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Black Critique
The Point is to Change the World: Selected Writings of Andaiye
Radical activist, thinker, comrade of Walter Rodney, Andaiye was one of the Caribbean's most important political voices. For the first time, her writings are published in one collection.
Through essays, letters and journal entries, Andaiye's thinking on the intersections of gender, race, class and power are profoundly articulated, Caribbean histories emerge, and stories from a life lived at the barricades are revealed. We learn about the early years of the Working People's Alliance, the meaning and impact of the murder of Walter Rodney and the fall of the Grenada Revolution. Throughout, we bear witness to Andaiye's acute understanding of politics rooted in communities and the daily lives of so-called ordinary people.
Featuring forewords by Clem Seecharan and Robin DG Kelley, these texts will become vital tools in our own struggles to 'overturn the power relations which are embedded in every unequal facet of our lives'.
Through essays, letters and journal entries, Andaiye's thinking on the intersections of gender, race, class and power are profoundly articulated, Caribbean histories emerge, and stories from a life lived at the barricades are revealed. We learn about the early years of the Working People's Alliance, the meaning and impact of the murder of Walter Rodney and the fall of the Grenada Revolution. Throughout, we bear witness to Andaiye's acute understanding of politics rooted in communities and the daily lives of so-called ordinary people.
Featuring forewords by Clem Seecharan and Robin DG Kelley, these texts will become vital tools in our own struggles to 'overturn the power relations which are embedded in every unequal facet of our lives'.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 2, 2021
May do a full review on Storygraph at some point, but I will say it's a necessary Caribbean feminist text.
Can't say I learned any new theory from this but it expanded my historical view of contemporary feminism in the region.
Can't say I learned any new theory from this but it expanded my historical view of contemporary feminism in the region.
December 17, 2024
Rest in power, Andaiye. A truly incredible thinker and activist. And much more than just “Rodney’s comrade”. This book is quite literally essential reading for anyone figuring out how we should organise when confronted by hierarchies of power: i.e. gender, race, class, urban/rural etc.
The critiques of the Grenada Revolution’s vanguard structure are part of a well-known debate. But her personal insight as a leading member of the WPA shed new light upon the paternalism of the NJM and, frankly, the contradictory nature of the (un-)democratic processes in the Grenada Revolution. The hierarchical structure of the vanguard party —which makes decisions via democratic centralism (i..e. an internal consensus made among the small Central Committee)— over the mass organisations and the parish assemblies prevented any structure of accountability between the masses and the vanguard. The mass organisations were always under the hegemony of the vanguard party and the party was extremely tight-knit, never increasing significantly in numbers. This proved to be the Achilles heel of much of the Left not only in Grenada but elsewhere in the Caribbean (the Worker’s Party of Jamaica especially comes to mind). Marxist politics consequently became anathema: a “dirty thing” to the Caribbean people - as the Barbadian novelist and public intellectual, George Lamming, put it.
The essays on social reproduction/care/unwaged (largely women’s) work are my favourite ones in the entire text. These essays are embedded within well-known feminist debates in the Caribbean & Latin America — which are also connected to movements/discussions in America and Europe (e.g. IWFHW Movement). But, where Andaiye’s essays stand out is that she, more than any of her peers, is committed to democratising organisational structures. For Andaiye, democracy has to practised throughout the struggle, not only after the capture of “the political kingdom” - if such a romantic, masculine vision of revolutionary heroism -whereby the state is seized and its fruits and glories are handed out from above- still exists today…
Drawing on her experiences as a key member (and creator) of the non-governmental organisation, Red Thread (Guyana), Andaiye invites us to consider what it means to have autonomous sectors/groupings within the larger framework of an organisation. How can structures of accountability be produced? How can we make sure that the most exploited, the most disadvantaged, the most voiceless be not only heard, but listened to? How can we ensure that they are not always either “spoken over” or “spoken for”? How can we ensure these groups are represented adequately? How can we, in the case of Guyana, for example, safeguard/promote the interests of indigenous women? What structures can we put in place to draw indigenous, Indian and Afro-Guyanese women into the organisation and on equal footing? How (in the case of Red Thread) can they make sure that middle-class, (childless) Afro-Guyanese women (the largest group in the organisation and a group Andaiye was a part of) do not dominate both debate and, crucially, decision-making processes? For Andaiye, it is about admitting privileges from the very beginning; it is about a recognition that some people in an organisation are more well off, have more time, are better represented and have less barriers to participation than others.
The answer for Andaiye is, therefore, very simple, but no less pertinent. We must allow disadvantaged and historically disenfranchised groups to debate autonomously, so as to not be dominated, elided or purged. Their decisions must be given equal weight (on some occasions, more weight) in decision-making processes. (However, it is important to note that this must be constantly reviewed. The concrete social, cultural and economic conditions must be thoroughly analysed on a permanent basis, in order to reflect any change(s) in the material conditions.) This is not to place “the Other”/“the oppressed” on a pedestal, or to make a fetish out of them. Instead, we must view it as a way in which we can really listen and understand how capitalism operates; how it effects certain groups more acutely; and how that specificity stops us even hearing or being aware of some of its most disastrous effects. She gives fantastic examples of how Structural Readjustment Programs tend to affect women more sharply, increasing the burden on them (i.e. the amount of reproductive work), as cuts in healthcare, education etc. have knock on effects in communities, kinship networks and the domestic space.
