Adam Mayer | Széchenyi István University (original) (raw)

Uploads

Videos by Adam Mayer

Papers by Adam Mayer

A nigériai marxizmus fejlődési irányai A szubszaharai Afrikában általában, és Nigériában különöse... more A nigériai marxizmus fejlődési irányai A szubszaharai Afrikában általában, és Nigériában különösen, rendkívül furcsa helyzettel találkozunk, ha a rendszerkritikai mozgalmakat, a szakszervezetek által kifejtett politikai ellenállást, és a marxizmus elméletének helyzetét kívánjuk megérteni. Ha a kizsákmányolás mértéke felől közelítjük meg a kérdést, akkor óhatatlanul gyengeséget látunk, hiszen objektíve kimondhatjuk, hogy nincs még egy régiója földünknek, ahol a kizsákmányolás olyan méreteket öltene, mint Afrikában, és különösen Nigériában, Nyugat-Afrika legnagyobb gazdaságában. A rendszerkritikai alapon álló pártok teljesítménye a választásokon szinte alig mérhető, a cégek a dolgozóikat néha évekig nem fizetik (ez a legnagyobb munkaadóra, az államra is igaz), a minimálbér kizárólag a számszerűen maximum 30%-ot kitevő formális szektorban dolgozók esetében került bevezetésre (ott is inkább csak elvileg). Az IMF diktálta strukturális megszorítások 1986-os bevezetése óta pedig a formális szektor növekedés helyett zsugorodik, és az országban még a korá a kiépült ipar is leépül, eltűnik. 1 Az állami cégek privatizációja mindeközben a közműszolgáltatások révén óriási profitot termel a nigériai burzsoázia számára. A nigériai elit néhány képviselője mára nagyobb vagyonnal rendelkezik, mint Nagy-Britannia milliárdosai, de közöttük a terménykereskedő Dangote a kivétel, mert ő legalább érintőlegesen kapcsolatba kerül a termelés szférájával; társai az elitben az olajbevételek szervezett,

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2019

Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines, 2021

ABSTRACT Throughout the Cold War the USSR was the most important external source of funds, ideolo... more ABSTRACT Throughout the Cold War the USSR was the most important external source of funds, ideological transfers, and organizational help for Marxists in Nigeria. The events of 1989 and the USSR’s subsequent withdrawal from this role created a major hiatus for the Nigerian Left. In this article, I prove that Nigerian socialist movements and thinkers, after a short adjustment period, successfully recovered from the shock of 1989. I present a plethora of coping mechanisms that Leftist intellectuals employed as private survival strategies. I also show that the Nigerian Left as a movement retained their Marxist and radical inspirations, and it also grew and became suffused with a new spirit of human rights, gender sensitivity, and attention to ethnicity from the 1990s onward. The Nigerian Left turned the disappearance of its external backer from a calamity into an engine of growth and ethical conscientization after 1989.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2019

African Identities, 2020

ABSTRACT Space for emancipatory projects during military rule in Nigeria shrinks considerably (19... more ABSTRACT Space for emancipatory projects during military rule in Nigeria shrinks considerably (1983–1999, with short interruptions). This affects anti-feudalist initiatives and radical feminist movements equally. Ifeoma Okoye, the preeminent socialist-feminist writer of Igboland, publishes novels and short stories in these years that deal with women’s lives and that attack post-colonial patriarchy. Her novel Men Without Ears also uncovers the mechanisms by which processes of feudalization come to characterize ethnic Igbo regions that hitherto had had no traditional rulers. Okoye in the novel weaves a narrative around a particularly toxic kind of masculinity, feudal masculinity, which imprints the newly instituted faux Igbo royal and faux Igbo feudatory. In Okoye’s world, Nigerian mainstream academic feminists, criminal uncles who try to disinherit orphans, and Igbo royalty with invented ranks but with very real thugs in their employ, all represent the comprador class that directs the developmental failure of Nigeria under military rule and beyond.

