Nigel Westmaas - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Nigel Westmaas

African American Studies Center, 2016

African American Studies Center, 2016

The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume XI, 2011

Abstract: The dissertation project investigates the ways in which the post-emancipation Guyana pe... more Abstract: The dissertation project investigates the ways in which the post-emancipation Guyana periodical press inclusive of the planter and state press, and the ethnic press comprising Black and Portuguese (Madeiran) newspapers, expressed diverse ethnic and class interests ...

Black Power in the Caribbean, 2014

:Guyana, like other countries in the Anglophone Caribbean, did not experience the full impact of ... more :Guyana, like other countries in the Anglophone Caribbean, did not experience the full impact of the world wide revolt of 1968. Guyana went through its own turbulence which by the late 1960s had attained a critical mass. While international events were influential a more quiet revolt took place in Guyana. The political and social divisions that had emerged under colonial

Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, 2004

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2012

Africa Update.Vol. XXVI, Issue 3 (Summer 2019) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa: A Tribute to Walter Rodney, 2019

Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It is demonstrated that Rodney's ideas are usually presented in dis... more Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It is demonstrated that Rodney's ideas are usually presented in distorted forms and the criticisms against them lack a valid foundation. Rodney was not a person rigidly bound to some idea. He was a scholar who applied Marxist theory in a creative fashion to the African condition. In addition to the economic exploitation of the African people, Rodney also dealt with the anti-imperialist and anti-racist political struggles in Africa. In the process of critiquing the works of some influential African scholars of today who ignore basic economic factors and focus on legal and cultural issues, Hirji presents a strong case for the continued relevance of Rodney and his major work. He notes that the predictions implied by How Europe Underdeveloped Africa as to the economic domination of Africa today are 'stunningly accurate.' Rodney's method of social analysis which combined theory with practice is essential for analyzing the African and global societies. Some critics accuse Rodney of overemphasizing external forces and neglecting the agency of Africans. Hirji points out that such criticisms are flawed because Rodney's analysis integrated external and internal factors. And the core role that imperialism plays in the underdevelopment of Africa cannot be overemphasized. The liberation of Africa from the clutches of imperialism has to be led by Africans. African masses have to take control of state power in order to halt the underdevelopment of Africa by the West and their African class allies. The apologists of neo-liberalism say Rodney was too polemical and mixed the role of the scholar with that of an activist. Yet, it is a misguided view since history abounds with cases of exemplary scholars and scientists who were also prominent activists in their days. In sum, Rodney does not offer a simple binary choice between hope and struggle to Africans and others but an integrated emphasis on hope and struggle. Walter Rodney was assassinated by local reactionary forces working in conjunction with imperialism in 1980 in his home country, Guyana. Yet, his legacy as a revolutionary and public intellectual survives. Despite the concrete and ideological reversals since his times and the erasure of anti-capitalist texts from syllabi in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe and America, some prominent scholars continue to refer to How Europe Underdeveloped Africa as a foundational text. His major book still commands a global audience. In this special issue of Africa Update, we have invited eminent scholars to evaluate the continuing relevance of Walter Rodney to Africa and the rest of the world in line with the Enduring Relevance thesis of Hirji and in accordance with the Postscript to the original publication by Rodney written by A.M. Babu. We are fortunate to include the piece by Kimani Nehusi, The Walter Rodney Professor of History, University of Guyana and Professor of Africology at Temple University. He updates the relevance of Rodney by indicating the attention paid to his work today by top theorists and by popular musicians alike and concludes that the themes of unequal exchange that Rodney theorized in the dialectical relationships between Europe and Africa persists today. Also included is a piece by the editor of this special issue of Africa Update, Biko Agozino, Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech, with a focus on the enduring relevance of the analysis of education for underdevelopment and education for development in Africa by Walter Rodney. Finally, Nigel Westmaas, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Hamilton College, completes the special issue with an overview of the contemporary relevance of Walter Rodney's popular education work against imperialist domination and to Marxist historiography, innovation of world system analysis and the application of dependency theory to Africa.

