Capitalism and the Transformation of Africa
2009
First Published
4.17
Average Rating
159
Number of Pages
"In the decades of wars, economic crises, and explosive class battles that lie ahead, the weight of the toilers of Africa in shaping the future will be greater than ever before." Reporting from Equatorial Guinea in central Africa, the authors focus on the social transformations unfolding, as revenues from offshore oil extraction are used to build infrastructure on which rising labor productivity, industry, and progress depend. Pulled into the world market as never before, both a capitalist class and a working class are being born. Includes firsthand accounts of the work of Cuban medical brigades in Equatorial Guinea, now extending to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Conakry as hundreds of Cuban volunteer medics combat the Ebola epidemic. Here we see the living example of the Cuban Revolution, exemplified by the international solidarity of workers and farmers who took political power into their own hands five decades ago. Woven together, these seemingly disparate threads—the beginning transformation of production and class relations in Equatorial Guinea, and the proletarian course of the Cuban Revolution—show a future to be fought for today. "Reliable basic information about contemporary Equatorial Guinea, information that would be of much value to any reader who is not familiar with the country."—African Studies Quarterly Includes photos, maps, and index.
Avg Rating
4.17
Number of Ratings
12
5 STARS
50%
4 STARS
17%
3 STARS
33%
2 STARS
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1 STARS
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Author
Mary-Alice Waters
Author · 9 books
Socialist feminist, journalist and activist in the United States. Waters became involved in Trotskyist politics at a young age, and joined the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the 1960s. She became the editor of their youth paper, Young Socialist, and the national secretary of the Young Socialist Alliance. In the early 1980s, Waters, along with Jack Barnes and others in the SWP leadership, began to reject the label of "Trotskyism" and the theory of Permanent Revolution, in favour of building links with the Cuban Communist Party and Sandinista National Liberation Front. Today, Waters is the President of the Pathfinder Press and the editor of New International magazine. She has written a number of books on political topics.
