The Enduring Relevance of Walter Rodney's 'How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'

by Karim Hirji

Overview

Soon after its publication in 1972, Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa gained global popularity among students, scholars, activists and people concerned with African affairs. His innovative application of the method of political economy transformed the paradigm for rendition of the continent’s past. Because it stridently took the traditional historians and the prevailing neo-colonial order to task, it was also pilloried by the defenders of the status quo. And, in these neoliberal times, mainstream scholars and pundits proclaim that it is no longer relevant for Africa. In Walter Rodney: An Enduring Legacy, Karim Hirji makes a systematic case that, on the contrary, Rodney’s seminal work retains its singular value for understanding where Africa has come from, where it is going, and charting the path towards genuine development for its people. After giving a broad picture of Rodney and his times, Hirji examines in detail the criticisms levelled against his work, and conducts a focused review of modern day textbooks on African history. It is seen that most of the claims against Rodney lack a sound basis and that direct representations of his ideas are replete with distortions, unfair selectivity and political bias. Yet, the long term influence of Rodney on African history is unmistakable. Hirji’s succinct, coherent defence of an intellectual giant who lived and died for humanity is an essential read for anyone with an interest in Africa and related regions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780995222397
Publisher:	Daraja Press
Publication date:	07/02/2017
Pages:	134
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.29(d)

About the Author

Karim F Hirji is a retired Professor of Medical Statistics and a Fellow of the Tanzania Academy of Sciences. A recognized authority on statistical analysis of small sample discrete data, the author of the only book on the subject, he received the Snedecor Prize for Best Publication in Biometry from the American Statistical Association and International Biometrics Society for the year 1989. He has published many papers in the areas of statistical methodology, applied biomedical research, the history and practice of education in Tanzania, and written numerous essays on varied topics for the mass media and popular magazines. He is the author of Exact Analysis of Discrete Data (Chapman and Hall/CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2005), Statistics in the Media: Learning from Practice (Media Council of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, 2012) and Growing Up With Tanzania: Memories, Musings and Maths (Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Dar es Salaam, 2014). He also edited and is the main author of Cheche: Reminiscences of a Radical Magazine (Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Dar es Salaam, 2011). His most recent books are The Enduring Relevance of Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Daraja Press, Montreal, 2017), The Banana Girls (Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Dar es Salaam, 2017) and The Travails of a Tanzanian Teacher (Daraja Press, Montreal, 2018). He resides in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and may be contacted at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Preface xi
1. The book 1
2. The global context 13
3. A grand reversal 17
4. Rodney the revolutionary 21
5. Rodney and historiography 25
6. Criticisms of the book 31
7. Rodney in the classroom 59
8. Contemporary relevance 77
9. Hope and struggle 93
Photograph from the archives 108
Acknowledgements 109
Major writings of Walter Rodney 110
References 113
About the author 122

Editorial Reviews

This book is an impassioned reintroduction for some, and an introduction for others, of work of the great 20th century Marxist and Pan Africanist, Walter Rodney. It demonstrates the continuing relevance of Rodney's insight, frame- work and many conclusions for the struggles facing the African World in the 21st century. — Bill Fletcher, Jr., former President of TransAfrica Forum, writer & activist.

From the Publisher