The Bauxite Strike and the Old Politics

by Eusi Kwayana, Matthew Quest (Introduction)

Originally published in 1972, Eusi Kwayana's The Bauxite Strike and the Old Politics, offered profound lessons for class struggle in a multiracial society. Many decades later, Kwayana's work remains urgently relevant.

A product of Guyana, and a classic of Caribbean radical history, The Bauxite Strike and the Old Politics examines the struggle of Afro-Guyanese mine workers in what was the soon-to-be nationalized bauxite industry, as they faced off against the racism and sexism of the Canadian-owned aluminum firm, ALCAN, the class collaboration of the Guyana Mine Workers Union (GMWU), and the hostility of Forbes Burnham's government toward their self-organization and self-emancipation. Through these events, Burnham's regime—which initially claimed to be a patron of global African solidarity, cultural renewal, and a cooperative society—began to reveal itself as a collaborator with the empire of capital, an oppressor of Black workers, and a promoter of racial insecurity in Guyana.

Kwayana's work leads us to reconsider the nature of representative government and electoral politics. Black power, for Kwayana, began to transcend the notion of a Black ruling elite s equal opportunity to enter the rules of hierarchy. Through engagement with Guyana's bauxite workers, Black Power became synonymous with Black workers control. This new edition includes an introduction by Matthew Quest, and an appendix of rare ASCRIA (African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa) documents and writings by Kwayana, spanning this period of Guyanese history from 1972 to 1974. This new material documents Kwayana's fight against government corruption, his participation in Guyana's cooperative movement, and his facilitation, in 1973, of a multiracial rebellion of landless sugar workers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2012

Reviews

[Kev Nickells · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a particular vantage on leftist politics and post-colonial thinking. Kwayana is speaking from transitory Guyana which is fractured along multiple lines: post-colonial entities, trade unionism, multiple ethnic disparities etc. Kwayana speaks for ASCRIA [African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa], that is, from the perspective of black people within Guyana and black people more broadly.

It's a fascinating case study from the eye of a trade-unionist storm - much of the works here looking to forge a Guyanese identity that is communist (as in, equitable distribution of land resources amongst different groups) and pluralist (respect of different groups' conflicting ideas of equity). It's also, importantly, a communism which is critical of the Bolshevik movement and the tendency of communism / leftist movements in Europe to be in specifically European terms. As such it's very much on point with BLM type thinking and a real gem of post-colonial thinking.

It's a moderate shame that this work takes the form of 'collected writings' rather than a specific exposition, but in that it's still charming - lots of this is journalism or pamphleteering, drawing on the contemporary Guyanese workers' struggles. And it's broadly level - there are moments where he praises colonial forces (in specific and limited contexts) and moments where he's strongly opposed.

Definitely recommend for anyone's post-colonial shelf that wants an in-depth look at workers' movements showing solidarity with black diaspora while simultaneously dealing with local conflicts.