Anarchism in Africa refers both to purported
anarchic political organisation of some traditional
African societies and to modern anarchist
movements in Africa.
== "Anarchic elements" in traditional cultures
==
Sam Mbah and I. E. Igariwey in African Anarchism:
The History of a Movement make the claim that:
The reason why traditional African societies
are characterised as possessing "anarchic
elements" is because of their relatively horizontal
political structure and, in some cases, the
absence of classes. In addition to that, the
leadership of elders normally did not extend
into the kinds of authoritative structures
which characterise the modern state. A strong
value was, however, placed on traditional
and "natural" values. So for example, although
there were no laws against rape, homicide,
and adultery, a person committing those acts
would be persecuted together with his or her
kin. The principle of collective responsibility
was sometimes upheld.
Class systems had already existed in some
African civilisations (such as Nubia, Egypt,
Axum and the Hausa Kingdoms) for millennia,
but processes of social stratification accelerated
from the fifteenth century onwards.
== Modern anarchist movements ==
=== Algeria ===
After the 2001 Black Spring in Kabylie, anarchist
organisers have been able to create a moderately
sized anarchist community in the town of Barbacha.
=== Egypt ===
The anarchist movement first emerged in Egypt
in the late nineteenth century, but collapsed
in the 1940s. The movement has reemerged in
the early 2010s.
The movement re-entered global view when a
number of anarchist groups took part in the
2011 Egyptian revolution, namely the Egyptian
Libertarian Socialist Movement and Black Flag.
The Egyptian anarchists have come under attack
from the military regime and the Muslim Brotherhood.
On October 7, 2011, the Egyptian Libertarian
Socialist Movement held their first conference
in Cairo.
=== Nigeria ===
The Nigerian anarchist movement emerged in
the early 1990s, with the establishment of
the anarcho-syndicalist Awareness League.
=== South Africa ===
Anarchism dates back to the 1880s in South
Africa, when the English anarchist immigrant
Henry Glasse settled in Port Elizabeth in
the then Cape Colony. Anarchists played a
role in the Social Democratic Federation (SDF),
established in Cape Town in 1904 and open
to socialists of all persuasions. The first
specifically anarchist organisations was the
revolutionary syndicalist International Socialist
League (ISL), founded in Johannesburg in 1915.
It went on to establish branches across much
of South Africa, excluding the western Cape
where the anarchists split from the SDF to
form the Industrial Socialist League (IndSL).
By mutual agreement, the IndSL operated in
the western Cape, while the ISL operated in
the rest of the country. The IndSL and the
ISL would go on to organise the first trade
union among workers of colour in South Africa,
the Industrial Workers of Africa (IWA), modelled
on the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Swept up in the atmosphere created by what
at the time appeared to be a victorious worker
revolution in Russia in 1917, the ISL and
the IndSL dissolved into the Communist Party
of South Africa (CPSA) at the latter's founding
in 1921, providing many notable early figures
until the Comintern ordered the expulsion
of the syndicalist faction in the party. Unaligned
syndicalists like Percy Fisher were active
in the miners' 1922 Rand Rebellion, a general
strike-turned-insurrection, and strongly opposed
the racism of a large sector of the white
strikers. The IWA meanwhile merged into the
Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU)
in 1920, one reason the ICU exhibited syndicalist
influence.The anarchist movement in South
Africa only re-emerged in the early 1990s
with the establishment of small anarchist
collectives in Durban and Johannesburg. The
Anarchist Revolutionary Movement (ARM) was
founded in 1993. It was succeeded by the more
tightly organised Workers' Solidarity Federation
(WSF) in 1995. As opposed to the looser ARM,
the WSF was in the tradition of platformism.
In 1999, for a range of reasons, the WSF dissolved.
It was succeeded by the Bikisha Media Collective
(BMC) and Zabalaza Books. These two books
co-produced Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern
African Revolutionary Anarchism and were active
in the Anti-Privatisation Forum.In 2003, the
platformist Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation
(ZACF, or ZabFed) was founded, drawing in
the BMC and Zabalaza Books (whose Zabalaza
journal became the journal of the ZACF) as
well as a number of other collectives that
had been set up in Soweto and Johannesburg,
including a local chapter of the Anarchist
Black Cross. In 2007, in order to strengthen
its structures, ZabFed reconstituted itself
as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
(ZACF, or ZabFront). The new ZACF is a unitary
"federation of individuals", as opposed to
a federation of collectives like ZabFed, and
has recently also come under the influence
of especifismo, a tendency which originated
within the Federación Anarquista Uruguaya
(FAU, or Uruguayan Anarchist Federation).
While committed to promoting syndicalism in
the unions, ZACF work was in practice largely
focused on the so-called "new social movements",
formed in South Africa in response to the
perceived failures of the African National
Congress (ANC) government post-apartheid.
The ZACF was involved in the campaigns of
the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) and the
Landless People's Movement (LPM). It has also
been involved in solidarity work with Abahlali
baseMjondolo and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction
Campaign. In addition to such work, the ZACF
is active in organising workshops and propaganda.
== Anarchist organisations in Africa ==
International Socialist League (South Africa),
1915–1921
Industrial Workers of Africa (South Africa),
1917–1920
Industrial Socialist League (South Africa),
1918–1921
Awareness League (Nigeria), 1990s–Present
Anarchist Revolutionary Movement (South Africa),
1993–1995
Workers' Solidarity Federation (Southern Africa),
1995–1999
Bikisha Media Collective (South Africa), 1999–2007
Zabalaza Books (South Africa), 1999–2007
South African chapter of the Anarchist Black
Cross, 2002–2007
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (Southern
Africa), 2003–2007
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (Southern
Africa), 2007–Present
Black Flag (Egypt), 2010s–Present
Libertarian Socialist Movement (Egypt), 2011–Present
== See also ==
Black anarchism
Politics of Africa
== References ==
== Further reading ==
"Anarchism and Revolutionary Syndicalism in
South Africa, 1904-1921" by Lucien van der
Walt
"Military Dictatorship and the State in Africa"
by Sam Mbah and I. E. Igariwey, an anarchist
critique of the African military dictatorships.
"African Anarchism: The History of a Movement"
by Sam Mbah and I. E. Igariwey [1]
== External links ==
African Anarchism, freedom and revolution
in Africa
An Irish anarchist in Africa An introduction
to today's western Africa from Anarchist perspective.
Towards a Vibrant & Broad African-Based Anarchism
Anarchism in Africa An interview with Michael
Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt.