Review of African Political Economy, 2018

Nigerian author Ifeoma Okoye's novel The Fourth World, published in 2013, presents us with a trul... more Nigerian author Ifeoma Okoye's novel The Fourth World, published in 2013, presents us with a truly 21st century African unified socialistfeminist theory, while it places individual growth firmly in the community of an eponymous shanty in Enugu, Igboland. Through this novel, we observe how dictates of survival are transformed into acts of moral choice through the agency of work by a young girl of extraordinary character, helped by the congeniality of the community and by radical organisers.

Since May 2013, the federal government of Nigeria has been trying to address the threat of Boko H... more Since May 2013, the federal government of Nigeria has been trying to address the threat of Boko Haram by military means. These operations are ongoing and its details are shrouded in secrecy, but judging by the results, they have so far failed to root out the immediate and ever present threat of terrorist activity in the region, where BH has the apparent ability to strike at will. Our paper proposes a radical solution to the threat of terrorism in Northern Nigeria where the local 'law of the land' prevails as a source of legal jurisdiction and where feudal elements have managed to retain their social and political primacy. Our solution proposes that the tacit Western backing for the traditional Fulani ruling elements, habitual since colonial times, should now be abandoned. The policy of helping traditional emirs might have been well suited for the early-to mid-20th century, but it is now part of the problem instead of a solution.Identifying alternatives to the Fulani aristocr...

Intersections, 2016

The paper offers a critical reading of Eurocentrism and Western hegemony of social thought by hig... more The paper offers a critical reading of Eurocentrism and Western hegemony of social thought by highlighting the essential similarities between the African and post-1989 Eastern European experience. It argues that Eastern European local knowledge and difference should be addressed in new ways, which take into account our neo-colonial negation and subjugation. The reorientation of what I call an essentially orientalist discourse in Eastern Europe can come from renewed engagement, after a nearly thirty-year gap, with African political theory, labour activism, and resistance movements. The article offers a discussion in what ways the African experience can be paralleled with the Eastern European peripheral integration into the global capitalist economy and it argues that African social thought, which has been hitherto largely neglected in post-socialist Eastern Europe, can, indeed, have illuminating insights into a history of global marginalisation. Further, I argue, that in that sense, African social thought can be an inspiring source in order to reorient current Eastern European histories, which have been developing selfdefeating, self-deprecating and self-orientalising tendencies since at least 1989. Afrikanizacija, a grand metaphor for our region's descent into a world of neo-colonialism, should also mean that we recognise the liberating and emancipating contents of African social thought especially in the fields of labour and feminism when we look for ways to fight Western hegemony.

Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 2017

and 1930s Latvia as strongly hostile – unsurprisingly since, in addition, male same-sex relations... more and 1930s Latvia as strongly hostile – unsurprisingly since, in addition, male same-sex relations specifically were criminalized. Interestingly, she also provides an interesting explanation as to why homosexual men in Latvia were referred to in the press as “black carnations.” The first account dealing with homosexuality in the Latvian-language press appeared in 1924; in it, the journalist discussed the rumour that there existed a “pederast club” (146) in Riga known as the “Black Carnation.” In order to enter, one had to wear a badge of a black carnation on a green enamel background. Interestingly, stereotypes in the Latvian media represented same-sex relationships between men as a form of “male prostitution” (147), wherein an older, richer man paid young boys for sexual services in a perceived unequal power relationship of seducer/offender and seduced/ victim, and active/passive. To conclude, this review has underscored chapters and passages in this collection that were particularl...

African Identities, 2021

Western guidebooks on Nigeria are a disappearing genre. A home grown guidebook industry has recen... more Western guidebooks on Nigeria are a disappearing genre. A home grown guidebook industry has recently appeared to fill the void. This article traces the causes of these developments.

