Violence and Liberation Poli 110DA 12 To wage war and engage in politics are one and the same thing

The native proletariat are not viable revolutionary force, yet the nationalist parties focus on them – While European workers have nothing to lose, & represent the masses, colonized workers are relatively highly privileged and represent a tiny portion of the populace (64) – Urban nationalists, like colonists, see rural masses as backward, uncivilized (65)

Traditional peasant authorities reinforced by colonial regime (66) – Divide & conquer “The peasants distrust the town dweller. Dressed like a European, speaking his language, working alongside him, sometimes living in his neighborhood, he is considered by the peasant to be a renegade who has given up everything which constitutes the national heritage. The town dweller is ‘a traitor, a mercenary’”... – Political cadres “at a loss when it comes to organizing the rural masses.” (74)

Factions emerge in nationalist parties: cautious, legalistic party elites vs. radicals, who “live out their liberation as a godsent opportunity to launch the armed struggle.” (78) – Leaders do not initiate the liberation

Driven out of the party hierarchy and the city, the radical finds himself among the peasants – “Their ears hear the true voice of the country and their eyes see the great and infinite misery of the people. They realize now that precious time has been wasted on futile discussions of the colonial regime. They realize at last that change does not mean reform, that change does not mean improvement. Now possessed with a kind of vertigo they realize that the political unrest in the towns will always be powerless to change and overthrow the colonial regime.” (79)

“They discover that the rural masses have never ceased to pose the problem of their liberation in terms of violence, of taking back the land from the foreigners, in terms of national struggle and armed revolt. Everything is simple.” (79)

These exiled political cadres are guided by and train the masses, but this stage is cut short: “The masses, realizing the strength of their own muscles, force the leaders to accelerate events. The armed struggle is triggered.” (79)

The lumpenproletariat, desperate men and women “who fluctuate between madness and suicide, are restored to sanity, return to action and take their vital place in the great march of a nation on the move.” (82) – Restoration & liberation via violence

In this moment of initial victory, politics and ideology are rejected: “There is no program, no discourse, there are no resolutions, no factions. The problem is clear-cut: The foreigners must leave.” – “During this period, spontaneity rules.” (83)

During this period, old divisions and tribal identities and animosities are abandoned, as national consciousness rises, with all united by “an unquestioned determination to die for ‘the cause’.” (84)

But spontaneity is not tenable as the colonial forces counterattack. There is a need for guerilla training, leadership hierarchies, and political education, or else the revolt will falter in the face of repression and/or concessions. – Concessions not given, but taken. (86-89)

“The political education of the masses is now recognized as a historical necessity”, they must be “organized and guided.” (88, 92) Political commissioners must be dispatched to all groups to explain the nuances of politics and explain to all groups that their interest is the national interest. (93) – Factionalism a danger

At this moment, “clarification is crucial”, so that the people may overcome “the primitive Manichaeanism of the colonizer—Black versus White, Arab versus Infidel” (93) – Some natives will work against the national struggle, some from the colonials will work to further it (93-94) – The politics of free people is neither simple nor ecstatic Decolonizing the mind Positive liberty

The new consciousness “is national, revolutionary, and collective... By exploding the former colonial reality the struggle uncovers unknown facets, brings to light new meanings and underlines contradictions which were camouflaged by this reality.” “Violence alone, perpetrated by the people, violence organized and guided by the leadership, provides the key for the masses to decipher social reality.” (96)

So what? The colonized dream “dreams of possession. Every type of possession: of sitting at the colonist’s table and sleeping in his bed, preferably with his wife. The colonized man is an envious man... And it’s true that there is not one colonized subject who at least once a day does not dream of taking the place of the colonist.” – The colonized man – The colonist requires the colonized

The native bourgeoisie is the major threat after the colonists are driven out – They have no understanding of the economy, which was always in the hands of the colonists – They provide only intermediary services, having none of the abilities of the European bourgeoisie Can only think to continue shipping raw materials to Europe (98-100)

They demand ‘nationalization’ of the economy and the commercial sector, not on the basis of forming new social relationships, but “very precisely the transfer into indigenous hands of privileges inherited from the colonial period.” (100) – !

The native bourgeoisie demands jobs & positions for “us”, “its actions become increasingly tinged with racism,” conflict between Africans (103) – “We have switched from nationalism to ultranationalism, chauvinism, and racism.” (103)

“The aggressiveness of all these remarks recalls those so often attributed to the colonists.” (108) – Racial, national, religious bigotry – NOT liberated, only replacing the colonists

The leader ceases to care about the nation and works only to promote this or the other clique – Continued Friday