Fugitive Modernities: Kisama and the Politics of Freedom

by Jessica A. Krug

During the early seventeenth century, Kisama emerged in West Central Africa (present-day Angola) as communities and an identity for those fleeing expanding states and the violence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The fugitives mounted effective resistance to European colonialism despite—or because of—the absence of centralized authority or a common language. In Fugitive Modernities Jessica A. Krug offers a continent- and century-spanning narrative exploring Kisama's intellectual, political, and social histories. Those who became Kisama forged a transnational reputation for resistance, and by refusing to organize their society around warrior identities, they created viable social and political lives beyond the bounds of states and the ruthless market economy of slavery. Krug follows the idea of Kisama to the Americas, where fugitives in the New Kingdom of Grenada (present-day Colombia) and Brazil used it as a means of articulating politics in fugitive slave communities. By tracing the movement of African ideas, rather than African bodies, Krug models new methods for grappling with politics and the past, while showing how the history of Kisama and its legacy as a global symbol of resistance that has evaded state capture offers essential lessons for those working to build new and just societies.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published December 24, 2018

Reviews

[Kimathi Muiruri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this like three months before the world found out that Jessica Krug was lying about being black so I’m not sure whether it stands out in my mind because of the deeply compelling and provocative arguments or the raw whiplash

[Sohum · Rating 3 out of 5]

like a lot of Africanist histories, this text presumes a lot of familiarity with the region. There is also an incredibly violent and objectionable metaphorical use of "scholar as slavecatcher." this book is a relatively interesting discursive history of kisama and its uses.

[Mishka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional