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Manifestations of nationhood in the writings of Amilcar Cabral

2005; Routledge; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14725840500268416

1472-5851

Alexis Wick,

Political and Social Dynamics in Chile and Latin America

Abstract This paper focuses on the conceptual contribution Cabral made to the 'New Man' ideal, seen as the definition of a more humane and democratic citizen, capable of engaging in transformation from the reality of each historical context and engaged in the struggle against injustice. The author compares Cabral's key proposals on nation‐class, culture, ethnicity and imperialism, with more traditional Marxist views and from the angle of their possible Europeocentrism. Cabral's originality, despite some contradictions, makes him a relevant contemporary reference. Keywords: Ideologynationnationalismstate'New Man'ethnicitytribalismclassnation‐class Notes 1. It would be interesting to make a comparative study of the Portuguese colonial war in Guinea‐Bissau (1961–1974) and the American War in Vietnam (1962–1975) because the simultaneous events have several points in common at the level of military strategy. The use of napalm and the 'policy of strategic hamlets' are two characteristics of the American offensive in Vietnam; the Portuguese did the same in Guinea. 2. Otelo de Carvalho, one of the high‐ranking leaders of the AFM, acknowledges the influence the work of Cabral had on him. What is more 'the essence of the political programme of the AMF on the colonial question, the crucial question of the Portuguese policy at the time, reflects the influence of the arguments put forward by Cabral' (Chabal 1983 Chabal, Patrick. 1983. Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and People's War,, New York: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar], p. 50). 3. The writings of Cabral are considerable and many of them are unpublished. The Mario Soares Foundation in Lisbon, in collaboration with the Amilcar Cabral Foundation in Praia, for example, has launched a 'Project for safeguarding the Amilcar Cabral documents' (See Mario Soares Foundation 2000 Mario Soares Foundation. 2000. Amilcar Cabral – Sou Um Simples Africano…,, Lisbon: Fundaçao Mario Soares. [Google Scholar]). However, several compilations grouping his most important texts do exist. The most complete work was published in French under the direction of the Angolan intellectual, Mario de Andrade, a friend of Cabral: Unité et Lutte I – L'Arme de la Théorie and Unité et Lutte II – La Pratique Révolutionnaire (Paris: François Maspéro, 1975). Cabral wrote texts for a multitude of uses and different publics, and each intervention is of course defined by its context. The fundamental unity of the work of Cabral is, however, undeniable — it is indeed striking to see the clarity with which he is able to put across the same ideas in different contexts. 4. On this point, see in particular Mbembe 2000 Mbembe, Achille. 2000. De la Postcolonie – Essai sur l'Imagination Politique dans l'Afrique Contemporaine,, Paris: Karthala. [Google Scholar]. The category 'ethnic group' is fundamentally problematic. In order to emphasize this, we have placed it in inverted commas throughout the text. 5. Here we mention only the 'official' version of diplomatic history, which focuses on events relating to Europe, because it is at this level that the nationalist movements, of which the PAIGC forms a part, wished to be inscribed. It is not within the purview of the present article to present the alternative narratives and the multiple forms of resistance to colonial domination by indigenous peoples. 6. The fact that these two organizations, meant to maintain world peace, contain the term 'nation' in their name is highly revealing of the hegemonic political context. 7. This description is quite schematic and therefore inaccurate. For example, Senghor, the President of Senegal, was anti‐Marxist and Sékou Touré, the President of Guinea‐Conakry, did not study in Europe. It is legitimate nonetheless to consider in a general way that the Leninist analysis of imperialism decisively influenced the discourse of African independence through indigenous intellectuals educated in Europe. 8. Of course, in practice the oldest European nation‐states were far from being homogeneous and their unification was made possible only by the repression of one or several peoples at the hands of another. 9. This idea is reinforced by the fact that the party was originally called the African Independence Party (Andrade 1980 Andrade, Mario de. 1980. Amilcar Cabral: Essai de Biographie Politique,, Paris: François Maspéro. [Google Scholar], p. 52). 10. Cabral insisted all his life on binationalism, and dismissed the exclusive nationalism which numerous parties put forward, Cape Verdian as well as Guinean. Binationalism was the essential principle of the ideology of the PAIGC from its very formation in 1956 (Chabal 1983 Chabal, Patrick. 1983. Amilcar Cabral: Revolutionary Leadership and People's War,, New York: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar], p. 28). In addition, his Cape Verdian identity never prevented Cabral from asserting, in a scientific article dealing with agriculture: 'I am Guinean' (Cabral 1975b Cabral, Amilcar. 1975b. "'L'agriculture de la Guinée, ses caractéristiques et ses problèmes fondamentaux,',". In Unité et Lutte I, pp. 55–73. in [Google Scholar], p. 55). We need to remember also that in referring to Guinea‐Bissau and Cape Verde, Cabral says unequivocally 'our country' (in the singular) (Cabral 1975t Cabral, Amilcar. 1975t. "'Unité et Lutte',". In Unité et Lutte, pp. 163–183. in [Google Scholar], p. 167). In fact, one level of identity does not banish another. As Michel Cahen aptly states: 'There is no Gramm's law for ethnicity!' (Cahen 1994 Cahen, Michel. 1994. Ethnicité Politique – Pour une Lecture Réaliste de l'Identité,, Paris: L'Harmattan. [Google Scholar], p. 88). 11. The discourse underlining a global rather than a restricted identity has nowadays been largely deconstructed and discredited as the expression of an internal dominant viewpoint (see for example Goerg 1995 Goerg, Odile. 1995. 'Sierra Léonais, Créoles, Krio: La dialectique de l'identité',. Africa, : pp. 114–132. [Google Scholar]). However, this process is not so simple and univalent in Cabral's discourse: he never claims to erase internal differences. 12. Of course, this line of argument dealing with the collapse of indigenous history is anchored in a dogmatic a priori which is conceived in the hegemonic ideological context modeled on European history (in which the bourgeoisie played a predominant role). It is in flagrant contradiction with Cabral's habitual inclination for realism and materialism. The idea of a 'natural' and 'normal' evolution with reference to a process, whatever it might be, and without a study of the local circumstances is itself essentially idealist in nature. 13. Translator's note: the author (A.W.) makes the following observation : 'It is interesting to bring to mind the fact that the Latin etymological roots of the word nation itself is linked to those of the word naissance'. This is the case in French, it is not so in English (nation (Fr) translates as nation (Eng); naissance (Fr) as birth (Eng)). 14. For a development of these arguments, see Wick (2003 Wick, Alexis. 2003. 'Le Spectre de la Nation: Amilcar Cabral et le Nationalisme', Mémoire de Maîtrise, Université Paris‐7 – Denis Diderot, June [Google Scholar]). 15. For a discussion of the Jacobinism of the ANC, see M.Cahen (1994 Cahen, Michel. 1994. Ethnicité Politique – Pour une Lecture Réaliste de l'Identité,, Paris: L'Harmattan. [Google Scholar], pp. 143—145). It should be noted that 'tribe' in English refers directly to identity. The translation into French is best rendered by 'ethnicity' (ethnicité; and not by tribu (French)). [Both 'tribe' and 'tribu' derive from the Latin tribus. Translator's note]. 16. In addition, mention must be made here of the exploitation by the Portuguese of 'ethnic' feeling in order to divide the indigenous populations (often violently) and to oppose the PAIGC at its very social foundation. This strategy culminated in the radio programme which, broadcast in the vernacular languages by the colonial administration, criticized the fact that the main leaders of the PAIGC were Cape Verdians (rather than 'true children of Guinea') (see Cabral 1975o Cabral, Amilcar. 1975o. "'Rapport sur la situation de la lutte, janvier 1971',". In Unité et Lutte II, pp. 97–134. in [Google Scholar], p. 107.). This allegation was, naturally, totally hypocritical, seeing that it was the Portuguese administration itself which created the disparity in the levels of education of the Cape Verdians and the continentals. The Cape Verdians were in fact considered 'assimilated' and served as intermediaries in the government of the colonial territories. The same argument was used by the assassins of Cabral who were also backed by the Portuguese, in order to justify their crime. 17. On the idea of a permanent 'construction—deconstruction' see Cahen (1994 Cahen, Michel. 1994. Ethnicité Politique – Pour une Lecture Réaliste de l'Identité,, Paris: L'Harmattan. [Google Scholar], p. 29). The expression 'the invention of tradition' refers to the collective work directed by Eric Hobsbawn and Terence Ranger (1983 Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence. 1983. The Invention of Tradition,, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]). 18. For Cabral, each situation comprises a negative and a positive dimension resulting from the clash of realities (constituted by material structures and facts of conscience). In order to improve the situation, one must 'with a conviction of realism, reinforce and consolidate the positive factors, and progressively but radically eliminate the negative factors' (1975o Cabral, Amilcar. 1975o. "'Rapport sur la situation de la lutte, janvier 1971',". In Unité et Lutte II, pp. 97–134. in [Google Scholar], p. 130). 19. This position is confirmed by the fact that, in the liberated zones, the judges (who were elected by the villagers), could choose the legal code into which they were integrated, as long as it did not counteract the 'principles of justice of the PAIGC' (Dhada 1993 Dhada, Mustafah. 1993. Warriors at Work: How Guinea was Really Set Free,, Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. [Google Scholar], p. 118). 20. It should also be noted that he did not conceive of the local religious traditions in a disparaging or particularizing way. He compares, for example, the talisman to the Bible, which European soldiers carry with them. 21. By 'revolutionary verbalism', we are referring to the attitude which consists in developing a regular discourse the scope of which is on an altogether different scale from the reality and the capacities of the movement. The words of Cabral have an opposite source of inspiration: 'To practice and defend the truth, always the truth in the face of the militants, those in charge of the people, whatever difficulty the knowledge of the truth may give rise to' (1975j Cabral, Amilcar. 1975j. "'Mettre en pratique les principes du parti',". In Unité et Lutte II, pp. 218–223. in [Google Scholar], p. 222). 22. This theme recurs regularly in the writings of Cabral, see in particular Chapter 2 (1975a Cabral, Amilcar. 1975a. "'L'action armée et les méthodes militaires,',". In Unité et Lutte II, pp. 35–187. in [Google Scholar], pp. 35—187). 23. Andrade probably did not interpret this in exactly the same way as we do; and he devotes himself with full enthusiasm in other passages to the discourse of the 'New Man'. He says for example: 'Having emerged from nothing, profound changes have already taken place in the lives of the people. A new man is being created — the new social being — the greatest victory of the struggle for liberation and the Party' (1980 Andrade, Mario de. 1980. Amilcar Cabral: Essai de Biographie Politique,, Paris: François Maspéro. [Google Scholar], p. 116). 24. On the issue of radical decentralisation in the thought and work of Cabral see Idahosa (2002 Idahosa, Pablo. 2002. 'Going to the people – Amilcar Cabral's materialist theory and practice of culture and ethnicity',. Lusotopie, : pp. 29–58. [Google Scholar], p. 50). 25. On this question, see Cabral's own self‐criticism in (1975l Cabral, Amilcar. 1975l. "'Partir de la réalité de notre pays. Être réalistes',". In Unité et Lutte I, pp. 184–207. in [Google Scholar], pp. 184—207). 26. On the concept of a 'stateless society', see Amselle, who notes that 'there do not exist so‐called stateless societies in pre‐colonial Africa' (1990 Amselle, Jean‐Loup. 1990. Logiques Métisses: Anthropologie de l'Identité en Afrique et Ailleurs,, Paris: Payot. [Google Scholar], p. 26), but that the distinction between stateless societies and societies constituted as states becomes omnipresent within the obsession of European ethnology to categorize everything into static typologies (pp. 95—96). 'This tradition of ethnological correctness', he adds, 'is linked to a precise set of historical circumstances; colonization' (p. 99). 27. He maintains, for example: 'We are with the Blacks of the United States of America, we are with them in the streets of Los Angeles, and when they are removed from any possibility of life, we suffer with them' (1975h Cabral, Amilcar. 1975h. "'Les options de la C.O.N.C.P.',". In Unité et Lutte II, pp. 224–236. in [Google Scholar], p. 229). Cabral has had an important influence on revolutionary circles in the West — but serious research on this subject still remains to be done. 28. I am indebted to Michel Cahen for this ideological‐chronological insight; see his chapter 2, 'Des luttes nationalitaires à la suspicion ethnique en Europe' (1994 Cahen, Michel. 1994. Ethnicité Politique – Pour une Lecture Réaliste de l'Identité,, Paris: L'Harmattan. [Google Scholar], pp. 17—31). 29. I am borrowing here the words of Michel Cahen (1992 Cahen, Michel. 1992. 'Ce que l'Afrique Noire pourrait apprendre à l'Europe',. Le Monde Diplomatique, June [Google Scholar]). 30. Following the visit of a UN Commission of Enquiry into the regions controlled by the PAIGC in April 1972, the Security Council recognized the PAIGC as the legitimate representative of the Guinean people. The state of Guinea‐Bissau was proclaimed on 24 September 1973; on 3 November, the General Assembly of the UN recognized its independence.