Canadian Journal of African Studies , 2021

African Identities, 2020

Space for emancipatory projects during military rule in Nigeria shrinks considerably (1983–1999, ... more Space for emancipatory projects during military rule in Nigeria
shrinks considerably (1983–1999, with short interruptions). This
affects anti-feudalist initiatives and radical feminist movements
equally. Ifeoma Okoye, the preeminent socialist-feminist writer of
Igboland, publishes novels and short stories in these years that deal
with women’s lives and that attack post-colonial patriarchy. Her novel
Men Without Ears also uncovers the mechanisms by which processes
of feudalization come to characterize ethnic Igbo regions that
hitherto had had no traditional rulers. Okoye in the novel weaves
a narrative around a particularly toxic kind of masculinity, feudal
masculinity, which imprints the newly instituted faux Igbo royal and
faux Igbo feudatory. In Okoye’s world, Nigerian mainstream academic
feminists, criminal uncles who try to disinherit orphans, and Igbo
royalty with invented ranks but with very real thugs in their employ,
all represent the comprador class that directs the developmental
failure of Nigeria under military rule and beyond.

roape.net, 2019

Mayer celebrates a gathering of activists and researchers, which could not have been more differe... more Mayer celebrates a gathering of activists and researchers, which could not have been more different from the mega-conferences of academia today. The conference examined the extraordinary vibrancy of left politics and movements across the continent in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2019

Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines, 2021

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2019

African Identities, 2020

Review of African Political Economy, 2018

Intersections, 2016

Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 2017

African Identities, 2021

Canadian Journal of African Studies , 2021

African Identities, 2020

roape.net, 2019

Ifeoma Okoye; Nigeria; Nigerian marxism; Socialist-feminism; West African radicalism

Lexington Books, 2025

Adam Mayer’s Military Marxism: Africa’s Contribution to Revolutionary Theory, 1957–2023 explores ... more Adam Mayer’s Military Marxism: Africa’s Contribution to Revolutionary Theory, 1957–2023 explores African Marxist theory and the intellectual merits of Afro-Marxist schools of thought to show how they have developed and impacted sub-Saharan Africa from the Cold War to
the present. He also discusses the efficacy of the movements influenced by Marxism and how they are contested today. Through in-depth research, Mayer answers the following questions: Who were the African Marxist intellectuals? What happened to these intellectuals in the 1990s in NGO-administered, deindustrialized Africa? How are these theories
inspiring popular rebellions and radical anti-Western military coups today? This book explores how Military Marxism, through its own rich and variegated African theory, has continued to inform and guide the practice of various political movements today when neo-Sankarism is yet again a potent force.

Naija Marxisms: Revolutionary Thought in Nigeria, by Pluto Press, is out!

International Journal of African Historican Studies, 2023

This excellent edited volume sheds light on many understudied aspects of the moorings and (dis)en... more This excellent edited volume sheds light on many understudied aspects of the moorings and (dis)entanglements between Africa and East Germany during the Cold War. Topics that are dealt with range from women's accounts to friendship brigades, from socialist international organizations to the fate of individual Mozambicans in the GDR and beyond, and from trade unions to schools. The tome draws on sources that include photographs, many new and relevant archival finds, as well as oral history and newly unearthed manuscripts. The volume's main weakness results from not critiquing liberal paradigms when assessing the record of African Marxist states or the GDR record in terms of influencing people's lives and well-being, and the negative effects of racism and neocolonialism in the second half of the twentieth century in Africa and Eastern Europe.