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2012

African American Studies Center, 2016

African American Studies Center, 2016

The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume XI, 2011

Abstract: The dissertation project investigates the ways in which the post-emancipation Guyana pe... more Abstract: The dissertation project investigates the ways in which the post-emancipation Guyana periodical press inclusive of the planter and state press, and the ethnic press comprising Black and Portuguese (Madeiran) newspapers, expressed diverse ethnic and class interests ...

Black Power in the Caribbean, 2014

:Guyana, like other countries in the Anglophone Caribbean, did not experience the full impact of ... more :Guyana, like other countries in the Anglophone Caribbean, did not experience the full impact of the world wide revolt of 1968. Guyana went through its own turbulence which by the late 1960s had attained a critical mass. While international events were influential a more quiet revolt took place in Guyana. The political and social divisions that had emerged under colonial

Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, 2004

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2012

Africa Update.Vol. XXVI, Issue 3 (Summer 2019) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa: A Tribute to Walter Rodney, 2019

Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It is demonstrated that Rodney's ideas are usually presented in dis... more Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It is demonstrated that Rodney's ideas are usually presented in distorted forms and the criticisms against them lack a valid foundation. Rodney was not a person rigidly bound to some idea. He was a scholar who applied Marxist theory in a creative fashion to the African condition. In addition to the economic exploitation of the African people, Rodney also dealt with the anti-imperialist and anti-racist political struggles in Africa. In the process of critiquing the works of some influential African scholars of today who ignore basic economic factors and focus on legal and cultural issues, Hirji presents a strong case for the continued relevance of Rodney and his major work. He notes that the predictions implied by How Europe Underdeveloped Africa as to the economic domination of Africa today are 'stunningly accurate.' Rodney's method of social analysis which combined theory with practice is essential for analyzing the African and global societies. Some critics accuse Rodney of overemphasizing external forces and neglecting the agency of Africans. Hirji points out that such criticisms are flawed because Rodney's analysis integrated external and internal factors. And the core role that imperialism plays in the underdevelopment of Africa cannot be overemphasized. The liberation of Africa from the clutches of imperialism has to be led by Africans. African masses have to take control of state power in order to halt the underdevelopment of Africa by the West and their African class allies. The apologists of neo-liberalism say Rodney was too polemical and mixed the role of the scholar with that of an activist. Yet, it is a misguided view since history abounds with cases of exemplary scholars and scientists who were also prominent activists in their days. In sum, Rodney does not offer a simple binary choice between hope and struggle to Africans and others but an integrated emphasis on hope and struggle. Walter Rodney was assassinated by local reactionary forces working in conjunction with imperialism in 1980 in his home country, Guyana. Yet, his legacy as a revolutionary and public intellectual survives. Despite the concrete and ideological reversals since his times and the erasure of anti-capitalist texts from syllabi in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe and America, some prominent scholars continue to refer to How Europe Underdeveloped Africa as a foundational text. His major book still commands a global audience. In this special issue of Africa Update, we have invited eminent scholars to evaluate the continuing relevance of Walter Rodney to Africa and the rest of the world in line with the Enduring Relevance thesis of Hirji and in accordance with the Postscript to the original publication by Rodney written by A.M. Babu. We are fortunate to include the piece by Kimani Nehusi, The Walter Rodney Professor of History, University of Guyana and Professor of Africology at Temple University. He updates the relevance of Rodney by indicating the attention paid to his work today by top theorists and by popular musicians alike and concludes that the themes of unequal exchange that Rodney theorized in the dialectical relationships between Europe and Africa persists today. Also included is a piece by the editor of this special issue of Africa Update, Biko Agozino, Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech, with a focus on the enduring relevance of the analysis of education for underdevelopment and education for development in Africa by Walter Rodney. Finally, Nigel Westmaas, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Hamilton College, completes the special issue with an overview of the contemporary relevance of Walter Rodney's popular education work against imperialist domination and to Marxist historiography, innovation of world system analysis and the application of dependency theory to Africa.

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 2012