The centrality of Africa in Lenin’s theory of imperialism

ABSTRACT

Lenin’s Marxist theories have aided both African anti-imperialist struggles and the study of African political economy. Recently, however, some scholars have reinvigorated the postcolonial critique of Marxism as a Eurocentric doctrine, one that misunderstands and marginalises Africa and its peoples. Following Cedric Robinson, several analysts mention Lenin alongside Marx and Engels as a founder of Eurocentric Marxism. This article, by contrast, argues that Lenin displayed a deep concern for Africa, one that was fundamentally non-Eurocentric. Lenin researched Africa extensively in his Notebooks on imperialism. Upon the basis of this research, Lenin placed Africa at the centre of his analysis in Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism. It is impossible to understand the insights of Lenin’s theory of imperialism without appreciating Africa’s centrality within it. Although Lenin displayed the racist views of Africa that dominated his era, these were marginal in his thought. Lenin militantly opposed colonialism and supported African independence.

RÉSUMÉ

Les théories marxistes de Lénine ont aidé à la fois les luttes anti-impérialistes africaines et l’étude de l’économie politique africaine. Récemment, cependant, des chercheurs ont relancé la critique postcoloniale du marxisme comme doctrine eurocentrique qui méconnaît et marginalise l’Afrique et ses peoples. Suivant Cedric Robinson, plusieurs analystes mentionnent Lénine aux côtés de Marx et Engels comme fondateur du marxisme eurocentrique. Cet article, en revanche, soutient que Lénine a fait preuve d’une préoccupation profonde, et fondamentalement non-eurocentrique, pour l’Afrique. Lénine a effectué des recherches approfondies sur l’Afrique dans ses Carnets sur l’impérialisme. Sur la base de celles-ci, Lénine a placé l’Afrique au centre de son analyse dans L’impérialisme, le stade suprême du capitalisme. Il est impossible de comprendre les idées de la théorie de l’impérialisme de Lénine sans apprécier la place centrale qu’y occupe l’Afrique. Bien que Lénine ait affiché les opinions racistes sur l’Afrique qui ont dominé son époque, celles-ci étaient marginales dans sa pensée. Lénine s’est opposé de manière militante au colonialisme et a soutenu l’indépendance africaine.

KEYWORDS:

• Lenin
• Africa
• imperialism
• Eurocentrism
• racism
• Marxism

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Lénine
• Afrique
• impérialisme
• eurocentrisme
• racisme
• marxisme

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Bettina Engels, Leo Zeilig and the anonymous reviewers for their help in improving the article and providing some uplifting encouragement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The print and online versions of Lenin’s collected works variously use either italics or bold text, and sometimes both, as forms of emphasis. These have been reproduced in this article as written in the print versions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joe Pateman

Joe Pateman is a graduate teaching assistant in Politics at the University of Sheffield, UK. Joe’s primary research interests are Marxism, democratic theory and Black liberation movements. His recent publications include Public libraries and Marxism (Routledge, 2021).