being: contributions to the development of a concept’, Cultural Studies 21 (2): 240–70. Mamdani, M., 2012, Define and Rule: Native as Political Identity, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mazrui, A., 1966, ‘Nkrumah: the Leninist Czar’, Transition 26: 8–17. Mazrui, A. A., 1999, ‘Seek ye first the political kingdom’, in A. A. Mazrui and C. Wondji, eds, Africa Since 1935, Oxford: James Currey.Mbodj, M., 1993, ‘The State of the Groundnut Economy’, in M. C. Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Mignolo, W., 2007, ‘Introduction: coloniality of power and de-colonial thinking’, Cultural Studies 21 (2–3): 155–67. Mkandawire, T., 1999, ‘Tribute to Julius K. Nyerere’, Geneva: South Centre. Mkandawire, T., 2001, ‘The Need to Rethink Development Economics’, UNRISD Meeting on ‘The Need to Rethink Development Economics’, 7–8 September 2001, Cape Town, South Africa. Geneva: UNRISD. Mkandawire, T., 2005, ‘African intellectuals and nationalism’ in T. Mkandawire ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London: Zed Books.Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J., 2013a, Coloniality of Power in Postcolonial Africa: Myths of Decolonization, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J., 2013b, ‘Why decoloniality in the 21st century?’, The Thinker 48: 10–15.Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J., 2018, Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization, London: Routledge.
Nkrumah, K., 1957, Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah, Edinburgh:T.Nelson.Nkrumah, K., 1959, Ghana’s Development Plan: Broadcast Speech by the Prime Minister, Dr.KwameNkrumah, M.P. on the Eve of Development Day, 1 July, Accra: Government Printer. Nkrumah, K., 1962 a, Gate-way to Ghana: Speech by Osagyefo the President, on the Occasion of the Official Opening of the Tema Harbour, 10 February, Accra: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Nkrumah, K., 1962b, Statement by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on Certain Aspects of African Unity, 20,January, Accra: Government Printer. Nkrumah, K., 1962c, Towards Colonial Freedom: Africa in the Struggle against World Imperialism, London: Heinemann. Nkrumah, K., 1963a, Africa Must Unite, London: Heinemann. Nkrumah, K., 1963b, The African Genius, speech delivered at the opening of the Institute of African Studies, [microform], Accra: University of Ghana. Nkrumah, K., 1964, Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization and Development with Particular Reference to the African Revolution, London: Heinemann. Nkrumah, K., 1965, Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, London: Nelson. Nkrumah, K., 1968, Dark Days in Ghana ,London: Panaf.Nkrumah, K., 1973, Revolutionary Path, London: Panaf. Nyerere, J. K., 1962a, ‘The second scramble’, Tanganyika Standard, Dar es Salaam. Nyerere, J.K.,1962b, ‘“Ujamaa”: the basis of African socialism’, Tanganyika Standard,Dar es Salaam. Nyerere, J. K., 1963, ‘A United States of Africa’, Journal of Modern African Studies 1 (1): 1–6.Nyerere, J. K., 1967a, Education for Self-reliance, Dar es Salaam: Government Printer.Nyerere, J. K., 1967b, Socialism and Rural Development, Dar es Salaam: Government Printer. Nyerere, J. K., 1968, Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism, Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press. Nyerere, J. K., 1969, Nyerere on Socialism, Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press. Nyerere, J. K., 1973, Socialism: The Rational Choice, Dar es Salaam: University of Dar es Salaam. Nyerere, J.K., 1976, The Third World and the International Economic Structure, address given by President Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere in the Federal Republic of Germany, 4 May, Dar es Salaam: Tanzam International Marketing. Nyerere, J.K., 1978, Crusade for Liberation, Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press. Nyerere, J. K., 2010, ‘“President Nyerere talks to El País”, 1991, Interviewed by Ana Camacho’, in C. Chachage and A.Cassam, eds., Africa’s Liberation: the Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka.Nyerere, J. K., 2013a, ‘Without unity, there is no future for Africa’, New African, https://newafricanmagazine.com /3723/, accessed 15 June 2018. Nyerere, J. K., 2013b, Women’s Freedom: Women are Eagles, Not Chickens, Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Nyerere, M. J. K., 1975, ‘Education for liberation in Africa’, Prospects 5 (1): 3–11. Oloruntoba, S. O. and Falola, T., 2018, ‘Introduction: Contextualizing the Debates of Politics, Governance and Development’, in S.O.Oloruntoba and T. Falola, eds, The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Quijano, A., 1971, Nationalism and Capitalism in Peru: A Study in Neo-imperialism, New York: Monthly Review Press. Quijano, A., 2000, ‘Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America’, International Sociology 15 (2): 215–32. Quijano, A., 2007, ‘Coloniality and modernity/rationality’, Cultural Studies 21(2–3): 168–78.Reuters News Agency, 1964, ‘Nkrumah escapes assassin 5th time; security guard fatally shot–assailant is arrested’, New York Times 3 January ,https:// www.nytimes.com/1964/01/03/archives/nkrumah-escapes-assassin-5th-time-security-guard-fatally-shot.html, accessed 12 June 2018.
Senghor, L. S., 1964, On African Socialism, New York: Frederick A. Praeger. Senghor, L. S., 1998, ‘Negritude and African Socialism’, in P. H. Coetzee and A. P.J. Roux, eds, The African Philosophy Reader, London: Routledge. Senkoro, F. E. M. K., 2017, ‘Education in Tanzanian National-building Project’, in J. Adesina, ed., [E-mail to. FEMK Senkoro], 18 August. Shivji, I. G., 2010, ‘The village in Mwalimu’s thought and political practice’, in C. Chachage and A. Cassam, eds, Africa’s Liberation: The Legacy of Nyerere, Oxford: Pambazuka. Sylla, A., 1993, ‘Reform Options for the Educational System’, in M. C. Diop, ed., Senegal: Essays in Statecraft, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Wil iams, T. O., Mul, M., Biney, C. A. and Smakhtin, V., 2016, The Volta River Basin: Water for Food, Economic Growth and Environment, London: Routledge.