Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Theory and Politics of African Decolonization

Prior to Ghana’s independence in 1957, Africa—the world’s second largest, and second most populous, continent—was nearly completely divided into colonial possessions owned by European imperial powers. By 1968, a short decade later, forty African countries had become independent nations through violent and non-violent struggle, leaving only fascist Portugal—and a handful of settler states—with substantial African possessions. At the forefront of this political moment was a group of African leaders and thinkers whose work helped shape not only the trajectory of individual African countries but the world as a whole. It is my contention that one cannot fully understand contemporary world politics without appreciating the processes of African decolonization. Unfortunately, most of the brilliant poets, intellectuals, and movement leaders at the heart of this world-historic transformation are not widely read today, especially in the American academy. This semester we will addresses this absence by reading their work as an entrée into thinking about present-day issues of economic inequality, political violence, and human emancipation in Africa, and around the world. The course starts with an examination of colonialism’s political, economic, cultural, and epistemic legacies. We then turn to specific debates concerning how various thinkers understood the problems facing the forging of African nation-states, the creation of a postcolonial African identity, and the establishment of an independent economy.

Theory and Politics of African Decolonization Political Science POLS 343 Fall 2023 Trinity College Room #: SH-T308 2:55- 4:10 p.m. Dr. Jacob Kripp Email: [email protected] Phone: 508-954-3735 Office Hours: Tuesday 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. in Downes Memorial Room 104 or by appointment Introduction Prior to Ghana’s independence in 1957, Africa—the world’s second largest, and second most populous, continent—was nearly completely divided into colonial possessions owned by European imperial powers. By 1968, a short decade later, forty African countries had become independent nations through violent and non-violent struggle, leaving only fascist Portugal—and a handful of settler states—with substantial African possessions. At the forefront of this political moment was a group of African leaders and thinkers whose work helped shape not only the trajectory of individual African countries but the world as a whole. It is my contention that one cannot fully understand contemporary world politics without appreciating the processes of African decolonization. Unfortunately, most of the brilliant poets, intellectuals, and movement leaders at the heart of this world-historic transformation are not widely read today, especially in the American academy. This semester we will addresses this absence by reading their work as an entrée into thinking about presentday issues of economic inequality, political violence, and human emancipation in Africa, and around the world. The course starts with an examination of colonialism’s political, economic, cultural, and epistemic legacies. We then turn to specific debates concerning how various thinkers understood the problems facing the forging of African nation-states, the creation of a postcolonial African identity, and the establishment of an independent economy. Books to Purchase We will be reading seven fantastic books for this class: Ferdinand Oyono’s Houseboy (Waveland Press, 20120), Steve Biko’s I Will Write What I Like (University of Chicago Press, 2002), Aime Cesaire’s Discourse on Colonialism (Monthly Review Press, 2000), Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (Grove Press, 2004), Adom Getachew’s Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination (Princeton 2019), Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation (Haymarket 2016), and Jean-Claude Kongo and Leo Zeilig’s Thomas Sankara (HSRC Press, 2017). Please purchase hardcopies, keeping an eye on the publisher to make sure we all have the same version. All other readings are available on the course’s Moodle site. 1 Assignments Students will be assessed on four written assignments as well as three different forms of class participation (discussion questions, leading discussion, and participation/attendance). Three Short Papers (3 x 20% = 60% of total grade) Students will write three 5-6 page essays focusing on conceptual issues raised during the class. Two weeks prior to the due date I will hand out a set of question prompts. Students are expected to choose one question and answer it using the material read in class. The due dates for the papers are October 24, November 28, and December 21. Late Paper Policy An assignment will be marked down one third of a grade (i.e. a B+ becomes a B) if submitted prior to due date of the next assignment. An addition third of a grade deduction will be applied for each subsequent due dates missed. For example, three assignments are due February 1, March 1, and April 1. A paper turned in on February 2 (or 5 or 12 or 19) will received one third of a grade deduction. A paper turned in March 1 (or 7, or 28, etc.) will receive another deduction. A paper turned in April 1 or later will receive a full grade deduction. This policy applies to all work that is submitted after the end of the semester, as part of an incomplete or NGR. Discussion Questions (20% of total grade) Students will be expected to submit eight sets of discussion questions over the course of the semester [plus the assignment for Sept 13]. Students can choose any classes starting September 13 to submit questions for. Questions must be typed and handed in during class (no exceptions). Each set of questions will be graded on a ✔+ (100%), ✔/✔+ (90%), ✔ (80%), ✔/✔- (70%), ✔- (59%) scale. Please do not duplicate days for discussion questions and leading class. Discussion questions should be posted to Moodle by noon the day of class. No late questions