The Ideological Scramble for Africa: How the Pursuit of Anticolonial Modernity Shaped a Postcolonial Order, 1945-1966

In the 1950s and 1960s, African leaders crafted an anticolonial modernization project to reverse the psychological and cultural destruction of colonialism. Kwame Nkrumah's African Union was envisioned as a federation of liberation to challenge the extant imperial forces. In the 1960s, the attempt to remake African psychology was abandoned, and socioeconomic development came into focus. Anticolonial nationalists drew strength from the example of the Haitian Revolution of 1791, which demanded the universal application of Europe's Enlightenment values.

Format: Hardback
Length: 318 pages
Publication date: 03 April 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

In the 1950s and 1960s, African leaders embarked on a remarkable project aimed at crafting an anticolonial modernization agenda. Rather than align themselves with the Cold War factions of East and West, anticolonial nationalists sought to reverse the psychological and cultural devastation caused by colonialism. Kwame Nkrumah's vision for the African Union was a federation of liberation, aimed at challenging the dominant imperial forces of the time. These forces included the US empire of liberty, the Soviet empire of equality, and the European empires of exploitation.

The Bandung Conference in the 1950s and Ghana's support for African liberation played pivotal roles in shaping the agenda of pan-African ideology. These events also determined the stakes in the Congo crisis and the fight against white minority rule in southern and eastern Africa. During the 1960s, the focus shifted towards socioeconomic development, and anticolonial nationalists began to draw inspiration from the Haitian Revolution of 1791. Toussaint Louverture's demand for the universal application of Europe's Enlightenment values became a guiding principle for liberationists in the postwar period.

The Ideological Scramble for Africa highlights the enduring battle between liberation and imperialism that emerged after 1945. This struggle was not limited to the Cold War arena but extended to the broader African continent. Anticolonial nationalists sought to redefine society in the image of the revolutionary forces that had brought about their independence. Their efforts to reverse the psychological and cultural damage of colonialism laid the foundation for a new era of development and progress in Africa.

Weight: 57g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501767913