Decolonization | To understand the contradictions in the world

Frantz Fanon once critically observed that Marxist studies always had to be somewhat stretched when addressing the connection between class struggle and racism. He was not alone in his opinion that Marxism lacked certain elements to enable it to be effectively applied in countries outside of Europe. This viewpoint was taken in a different way by the socialist theorist and revolutionary Walter Rodney, born in 1942 in the colony of British Guiana and murdered in 1980 in the then formally independent Republic of Guyana. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation has sponsored the publication of his writings on decolonial Marxism and the Pan-African revolution in German translation, in time for the 45th anniversary of Rodney's death.

In his preface, the Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o praises Walter Rodney as a theorist who completed Marx and places him alongside Fanon in terms of his importance for the "Third World." Rodney and Fanon wrote the fundamental texts "to understand the contradictions that still plague Africa and all the formerly colonial countries of Asia and South America today." Bafta Sarbo also recognizes Rodney's merit in further developing Marxism. His concern was always to contribute to the ideological empowerment of Black people. On the other hand, according to Vivek Chibber, the task is to provincialize Europe, which means abandoning Europe as the sole standard and model. A task that is difficult, however, not only due to prejudices and power relations that have developed throughout world history. The difficulties also affect the very tools of a pluralist understanding of Marxism. For, as Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o once again points out, Marxism is not free from an often narrow European view of the "developments of capitalism to its current stage of global imperialism."

In contrast to Fanon, who was alien to ideological self-labeling and rarely described as a genuine Marxist, Walter Rodney certainly saw himself as a Marxist. A credo he attributes to Amilcar Cabral in one of his essays, namely the organic linking of revolutionary practice and theory, can also apply to Rodney. For him, the most important yardstick for theoretical work is the "usability" of analyses for political practice in the liberation struggle. However, unlike Fanon, he measures programmatic political statements and theoretical concepts not only against the social reality of the countries of Asia, Africa, and South America, but also against the theoretical framework of Marxism. Authentically Marxist work presupposes critical thinking. His critique of "Ujamaa socialism" under Tanzanian President Julius K. Nyerere is exemplary of this approach.

Also unlike Fanon, Rodney leaves no doubt that his goal is to build socialism. Ujamaa is not "African socialism." "Scientific socialism (or Marxism, for that matter) is an explicit worldview that considers every conceivable phenomenon, from proteins to literature, in terms of a method applicable to nature and society." With these and similar statements, it might be easy for critics of Marxism, as well as some "modern" Marxists, to pigeonhole Rodney as "orthodox Marxism." But the critics shouldn't make it so easy for themselves. On the one hand, it would be entirely appropriate to read his theses critically. Not in the sense of dogmatic rejection by anti-dogmatic Marxists, but rather as a continuation of his ideas. This approach also entails renunciation of the know-it-all attitude that obscures any historical context in the creation of the writings. On the other hand, it becomes clear that the system of categories even of Marxism, which is described as orthodox, does indeed have a heuristic effect. Rodney demands linguistic precision and sees the use of Marxist terminology as an important tool.

Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o praises Rodney's theoretical analysis, which clearly recognizes the interrelationships between economics, politics, culture, and values. It leads to the essence of capitalism: the main contradiction between capital and labor. "But," Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o continues, "he succeeded in adding to this the dimension of racism and colonialism." The foreword writer emphasizes: "Marxist class analysis needs the dimensions of 'race,' colony, and gender to complete it." By supplementing class analysis in this sense, Rodney completes Marx.

These texts by one of the most important left-wing leading figures of pan-African movements and socialist internationalism do not have the character of a textbook, but they can stimulate further thought and reflection on earlier ideas, which, when viewed with a critical and solidarity perspective, should still be of significance for an internationalist left today.

Walter Rodney: Decolonial Marxism. Writings from the Pan-African Revolution. Edited by Asha Rodney, Patricia Rodney, Ben Mabie, and Jesse Benjamin. Translated from English by Christian Frings. Karl-Dietz-Verlag, 264 pp., hardcover, €29.