will be accepted. Leading Class Discussion (5% of total grade) Each student will sign up to lead one class period. Twenty-four hours prior to class, the class leader will email a list of discussion questions to the entire class, which will serve as the basis for class discussion. Students will be assessed on the quality of their discussion questions and how well they led discussion. Class Participation & Absences (15% of total grade) Students will begin with a 90% participation grade in the classroom. This can go up to 15% for outstanding class contributions or it can down 15% for lack of substantive participation. Absences will be marked down by 5% for each absence. Please email me ([email protected]) prior to class if you will not be able to attend. Please note that if you are an active participant, this gives you some flexibility. Theory is, and will always be, about conversation and dialogue. This dialogue takes place between me and you as teachers and students, between each other as fellow learners, and within ourselves, and we unthink previously held assumptions, and reorient ourselves to the world. Participating in these conversations in a college reading seminar can be an incredibly unique experience of collective 2 discussion. As Professor Isaac Kamola writes, “the classroom is an encounter that can prepare students to critically understand, and engage, the world in the pursuit of more just, equitable, and sustainable futures.” But this encounter is one that depends on each of you to put in the work prior to entering the classroom. This means reading each text prior to class and contributing substantively to class discussion. This is a collaborative space, one where we’ll ask questions of each other, and build on each other’s ideas. We don’t always have to agree, but we must recognize the value of each of our contributions to the classroom space. Electronic Devices There are no electronic devices allowed in the classroom space. That includes laptops and the active use of cellphones. This may seem like a harsh policy, especially for those of us who have lived through Zoom U. But for a reading seminar hiding behind your laptop is a distraction from engaging with each other and the text. The electronics policy is in place to make sure that we are focused on those things. You should bring a hardcopy of the text to every class, and I encourage you to bring a notebook as well. Exceptions will be made for students who need accommodations or to use electronics in the case of emergency (see below). Student Accessibility You do not have to disclose your disability status to request accommodations from me. I do want to know about what kinds of accommodations will make our classroom a productive learning environment for you, but I also want you to know that disclosure is a choice. Disclosure isn’t limited to disability status: it may come up with respect to past trauma, gender identity, sexuality, etc. I have a legal obligation to disclose sexual misconduct and civil rights violations to the university, so be aware of these legal obligations. Risk is inherent in any space, but to manage that risk in as respectful way as possible, please observe the following ground rules concerning your and other’s disclosures: • • Disclosure is a complex and personal decision, and it should be voluntary. Disclosures are only to our classroom. Please don’t discuss that information with people outside of our class without express permission. This is a classroom committed to access: I have tried to anticipate as many kinds of situations as possible, but if any changes would facilitate your greater participation, don’t hesitate to contact me. Access works best as a community effort. If you are a student with a disability and use accommodations, please contact the Student Accessibility Resource Center, Level A, LITC (860) 297-4206, [email protected] so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Campus Resources The Writing Center (https://www.trincoll.edu/writing-center/writing-center/) provides tutoring services and several helpful resources on writing. You may schedule an appointment online or visit the Writing Center located at 115 Vernon (the English Dept. Building) Room 109. The Quantitative Center (https://www.trincoll.edu/quantitative-center/) provides tutoring and support services to ensure quantitative literacy. You may schedule an appointment online or visit the 3 Quantitative Center located in the Mathematics, Engineering & Computer Science Center (MECC) Room 172. The Counseling and Wellness Center (https://www.trincoll.edu/counseling-wellness-center/) is located at 135 Allen Place and offers a variety of health and wellness services. You may call (860) 2972415 to speak with a member of the staff or schedule an appointment. The Raether Library and Information Technology Center (https://www.trincoll.edu/lits/) Help Desk can be reached via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (860) 297-2007. Weekly Reading Schedule NOTES: 1. ** — denotes that the reading is available in the reader or on the course’s Moodle site. 2. Unmarked readings are assigned books. Tuesday, September 5: Introductions • Review syllabus prior to class Thursday, September 7: Introductions • Excerpts from Baldwin’s “Princes and Power.” Assignment: 1) Leave one question and one comment on the GoogleDoc version of the class syllabus (link on Moodle), 2) Write a short email introducing yourself, why you’ve taken the class, and what you hope to learn over the semester. Please complete these two tasks by 9am, giving me a chance to review them. SECTION I: AN INTRODUCTION TO COLONIALISM IN AFRICA Tuesday, September 12: An Introduction to Colonialism • **Hochschild, Adam, King Leopold’s Ghost. Boston: Mariner Books, pp. 150-166. • ** Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, Robert Kimbrough, ed. New York: Norton, 1988, pp. 1-19. • **Memmi, Albert. The Colonizer and the Colonized (Boston: Beacon Press, 1991), pp. 3-18. 