Women predominantly pick up the fallout left behind from austerity cuts. And when they don’t pick up this fallout, society is worse off for it. Think about what happens when someone gets sick and they have no accessible healthcare? Who picks that labour up? Who tends to the sick? When youth clubs are shut down, where do children go? How do they spend their time? And who with? What happens when school facilities become dilapidated and not fit for purpose? What is the effect of increased numbers of children in a classroom? What is the snowball effect on lowering teacher wages? Do these teachers stay in the country? What are the knock on effects of all these cuts? Who in society tends to bear the responsibility of dealing with all of the accumulative effects of these adjustment programs? These are the very real questions Andaiye brings to the surface! It is the haughty masculinist vision of liberation which has too often seen these questions as an after-thought, or not-a-thought at all. These aren’t just ethico-political questions, they are absolutely central to the very notion of liberation. History has constantly shown us that relegating these questions has had the effect of reproducing the kind of hierarchies of power that we intended to escape in the first place. We must abolish all forms of exploitation, discrimination and oppression, incorporating the democratic values we wish to institutionalise in the very process of organisation and political action itself.
Consequently, Andaiye’s radical vision is crucial for anyone thinking about how we actually go about organising against capitalism, as well as showing us where and how we might start. For Andaiye, we start with those who are most exploited by capitalism, those whose unwaged labour is not even recognised by some Marxists, despite the fact that such labour provides the very mantle for the exploitation of labour-power by capital. In other words, (predominantly) women’s (caring) work provides and replenishes the labour-power that is exploited under capitalism. Without this seemingly invisible labour, the capitalist world-system as we know it would not exist. This is the perspective from which Andaiye starts and even then, she does not make a fetish out of it:
“I no longer believe, as I used to, what Peggy Antrobus puts far more clearly than I can:
-“Feminist politics starts with an understanding of the way social injustice is embedded in the social relations of gender. It is grounded in a politics informed by that analysis. And ends with a passionate commitment for gender justice *as a way of addressing all other issues*”.-
Working for gender justice, like working for gender equality, will not lead to a transformation of all the interacting power relations against which we must organise- if we want to.”
Andaiye simply understands that working from those who engage in the most arduous social reproductive work is a way of making sure we do not miss out anyone in the process of liberation. It is not to place gender as the privileged site of radical politics. Instead, Andaiye views gender as one of the many ways capitalism accumulates through forms of differentiation. But, for Andaiye, we must tackle every one of the interacting power relations if we wish to build a society which is truly just and worth living in.
This is just part of Andaiye’s legacy. I did not even cover the writings on the WPA here. An essential part of her activist life. As someone studying the WPA, it is striking to me that I actually was completely invested in the stuff around Red Thread. It exemplifies how much we can learn a lot from this incredible woman who was always honest and self-critical, without being self-deprecating.
In the spirit of Andaiye, I shall end with her nod towards another under-appreciated figure of Caribbean radicalism in the book’s preface: “Eusi [Kwayana], for example”.
The critiques of the Grenada Revolution’s vanguard structure are part of a well-known debate. But her personal insight as a leading member of the WPA shed new light upon the paternalism of the NJM and, frankly, the contradictory nature of the (un-)democratic processes in the Grenada Revolution. The hierarchical structure of the vanguard party —which makes decisions via democratic centralism (i..e. an internal consensus made among the small Central Committee)— over the mass organisations and the parish assemblies prevented any structure of accountability between the masses and the vanguard. The mass organisations were always under the hegemony of the vanguard party and the party was extremely tight-knit, never increasing significantly in numbers. This proved to be the Achilles heel of much of the Left not only in Grenada but elsewhere in the Caribbean (the Worker’s Party of Jamaica especially comes to mind). Marxist politics consequently became anathema: a “dirty thing” to the Caribbean people - as the Barbadian novelist and public intellectual, George Lamming, put it.
The essays on social reproduction/care/unwaged (largely women’s) work are my favourite ones in the entire text. These essays are embedded within well-known feminist debates in the Caribbean & Latin America — which are also connected to movements/discussions in America and Europe (e.g. IWFHW Movement). But, where Andaiye’s essays stand out is that she, more than any of her peers, is committed to democratising organisational structures. For Andaiye, democracy has to practised throughout the struggle, not only after the capture of “the political kingdom” - if such a romantic, masculine vision of revolutionary heroism -whereby the state is seized and its fruits and glories are handed out from above- still exists today…
Drawing on her experiences as a key member (and creator) of the non-governmental organisation, Red Thread (Guyana), Andaiye invites us to consider what it means to have autonomous sectors/groupings within the larger framework of an organisation. How can structures of accountability be produced? How can we make sure that the most exploited, the most disadvantaged, the most voiceless be not only heard, but listened to? How can we ensure that they are not always either “spoken over” or “spoken for”? How can we ensure these groups are represented adequately? How can we, in the case of Guyana, for example, safeguard/promote the interests of indigenous women? What structures can we put in place to draw indigenous, Indian and Afro-Guyanese women into the organisation and on equal footing? How (in the case of Red Thread) can they make sure that middle-class, (childless) Afro-Guyanese women (the largest group in the organisation and a group Andaiye was a part of) do not dominate both debate and, crucially, decision-making processes? For Andaiye, it is about admitting privileges from the very beginning; it is about a recognition that some people in an organisation are more well off, have more time, are better represented and have less barriers to participation than others.
