What do you think?
Rate this book
Resistance and Decolonization
How can a people overthrow 500 years of colonial oppression? What can be done to decolonize mentalities, economic structures, and political institutions? In this book, which includes the first translation of the text 'Analysis of a Few Types of Resistance' as well as 'The Role of Culture in the Struggle for Independence,' the African revolutionary Amílcar Cabral explores these and other questions. These texts demonstrate his frank and insightful directives to his comrades in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde's party for independence, as well as reflections on culture and combat written the year prior to his assassination by the Portuguese secret police.
As one of the most important and profound African revolutionary leaders in the 20th century, and justly compared in importance to Frantz Fanon, Cabral's thoughts and instructions as articulated here help us to rethink important issues concerning nationalism, culture, vanguardism, revolution, liberation, colonialism, race, and history. The volume also includes two introductory the first introduces Cabral's work within the context of Africana critical theory, and the second situates these texts in their historical-political context and analyzes their relevance for contemporary anti-imperialism.
As one of the most important and profound African revolutionary leaders in the 20th century, and justly compared in importance to Frantz Fanon, Cabral's thoughts and instructions as articulated here help us to rethink important issues concerning nationalism, culture, vanguardism, revolution, liberation, colonialism, race, and history. The volume also includes two introductory the first introduces Cabral's work within the context of Africana critical theory, and the second situates these texts in their historical-political context and analyzes their relevance for contemporary anti-imperialism.
204 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 20, 2019
An impressive work from arguably Africa's single most successful revolutionary. What resonates so deeply about Cabral's ideology is the flexibility and locality of his thought. He doesn't pretend to create a universal analysis or praxis, indeed he criticizes Marx for implying that his Eurocentric system could apply everywhere. At the same time, however, he describes principles and praxis that should be applied in virtually every context, insisting all the while that each revolutionary must adapt these ideas (and even Marxism itself) to their own individual arena. Cabral famously scoffed at the question of whether he was a Marxist or not, finding it totally irrelevant to the issue at hand, and happily leaving it wholly to his biographers.
I found the last essay most compelling, "The Role of Culture in the Struggle for Independence," which is actually the transcript of a speech he had read in absentia at UNESCO's Meeting of Experts on Questions of Race, Identity and Dignity in Paris just a few months before his assassination in 1972. In it he not only describes the specific context of Cape Verde & Guinea-Bisseau, but he performs a detailed analysis of the colonial petit bourgeoisie, a group of colonized Africans that must eventually choose between their colonizers and their original cultural identity.
The "Analysis of a Few Types of Resistance" section, translated here for the first time from speeches given to local communities, is also highly worthwhile. He separates the spheres of resistance into a "square" of which each corner is vital: political, economic, cultural and armed. Dan Wood, the translator and author of an equally worthwhile introductory essay, calls them "equiprimordial." What stands out about this section is the ease with which Cabral translates his analysis to a less educated audience, and the colloquial examples he gives about the need for political and cultural education.
It's hard to come away from this collection unimpressed with Cabral as a revolutionary and human. His deep love for his people shines through on every page, manifested perhaps most memorably in his insistence that no matter how difficult it can be to avoid, revolutionaries must not adopt the dehumanizing tactics of their oppressors. What also stands out about Cabral is that he was a highly-educated functionary who exploited his position as one of his nation's leading agronomists to learn his country's terrain and people in service of revolution.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you, like me, were relatively ignorant of Cabral and/or the Cape Verdean revolution.
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
I found the last essay most compelling, "The Role of Culture in the Struggle for Independence," which is actually the transcript of a speech he had read in absentia at UNESCO's Meeting of Experts on Questions of Race, Identity and Dignity in Paris just a few months before his assassination in 1972. In it he not only describes the specific context of Cape Verde & Guinea-Bisseau, but he performs a detailed analysis of the colonial petit bourgeoisie, a group of colonized Africans that must eventually choose between their colonizers and their original cultural identity.
The "Analysis of a Few Types of Resistance" section, translated here for the first time from speeches given to local communities, is also highly worthwhile. He separates the spheres of resistance into a "square" of which each corner is vital: political, economic, cultural and armed. Dan Wood, the translator and author of an equally worthwhile introductory essay, calls them "equiprimordial." What stands out about this section is the ease with which Cabral translates his analysis to a less educated audience, and the colloquial examples he gives about the need for political and cultural education.
It's hard to come away from this collection unimpressed with Cabral as a revolutionary and human. His deep love for his people shines through on every page, manifested perhaps most memorably in his insistence that no matter how difficult it can be to avoid, revolutionaries must not adopt the dehumanizing tactics of their oppressors. What also stands out about Cabral is that he was a highly-educated functionary who exploited his position as one of his nation's leading agronomists to learn his country's terrain and people in service of revolution.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you, like me, were relatively ignorant of Cabral and/or the Cape Verdean revolution.
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
March 18, 2021
An impressive and thorough account of the various forms of resistance needed to overthrow a colonial oppressor. Cabral lists political, economic, cultural, and armed resistance as the four most important sites of resistance. Cabral dedicates a chapter to each of these topics and offers a "how-to" guide for, as the title suggests, resistance and decolonization.
Overall, this was a great account from one of the biggest names in anti-colonial efforts on the continent of Africa.
Overall, this was a great account from one of the biggest names in anti-colonial efforts on the continent of Africa.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews