1 - Rethinking the Pan-African Agenda: Africa, the African Diaspora and the Agenda for Liberation
Corresponding Author(s) : Moses khisa
Africa Development,
Vol. 47 No. 4 (2022): Africa Development
Abstract
The original Pan-African ideal had, as its programmatic agenda, the struggle to free Africans in the diaspora from slave bondage and to liberate the African continent from the despicable occupation by European imperial powers. This article revisits this agenda for liberation, placing it in the current crisis of globalisation and examining the continued marginal place of Africa in the global capitalist political economy. The article sketches out the genealogy and contours of the liberation agenda that looped the African diaspora to developments on the African continent, dating back to the antislavery struggles at the end of the eighteenth century through to the era of independent Africa. I argue that the highest point of the liberation agenda, the final defeat of apartheid in South Africa, ironically coincided with the deepening of Africa’s place on the lowest rungs of the global capitalist system. Today, globalisation has fastened rather than loosened Africa’s position on the ladder of the global political economy. To push back against Africa’s continued marginal position perforce requires returning to the original motivation of the Pan-African agenda and ideal: the unity of purpose and collective action of Africans on the continent and in the diaspora for radical liberation.
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- Abdul-Raheem, T., 1996, Reclaiming Africa for Africans – Pan Africanism: 1900- 1994, in Abdul Raheem, T., ed., Pan Africanism: Politics, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century,New York: New York University Press.
- Ackah, W. B., 2016, Pan-Africanism: Exploring the Contradictions, Politics, Identity and Development in Africa and the African Diaspora, New York: Routledge.
- Adi, H., 2018, Pan-Africanism: A History, London, UK, and New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Adi, H. and Sherwood, M., 1995, The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress Revisited, London, UK: New Beacon.
- Adi, H. and Sherwood, M., 2003, Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, London, UK, and New York: Routledge.
- Akyeampong, E., 2000, Africans in the Diaspora: The Diaspora and Africa, African Affairs, Vol. 99, No. 395, pp. 183–215.
- Amin, S., 2004, The Liberal Virus: Permanent War and the Americanization of the World, New York: New York University Press.
- Bandele, B., 2010, Understanding African Diaspora Political Activism: The Rise and Fall of the Black Star Line, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 745–761. Bandele, R., 2008, Black Star: African American Activism in the International Political Economy, Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
- Bayart, J-F., 2000, Africa in the World: A History of Extraversion, African Affairs, Vol. 99, No. 395, pp. 217–67.
- Beckert, S., 2015, Empire of Cotton: A Global History, New York: Vintage Books. Blake, C., 2005, An African Nationalist Ideology Framed in Diaspora and the Development Quagmire: Any Hope for a Renaissance? Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 573–596.
- Bond, P., 2016, Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation, London, UK: Zed Books. Bond, P, 2020, ‘The State of the Continent is Good’: African ‘Foreigners’ and Foreign Direct Investment, Seen from Subimperial South Africa, Africa Development, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 59–88.
- Bright, J. and Hruby, A., 2015, The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Power House, New York: St Martin’s Press.
- Bush, R., 2018, Africa: A Political Economy of Continued Crisis, Afrika Focus, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 23–46.
- Carmody, P., 2016, The New Scramble for Africa, 2nd ed., Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Edozie, R. K. and Khisa, M., forthcoming 2022, The New Global Politics of Africa: Regionalism in a Deeply Plural World, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
- Falola, T., 2013, The African Diaspora: Slavery, Modernity, and Globalization, New York: The University of Rochester Press.
- Gomez, M., 2019, Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora, Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Harris, J. E., ed., 1993, Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora, Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
- Harvey, D., 2007, Neoliberalism: A Brief History, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Okpewho, I., Davies, C. B. and Mazrui, A. A., eds, 1999, The African Diaspora: African Origins and New World identities, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
- James, C.L.R., 1989, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, New York: Vintage Books.
- Khisa, M., 2019. ‘Whose Africa is Rising?’, Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 46, No. 160, pp. 304–316.
- Klein, N., 1999, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, Toronto: Random House. Klein, N., 2007, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Toronto:Random House.
- Mathews, K., 2018, The African Union and the Renaissance of Pan-Africanism, in Karbo, T. and Murithi, T., eds, The African Union: Autocracy, Diplomacy and Peacebuilding in Africa, London, UK, and New York: I. B. Tauris.
- Mazrui, A. A., 1986, The Africans: A Triple Heritage, Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.
- Mazrui, A. A., 2005, Pan-Africanism and the Intellectuals: Rise, Decline and Revival, in Mkandawire, T., ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London, UK: Zed Books.
- Mills, G. and Herbst, J., 2012, Africa’s Third Liberation; The New Search for Prosperity and Jobs, Johannesburg and New York: Penguin Books.
- Mkandawire, T., 2005, Introduction, in Mkandawire, T., ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London, UK: Zed Books. Mkandawire, T. and Soludo, C. C., 1999, Our Continent, our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Moyo, M., 2009, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is Better Way for Africa, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Moyo, D., 2018, Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth—And How to Fix It, New York: Basic Books.
