The potent powerlessness of Leftist politics in African states

A tale of people who want structural change but eschew the messy realities of economics and organized politics

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I: Where are the politically-organized African Leftists?

I recently reread (the elder) Olufemi Taiwo’s Africa Must be Modern — a provocative and highly readable book that I think should be required reading in all high schools throughout the Continent. The book got me thinking about the role of ideas in African political economy. That, in turn, led me to conclude that there is a dearth of actionable political ideas for social and economic transformation on the Continent; and that this situation is partially attributable to the demise of organized Leftist politics in the region since the 1970s.

For a region whose countries are mostly low-income, mired in stark inequalities, and with a rich history of revolutionary left wing politics (see here and here) and accompanying intellectual firepower, it is striking how little traction contemporary…