Pan-African Social Ecology: Speeches, Conversations, and Essays

by Modibo Kadalie, Andrew Zonneveld (Introduction)

Modibo Kadalie has spent nearly six decades as an activist, organizer, teacher, and scholar in the civil rights, Black power, and Pan-African movements. In this collection of interviews and public talks, he reflects on the sit-ins, boycotts, strikes, urban rebellions, and anticolonial movements that have animated the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries. Kadalie demonstrates how the forms of direct democracy that have evolved through these freedom struggles present the promise of a future defined by social liberation as well as ecological healing.



This concise, radical, and iconoclastic book connects Black liberation struggles to ecological activism in the era of climate change, calling on present and future generations of activists to reconnect with the spirit of past movements without lionizing individual leaders or lending legitimacy to any governments or politicians.

Genres: Africa, Environment, Nonfiction, Politics, Race, History, Theory

175 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2019

Reviews

[Mars · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was incredible, highly recommend

[Yash · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Much of the history we are taught is premised on the misconception that America was the beginning of democracy in the world. That's simply inaccurate. In fact, no freedom-loving person wanted to be a part of the creation of America. They were quite literally resisting or running away from America. So, history must be re-written from the point of view of these freedom-seeking resisters, not merely as individuals but as an entire freedom movement."

These words by Kadalie ring true throughout this fantastic collection, which is a journey from Kadalie's upbringing in Georgia's Geechee community, his work in the Civil Rights movement in the US & Canada, his pioneering efforts in bringing Black Studies to American colleges & his thoughts on ongoing moments such as Black Lives Matter. This work is wonderful because it manages to be three things at once (while most authors would struggle to convincingly be even one of them): firstly, it's a practical guide to peaceful direct action for today's organizers; secondly, it's a theoretical meditation on history as shaped by social movements more than anything else (and successful movements, in turn, being defined by their conscious emphasis on women's rights and ecology); and thirdly, it's written in an artful, poetic way that makes it easy to understand even the most confusing theoretical concepts (e.g. epiphenomenon, dynamic structures etc).

Personally, this book helped me understand the richness of African-American social movements in the US as well as their little-known connection to post-colonial African states. More importantly, it's convinced me to always be skeptical of any political party that claims to speak for a social movement, as such parties will write often do more harm than good, if left to their own devices. There's a lot to learn in this sense about the role of the Democratic Party in the US political system, and about how useful it really is (and has been) in driving social change (spoiler: it's not).

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book. It's a timely read given the ongoing social movements in the US, but also, I hope, a timeless one, as it gives us robust models for understanding, informing & participating in similar social movements in the future.

[Nicole Balbuena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how to articulate what this book did to me, but (EDIT: Madeline articulated it so well… it feels like coming out of the political ideology closet. Like I kept finding different labels that didn’t quite fit… until now!) this was the best expression of political thought that I have ever read.
It was the perfect combination of political theory, stories of activism, and personal experiences.
I loved reading about Modibo Kadalie’s path to his current beliefs; his experiences in different movements, the people he met, the books he read that all impacted his way of thinking.
This book was truly revolutionary for me because I read about movements I never learned about in school.
I learned about theories that I always felt in my heart, but could never articulate as there was never anything to apply them to.
I could not see what the world could look like and what I wanted it to look like until reading about these movements happening all around the world practicing direct democracy.
Makes ya wonder what kind of censorship is going on that we never learned about this stuff…

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great intro to a dynamic and new-to-me black thinker at the intersection of CLR James and Murray Bookchin. I'm now picking up James in earnest.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has its moments and provides some interesting insights (particularly on this history of labour struggles in Atlanta) and ideas (the democratisation of science). That said, my primary takeaway has been recognising just how unimpressive anarchist critiques are. I remain unconvinced. Without the tool of Marxist class analysis, Kadalie’s takes on the nation-state just fall flat (and I don’t even de nation-states like that). He also lobbies several critiques at Marxism give the sense that he hasn’t read Marx, and he’s taking his opinion from his experiences organizing with other self-proclaimed Marxists (who also don’t seem to have read much Marx).

I still plan on reading some Bookchin later, so hopefully he’ll do a better job winning me over. We’ll see.

[Daniel Hannen · Rating 5 out of 5]

modibo kadalie has aura

[Grey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately not very insightful. The ideas presented aren’t throughly explored.

[Redpoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too light for anyone with some knowledge already of the subject matter. Considering it is basically talks given at forums and the like, this is not surprising,