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Theory and the Politics of Knowing

Theory and the Politics of Knowing

Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of the most influential and read postcolonial literary critics. His Decolonizing the Mind (1986) is essential reading. He has also penned many works of fiction and theatre, as well as other non-fiction works. The following are some notes from his 2012 Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing (which is […]

Tags: #Alienation #Globalectics #Ngugi wa Thiongo #Poor Theory #Recentering knowledge

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Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare

Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare

One of the great leaders and thinkers of the liberation struggle across Africa was Kwame Nkrumah, who would become President of Ghana. He has penned several works, one of which is “Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare” (1968). Reading this book makes clear why writings such as this are not as commonly on reading lists as are […]

Tags: #Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare #Kwame Nkrumah #Liberation #Revolution #Sham Independence

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Food Aid in Sudan

Food Aid in Sudan

Darfur has received food aid for one of the longest running periods anywhere. Decades has passed and the crisis of insecurity and malnutrition continue. Long-time humanitarian practitioner, turned academic, Susanne Jaspars, authored “Food Aid in Sudan: A History of Power, Politics and Profit” in 2018 to distill the complex story. The book is readable and […]

Tags: #Darfur #Food Aid #Humanitarian #Politics #Sudan

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The Fire Next Time

The Fire Next Time

Notes from Baldwin’s 1962 two essays in The Fire Next Time, the first a letter to his nephew and the second a longer piece that reflects on engagements with faith and identity: “Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?” (p. 94) “Let me spell out precisely what I mean by that, […]

Tags: #Baldwin #Justice #Racism #The Fire Next Time #The Impossible

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Men in the Sun – Ghassan Kanafani

Men in the Sun – Ghassan Kanafani

In a letter to his son, Kanafani wrote: “Do not believe that man grows. No; he is born suddenly – a word, in a moment, penetrates his heart to a new throb. Once scene can hurl him down from the ceiling of childhood on to the ruggedness of the road.” (p. 11) Coverage from Al […]

Tags: #Ghassan Kanafani #Men in the Sun #Palestine #Revolution #Struggle

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Language & Governance in the African Experience

Language & Governance in the African Experience

Notes from The Power of Babel: Language & Governance in the African Experience (1998) by Ali A. Mazrui and Alamin M. Mazrui” “One of the gross linguistic anomalies of post-colonial Africa, in fact, is that whole classes of countries are named after the imperial language they have adopted as their official language. We do constantly refer […]

Tags: #Africa #decolonization #Language #Mazrui #The Power of Babel

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