International Journal of African Historical Studies, 2021

The actors discussed in this special issue were neither leaders nor elites in a straightforward s... more The actors discussed in this special issue were neither leaders nor elites in a straightforward sense. They rather belonged to the intelligentsia, a status that most of them owed to the opportunities offered by Eastern bloc countries. Nevertheless, they often faced obstacles and setbacks in their careers and in some cases they were effectively marginalized. In terms of political and social visions, the case studies illuminate the significance of African and Third World revolutions, East-West comparisons, transnational cultural currents, and other sources of inspiration, and testify to the powerful and competing visions of socialism. Various groups grappled over the meaning and direction of socialist experiments in Africa, articulating their visions of socioeconomic change and of a world free from imperialism. For some actors, however, the national question came first and could not be resolved through socialist reforms alone. While the relations with the Eastern bloc fostered aspirations and provided plenty of opportunities to African students, trade unionists, activists and intellectuals, they were also marked by constraints and limitations which were largely due to regime changes, wars, and other developments back home. Any attempt to better understand them requires shifting the focus from the East to Africa, exploring their embeddedness in postcolonial worldmaking, and broadening the empirical basis with new case studies from both socialist and non-socialist African countries. This special issue moves in this direction.

Historical Materialism, 2024

Recent military coups in West Africa have put the continent’s democratisation itself into questio... more Recent military coups in West Africa have put the continent’s democratisation itself
into question. In some places, for the moment, these coups appear to have popular backing. Nigeria, where radicalism is firmly rooted in democratic values and a
human-rights framework, the radical grassroots opposition to the Buhari government’s creeping authoritarianism lies drenched in blood. The roots of this development go back to the history of Nigeria’s radicalism in the twentieth century. Much
has appeared on the global 1968 recently, including that of Africa. 1970s/1980s-style
radicalism is reappearing today with Omoyele Sowore’s 2018 presidential candidacy,
with the African Action Congress party, the #EndSARS protests and the tragic Lekki
Toll Gate massacre (2020) in Nigeria. The shift towards radicalism is palpable with
protest music such as Falz’s This is Nigeria, and Burna Boy’s Monsters you Made, both
explicitly targeting neocolonialism and police brutality. Contrary to Achille Mbembe’s
sweeping dismissal of African radicalism, the movement with very deep roots under
study is meaningful once again, and is gathering momentum in West Africa’s giant
polity. This article applies Walter Benjamin’s and also Nigerian radical thinkers’ conceptualisation of political, social and artistic radicalism, while it frames the Nigerian
version via the movement’s history, in which marxisant theory and praxis, feminism,
human rights and pro-democracy movements interact with emancipatory strands of
Islam, Christianity, Igbo Judaism, and animism. In the context of Nigerian radicalism,
even expressly pro-capitalist art theory performs a radical social function by stressing
the African’s right to make universal statements (Olu Oguibe) in its de facto defiance of
the neo-colony. As these different strands of protest meet, ethnic uprisings (amongst them ipob) find ways to establish common cause with social radicalism, posing a composite threat to the prebendalist oligarchy that rules and oppresses the country via a
militarised neoliberalism.

International Journal of African Historical Studies, 2021

Investigating the educational journey of the Ghanaian trade unionist Jahn A. Osei to East Ger-man... more Investigating the educational journey of the Ghanaian trade unionist Jahn A. Osei to East Ger-many, this article explores how mobile African labor functionaries initiated and maintained ties between the global South and the Cold War East. The article first examines the relations of Osei’s sending institu-tion, the Ghana Trades Union Congress, with the East German national trade union federation (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund—FDGB), which ran the trade union college in Bernau where Osei studied. It then interrogates the personal correspondence between the institute’s director and Osei after his return to Ghana, which reveals a productive and mutually beneficial exchange of books, periodicals and newspa-pers between Accra and Bernau. The third part, by drawing on Osei’s correspondence as well as on a re-port he wrote for the college’s bulletin, unveils a shared language of global, anti-imperialist socialism be-tween Ghana and the GDR that was key to produce and maintain these South-East ties. Utilizing classic as well as recent scholarship on Nkrumah’s Ghana and African trade unions during the Cold War as well as archival material from the FDGB, the article places Osei’s determined anti-capitalist rhetoric and enthusi-asm for a socialist modernity within both Nkrumah’s socialist modernization project in Ghana and the political-ideological education Osei had received at the trade union college in East Germany