Kwame Nkrumah’s Though on Guerrilla Warfare and Revolution

Abstract

The Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare (1966) was written by Pan-Africanist, revolutionary, theorizer of the global south, first leader of independent Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972). This work is used as a source to understand Nkrumah’s thought about radical politics and guerrilla warfare in the context of the Cold War and African decolonization. Nkrumah’s manual is an important document to discuss and understand the history of radical thinking in Africa in its South-South cooperation that connects Asia, Africa and the Americas. The writing and use of guerrilla manuals was common during struggles for independence or revolutions in the global south throughout great part of the 20th century, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. The military aspect of Nkrumah’s thought has largely been ignored by scholars. By making comparisons to other guerrilla manuals and thinkers, it is possible to find the influences and the limitations of Nkrumah’s thought about irregular war. His Handbook is part of a moment in history in which radical ideas were thought about with the concepts of colonialism, neocolonialism, imperialism, capitalism, socialism and Third World, depicting that guerrilla was a necessary strategy to overcome these situations and change from capitalism to socialism. The study of the Handbook shows us how it relates the need for violent action through guerrilla warfare with the poor conditions of existence of workers and women, the level of development of a country, the role of a country and a people in production and trade international situation, and the subaltern situation of Third World countries. Guerrilla fighting is an appropriate and initial way to achieve changes in modes of production, government, social relations and international relations between center and periphery.