The answer for Andaiye is, therefore, very simple, but no less pertinent. We must allow disadvantaged and historically disenfranchised groups to debate autonomously, so as to not be dominated, elided or purged. Their decisions must be given equal weight (on some occasions, more weight) in decision-making processes. (However, it is important to note that this must be constantly reviewed. The concrete social, cultural and economic conditions must be thoroughly analysed on a permanent basis, in order to reflect any change(s) in the material conditions.) This is not to place “the Other”/“the oppressed” on a pedestal, or to make a fetish out of them. Instead, we must view it as a way in which we can really listen and understand how capitalism operates; how it effects certain groups more acutely; and how that specificity stops us even hearing or being aware of some of its most disastrous effects. She gives fantastic examples of how Structural Readjustment Programs tend to affect women more sharply, increasing the burden on them (i.e. the amount of reproductive work), as cuts in healthcare, education etc. have knock on effects in communities, kinship networks and the domestic space.
Women predominantly pick up the fallout left behind from austerity cuts. And when they don’t pick up this fallout, society is worse off for it. Think about what happens when someone gets sick and they have no accessible healthcare? Who picks that labour up? Who tends to the sick? When youth clubs are shut down, where do children go? How do they spend their time? And who with? What happens when school facilities become dilapidated and not fit for purpose? What is the effect of increased numbers of children in a classroom? What is the snowball effect on lowering teacher wages? Do these teachers stay in the country? What are the knock on effects of all these cuts? Who in society tends to bear the responsibility of dealing with all of the accumulative effects of these adjustment programs? These are the very real questions Andaiye brings to the surface! It is the haughty masculinist vision of liberation which has too often seen these questions as an after-thought, or not-a-thought at all. These aren’t just ethico-political questions, they are absolutely central to the very notion of liberation. History has constantly shown us that relegating these questions has had the effect of reproducing the kind of hierarchies of power that we intended to escape in the first place. We must abolish all forms of exploitation, discrimination and oppression, incorporating the democratic values we wish to institutionalise in the very process of organisation and political action itself.
Consequently, Andaiye’s radical vision is crucial for anyone thinking about how we actually go about organising against capitalism, as well as showing us where and how we might start. For Andaiye, we start with those who are most exploited by capitalism, those whose unwaged labour is not even recognised by some Marxists, despite the fact that such labour provides the very mantle for the exploitation of labour-power by capital. In other words, (predominantly) women’s (caring) work provides and replenishes the labour-power that is exploited under capitalism. Without this seemingly invisible labour, the capitalist world-system as we know it would not exist. This is the perspective from which Andaiye starts and even then, she does not make a fetish out of it:
“I no longer believe, as I used to, what Peggy Antrobus puts far more clearly than I can:
-“Feminist politics starts with an understanding of the way social injustice is embedded in the social relations of gender. It is grounded in a politics informed by that analysis. And ends with a passionate commitment for gender justice *as a way of addressing all other issues*”.-
Working for gender justice, like working for gender equality, will not lead to a transformation of all the interacting power relations against which we must organise- if we want to.”
Andaiye simply understands that working from those who engage in the most arduous social reproductive work is a way of making sure we do not miss out anyone in the process of liberation. It is not to place gender as the privileged site of radical politics. Instead, Andaiye views gender as one of the many ways capitalism accumulates through forms of differentiation. But, for Andaiye, we must tackle every one of the interacting power relations if we wish to build a society which is truly just and worth living in.
This is just part of Andaiye’s legacy. I did not even cover the writings on the WPA here. An essential part of her activist life. As someone studying the WPA, it is striking to me that I actually was completely invested in the stuff around Red Thread. It exemplifies how much we can learn a lot from this incredible woman who was always honest and self-critical, without being self-deprecating.
In the spirit of Andaiye, I shall end with her nod towards another under-appreciated figure of Caribbean radicalism in the book’s preface: “Eusi [Kwayana], for example”.
January 29, 2022
An insightful series of writings that range from the "scholarly" to the very personal about Andaiye's work as part of the Working People's Alliance in Guyana, Red Thread (a women's org), her struggles with cancer, Walter Rodney's death, the Grenada revolution and other subjects. I didn't know much Caribbean history or background beforehand but the book was good at explaining or providing context. The writings themselves are generally easy to understand, hard hitting and well structured, like the book itself which is broken up in 4 or 5 main topics.
November 25, 2022
FANTASTIC. HIGHLY informative. I will always recommend.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews