African Society : Towards Critical Perspective

Abstract

The sociological and political writings of Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane on African political history, political economy and political philosophy constitute a vital portion of a monumental legacy to later generations by an Africa intellectual who came to maturity through a historical consciousness that emerged in the decade of the 1960s. This was a period characterized by the radical contentious philosophies of history : African Marxism, African Nationalism and the reactionary ideologies aligned with imperialism and colonialism. The essays of Bernard Makhosezwe Mugubane stand at a fascinating intersection with the intellectual systems of Frantz Fanon, H.I.E. Dhlomo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Amilcar Cabral. They are first and foremost what Cabral and Fanon were clamouring for : an instrumentarium of the construction of a progressive African ideology or African ideologies. What enabled them to realize this remarkable breakthrough is that they are a continuation of the revolutionary...