4 Thursday, September 14: Coloniality and the Construction of Difference • ** Achebe, Chinua, “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” in Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Robert Kimbrough, ed. (New York & London: WW Norton, 1988). • **Mamdani, Mahmood, Define and Rule: Native as Political Identity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012), pp. 1-21, 26-31, 43-53, 71-84. Tuesday, September 19: Narratives of Colonialism • Oyono, Houseboy, pp. 1-63 Thursday, September 21: Narratives of Colonialism • Oyono, Houseboy, pp. 64-122. Tuesday, September 26: Decolonizing Colonial Difference • **Robbie Shilliam, The Black Pacific: Anti-Colonial Struggles and Oceanic Connections (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), pp. 1-33. • Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire, pp. 1-36. SECTION II: AN INTRODUCTION TO ANTI-COLONIALISM Thursday, September 28: Historical Context of African Decolonization • **Schmidt, Elizabeth, Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), pp. 1-33. • **Frederick Cooper, Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 1-19, 38-65. Tuesday, October 3: Bandung • **Wright, Richard, The Color Curtain: A Report on the Bandung Conference. [pages TBD] • **Vijay Prashad, The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World (New York & London: The New Press, 2007), pp. 31-50. Thursday, October 5: Discourse on Colonialism • Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism, pp. 7-28, 31-64 & 74-78. ***Hand out Paper Topic*** Tuesday, Oct 10: Trinity Days [No class] Thursday, October 12: Decolonial Feminism • **Lorde, Audre, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press, 2007). 5 • • **The Combahee River Collective, “The Combahee River Collective Statement,” in How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, ed. (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2017), pp. 15-27. **Angela Davis, “Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves,” Massachusetts Review (Vol. 13, No. ½, 1972), pp. 81-100. Tuesday, October 17: Self-Determination and Counter-Revolution • Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire, pp. 37-100. Thursday, October 19: Building Institutions of Freedom • Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire, pp. 100-141. SECTION III: EPISTEMIC AND REVOLUTIONARY BLACKNESS Tuesday, October 24: Race and Double Consciousness • **Du Bois, W.E.B., “The Conservation of Races,” African Philosophy: An Anthology, Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze (ed.) (New York: Blackwell Publishers, 1998), pp. 269-274. • **Du Bois, W.E.B., “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader, David Levering Lewis, ed. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995), pp. 28-33. • **Fanon, Frantz, Black Skins, White Masks, Richard Philcox, trans. (New York: Grove Press, 2008), pp. 1-23. ***Paper #1 Due*** Thursday, October 26: Negritude • **Senghor, Léopold Sédar, “On Negrohood: Psychology of the African Negro,” African Philosophy: Selected Readings (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995), pp. 116-127. • **Senghor, Léopold Sédar, “Negritude: A Humanism of the Twentieth Century,” Colonial Discourse/ Post-Colonial Theory, Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman (eds.) (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), pp. 27-35. • **Fanon, Frantz, Black Skins, White Masks, Richard Philcox, trans. (New York: Grove Press, 2008), pp. 89-119. Tuesday, October 31: Black Consciousness • Biko, I Write What I Like, pp. 17-32, 40-53, 61-72, 87-119, 152-3. Thursday, November 2: Decolonizing the Mind • **Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, “Introduction” and “The Language of African Literature,” Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (Oxford & Nairboi: James Currey/Heinemann, 2005), pp. 1-33. 6 • **Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, “Return to the Roots: Language, Culture and Politics in Kenya,” Writers in Politics: A Re-Engagement with Issues of Literature and Society (Oxford & Nairboi: James Currey/Heinemann, 2005), pp. 53-64. SECTION IV: NATIONALISMS AND INTERNATIONALISMS Tuesday, November 7: Violence and the Formation of the Nation • Fanon, Wretched of the Earth, pp. 1-62. Thursday, November 9: The Problem of the National Bourgeoisie • Fanon, Wretched of the Earth, pp. 97-144. ***Hand out Paper Topic*** Tuesday, November 14: Bicentennial Day [No Class] Thursday, November 16: Burkina Faso and Thomas Sankara • Kongo and Zeilig, Thomas Sankara, pp. 3-55. • Sankara speeches in: Kongo and Zeilig, Thomas Sankara, pp. 59-93, 132-165. Tuesday, November 21: Burkina Faso and Thomas Sankara • **Watch: Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man (Shuffield, Robin, dir.), 2009. ***Thanksgiving*** SECTION V: DECOLONIZING THE ECONOMY Tuesday, November 28: Underdevelopment • **Rodney, Walter, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1982), pp. 3-29. • **Gunder Frank, Andre, “The Development of Underdevelopment,” Monthly Review 18(4), September 1966, pp. 17-31. • **Sankara, Thomas, “A United Front Against Debt,” Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-1987 (New York: Pathfinder Press, 2007), pp. 373-381. ***Paper #2 Due*** Thursday, November 30: African Socialism • **Senghor, Léopold Sédar, On African Socialism, Mercer Cook (trans.) (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1964), pp. 3-6, 67-103. 7 • **Nyerere, Julius, Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), pp. 143 & 145-177. Tuesday, December 5: The New International Economic Order • Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire, pp. 142-181. • **Watch: Bamako (Abderrahmane Sissako, dir.), 2006. ***Hand out Paper Topic*** CONCLUSIONS: AFRICAN ANTICOLONIALISM TODAY? Thursday, December 7: Black Lives Matter • Taylor, From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation, pp. 1-73. Tuesday, December 12: Black Lives Matter • Taylor, From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation, pp. 153-219. ***Final Paper due by Thursday, December 21st*** 8