Whatever happened to Black African liberation? What of the euphoria, the hope and promise of that moment when Ghana became independent in 1957? (Before either I, or this book’s author was born.)
Adom Getachew takes us on an ideological and political tour of a past moment in world history, focused on the Black African “anglophone” world of the Twentieth Century. She proposes that the men who lead this movement were actually concerned with what she calls “worldmaking” rather than nation building. Her premise is that the “nation-state” structure was a European trap, whereas non domination was the real goal, yet to be achieved. She argues that 1492 was the beginning of worldmaking, to which Twentieth Century Black worldmaking was a counterpoint. Her book seeks to revitalize what was revolutionary in the Black worldmaking vision, even as “self determination” in Africa would begin to collapse in the 1970s and 1980s. She argues that imperial forces from Europe and North America were too strong, even after African Independence, for the new nations to prevail as truly autonomous and equal political and economic entities. The new nations were integrated as unequal members of a white dominated world economic order. She sees hope in contemporary movements as a return to the broader vision of 1950s and 60s Black African leaders in the “anglophone” countries.
Although the author acknowledges a parallel trajectory in “Francophone” Black African nations, it would have been interesting if the revisiting of African independence could have been told across the borders of so called “Anglo French and Portuguese” African Nations. The very separation by language seems to accentuate the Nineteenth Century and earlier colonial lines imposed upon Africa by Western Eurasia.
Overall the book is well researched and provides a highly intelligible revisiting of the aspirations and failures of African leaders during the era of African independence from Anglo colonization.
So what ever did happen to the euphoria and grand hopes that greeted African Independence? According to Getachew - running the new states the leaders had to confront ethnic differences internally (such as civil was and genicides against weaker minorities) as well unfair integration and terms of trade into an international world order still controlled by Western European powers and the United States. After the oil crisis of the early 70s the U.S. went on the offensive to reassert it’s power and undermine these new “Third World” states.
The author hopes to nevertheless resurrecte some of the fervor of who she calls, anti colonial or anti imperial nationalists. In some moments she succeeds, although there is little detail about the current moment.
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