- Mutunga, W., 2018, Pan-African Jurisprudence and the Liberation of Africa, public lecture at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon- Ghana, 27 June.
- Nabudere, D. W., 2001, The African Renaissance in the Age of Globalization, African Journal of Political Science, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 11–28.
- Nantambu, K., 1998, Pan-Africanism Versus Pan-African Nationalism: An Afrocentric Analysis, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 561–574.
- Padmore, G., 1956, Pan-Africanism or Communism? The Coming Struggle for Africa, London, UK: Dennis Dobson.
- Pellerin, H. and Mullings, B., 2013, The ‘Diaspora Option’: Migration and the Changing Political Economy of Development, Review of International Political Economy, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 89–120.
- Soyinka, W., Amin, S., Bereket, H. S., Mugo, M. G. and Mkandawire, T., 2015, Reimagining Pan-Africanism, Distinguished Mwalimu Nyerere Lecture Series, 2009–2013, Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota.
- Tillery, A., 2011, Between Homeland and Motherland: Africa, US Foreign Policy, and Black Leadership in America, Ithaca, NY and London, UK: Cornell University Press. Taylor, I., 2014, Africa Rising? BRICS – Diversifying Dependency, Oxford: James Currey. Taylor, I. and Williams, P., 2004, Introduction: Understanding Africa’s Place in World Politics, in Taylor, I. and Williams, P., eds., Africa in International Politics: External Involvement on the Continent, London, UK, and New York: Routledge.
- Taylor, S., 2012, Globalization and the Cultures of Business in Africa: From Patrimonialism to Profit, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
- UNCTAD, 2018, Key Statistics and Trends in International Trade: The Status of World Trade, New York and Geneva: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Wamba-dia-Wamba, E., 1996, Pan Africanism, Democracy, Social Movements and Mass Struggles, in Abdul-Raheem, T., ed., Pan Africanism: Politics, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century, New York: New York University Press. West, M. O. and Martin W. G., 2009, Contours of Black International, in West, M. O., Martin, W. G. and Che Wilkins, F., eds, From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the Age of Revolution, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
- Whitaker, B. E., 2011, The Politics of Home: Dual Citizenship and the African Diaspora, International Migration Review, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 755–83.
- Whitaker, B. E. and Clark, J. F., 2018, African International Relations: Balancing Domestic and Global Interests, Boulder, CO, and London, UK: Lynne Rienner. Wiegratz, J., 2016, Neoliberal Moral Economy: Capitalism, Sociocultural Change, and Fraud in Uganda, New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
- Wiegratz, J., Martiniello, G. and Greco, E., 2018, Uganda: The Dynamics of Neoliberal Transformation, London, UK: Zed Books.
- Williams, E. M., 2012, Black British Solidarity with the Anti-apartheid Struggle: The West Indian Standing Conference and Black Action for the Liberation of Southern Africa, in Sapire, H. and Saunders, C., eds., Southern African Liberation Struggles: New Local, Regional and Global Perspectives, Cape Town: UCT Press. WTO, 2018, World Trade Statistical Review 2018, Geneva: World Trade Organization. Zeleza, P. T., 2010, African Diasporas: Toward A Global History, African Studies Review, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 1–19.
References
Abdul-Raheem, T., 1996, Reclaiming Africa for Africans – Pan Africanism: 1900- 1994, in Abdul Raheem, T., ed., Pan Africanism: Politics, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century,New York: New York University Press.
Ackah, W. B., 2016, Pan-Africanism: Exploring the Contradictions, Politics, Identity and Development in Africa and the African Diaspora, New York: Routledge.
Adi, H., 2018, Pan-Africanism: A History, London, UK, and New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Adi, H. and Sherwood, M., 1995, The 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress Revisited, London, UK: New Beacon.
Adi, H. and Sherwood, M., 2003, Pan-African History: Political Figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787, London, UK, and New York: Routledge.
Akyeampong, E., 2000, Africans in the Diaspora: The Diaspora and Africa, African Affairs, Vol. 99, No. 395, pp. 183–215.
Amin, S., 2004, The Liberal Virus: Permanent War and the Americanization of the World, New York: New York University Press.
Bandele, B., 2010, Understanding African Diaspora Political Activism: The Rise and Fall of the Black Star Line, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 745–761. Bandele, R., 2008, Black Star: African American Activism in the International Political Economy, Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
Bayart, J-F., 2000, Africa in the World: A History of Extraversion, African Affairs, Vol. 99, No. 395, pp. 217–67.
Beckert, S., 2015, Empire of Cotton: A Global History, New York: Vintage Books. Blake, C., 2005, An African Nationalist Ideology Framed in Diaspora and the Development Quagmire: Any Hope for a Renaissance? Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 573–596.
Bond, P., 2016, Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation, London, UK: Zed Books. Bond, P, 2020, ‘The State of the Continent is Good’: African ‘Foreigners’ and Foreign Direct Investment, Seen from Subimperial South Africa, Africa Development, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 59–88.
Bright, J. and Hruby, A., 2015, The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Power House, New York: St Martin’s Press.
Bush, R., 2018, Africa: A Political Economy of Continued Crisis, Afrika Focus, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 23–46.
Carmody, P., 2016, The New Scramble for Africa, 2nd ed., Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Edozie, R. K. and Khisa, M., forthcoming 2022, The New Global Politics of Africa: Regionalism in a Deeply Plural World, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Falola, T., 2013, The African Diaspora: Slavery, Modernity, and Globalization, New York: The University of Rochester Press.
Gomez, M., 2019, Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora, Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Harris, J. E., ed., 1993, Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora, Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
Harvey, D., 2007, Neoliberalism: A Brief History, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Okpewho, I., Davies, C. B. and Mazrui, A. A., eds, 1999, The African Diaspora: African Origins and New World identities, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
James, C.L.R., 1989, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, New York: Vintage Books.
Khisa, M., 2019. ‘Whose Africa is Rising?’, Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 46, No. 160, pp. 304–316.
Klein, N., 1999, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, Toronto: Random House. Klein, N., 2007, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Toronto:Random House.
Mathews, K., 2018, The African Union and the Renaissance of Pan-Africanism, in Karbo, T. and Murithi, T., eds, The African Union: Autocracy, Diplomacy and Peacebuilding in Africa, London, UK, and New York: I. B. Tauris.
Mazrui, A. A., 1986, The Africans: A Triple Heritage, Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.
Mazrui, A. A., 2005, Pan-Africanism and the Intellectuals: Rise, Decline and Revival, in Mkandawire, T., ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London, UK: Zed Books.
Mills, G. and Herbst, J., 2012, Africa’s Third Liberation; The New Search for Prosperity and Jobs, Johannesburg and New York: Penguin Books.
Mkandawire, T., 2005, Introduction, in Mkandawire, T., ed., African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, London, UK: Zed Books. Mkandawire, T. and Soludo, C. C., 1999, Our Continent, our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Moyo, M., 2009, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is Better Way for Africa, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Moyo, D., 2018, Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth—And How to Fix It, New York: Basic Books.
Mutunga, W., 2018, Pan-African Jurisprudence and the Liberation of Africa, public lecture at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon- Ghana, 27 June.
Nabudere, D. W., 2001, The African Renaissance in the Age of Globalization, African Journal of Political Science, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 11–28.
Nantambu, K., 1998, Pan-Africanism Versus Pan-African Nationalism: An Afrocentric Analysis, Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 561–574.
Padmore, G., 1956, Pan-Africanism or Communism? The Coming Struggle for Africa, London, UK: Dennis Dobson.
Pellerin, H. and Mullings, B., 2013, The ‘Diaspora Option’: Migration and the Changing Political Economy of Development, Review of International Political Economy, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 89–120.
Soyinka, W., Amin, S., Bereket, H. S., Mugo, M. G. and Mkandawire, T., 2015, Reimagining Pan-Africanism, Distinguished Mwalimu Nyerere Lecture Series, 2009–2013, Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota.
Tillery, A., 2011, Between Homeland and Motherland: Africa, US Foreign Policy, and Black Leadership in America, Ithaca, NY and London, UK: Cornell University Press. Taylor, I., 2014, Africa Rising? BRICS – Diversifying Dependency, Oxford: James Currey. Taylor, I. and Williams, P., 2004, Introduction: Understanding Africa’s Place in World Politics, in Taylor, I. and Williams, P., eds., Africa in International Politics: External Involvement on the Continent, London, UK, and New York: Routledge.
Taylor, S., 2012, Globalization and the Cultures of Business in Africa: From Patrimonialism to Profit, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
UNCTAD, 2018, Key Statistics and Trends in International Trade: The Status of World Trade, New York and Geneva: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Wamba-dia-Wamba, E., 1996, Pan Africanism, Democracy, Social Movements and Mass Struggles, in Abdul-Raheem, T., ed., Pan Africanism: Politics, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century, New York: New York University Press. West, M. O. and Martin W. G., 2009, Contours of Black International, in West, M. O., Martin, W. G. and Che Wilkins, F., eds, From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the Age of Revolution, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
Whitaker, B. E., 2011, The Politics of Home: Dual Citizenship and the African Diaspora, International Migration Review, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 755–83.
Whitaker, B. E. and Clark, J. F., 2018, African International Relations: Balancing Domestic and Global Interests, Boulder, CO, and London, UK: Lynne Rienner. Wiegratz, J., 2016, Neoliberal Moral Economy: Capitalism, Sociocultural Change, and Fraud in Uganda, New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Wiegratz, J., Martiniello, G. and Greco, E., 2018, Uganda: The Dynamics of Neoliberal Transformation, London, UK: Zed Books.
Williams, E. M., 2012, Black British Solidarity with the Anti-apartheid Struggle: The West Indian Standing Conference and Black Action for the Liberation of Southern Africa, in Sapire, H. and Saunders, C., eds., Southern African Liberation Struggles: New Local, Regional and Global Perspectives, Cape Town: UCT Press. WTO, 2018, World Trade Statistical Review 2018, Geneva: World Trade Organization. Zeleza, P. T., 2010, African Diasporas: Toward A Global History, African Studies Review, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 1–19.