Anarchism In Libya
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Anarchism in Africa refers both to purported
anarchic Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...
political organisation of some traditional African societies and to modern anarchist movements in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.


"Anarchic elements" in traditional cultures

Sam Mbah Sam Mbah (1963 - November 6, 2014) was a Nigerian author, lawyer, activist, and anarchist. Biography Mbah was born in 1963 in Enugu, Nigeria.collective responsibility Collective responsibility, also known as collective guilt, refers to responsibilities of organizations, groups and societies. Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is often used as a disciplinary measure in closed insti ...
was sometimes upheld.
Class system A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, incom ...
s had already existed in some African civilisations (such as
Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Axum Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region ...
and the
Hausa Kingdoms The Hausa Kingdoms, also known as Hausa Kingdom or Hausaland, was a collection of states started by the Hausa people, situated between the Niger River and Lake Chad (modern day northern Nigeria). Hausaland lay between the Western Sudanic kingdoms ...
) for millennia, but processes of social stratification accelerated from the fifteenth century onwards.


Modern anarchist movements


Algeria

The French anarcho-syndicalist
Émilie Busquant Émilie Busquant, born in Neuves-Maisons March 3, 1901 and died in Algiers October 1953, was a French feminist, anarcho-syndicalist and anti-colonial activist who was married to the Algerian nationalist leader Messali Hadj. One of nine children, ...
is commonly credited with creating the first copy of the
Flag of Algeria The national flag of Algeria ( ar, علم الجزائر; ber, ⴰⵏⴰⵢ ⴰⴷⵣⴰⵢⵔⵉ, Anay azzayri) consists of two equal vertical bars, green and white, charged in the center with a red star and crescent, a symbol of Islam as the ...
. The anarchist Pierre Morain was also the first person from France to be arrested for publicly supporting the cause of Algerian independence.


Angola

From the 1890s onwards,
Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...
became one of the destinations for anarchists that had been exiled by successive Portuguese governments, possibly resulting in the development of a syndicalist presence in the colony. Following the
28 May 1926 coup d'état The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of the authoritarian Estado Novo ( en, New State), the National Revolution ( pt, Revolução Nacional), was a military coup of a nationalist origin, that put ...
, Portuguese anarchists participated in a failed revolt against the new
military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
, after which the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) was outlawed. As a result, in October 1927, the CGT leader Mário Castelhano was himself deported to Angola, where he stayed for two years, before making his way back to Portugal. In the wake of the
Portuguese general strike of 1934 The Portuguese general strike of 1934 took place on 18 January throughout the whole country, although in an ill-coordinated way. Strikes and demonstrations were held in the capital Lisbon and in Porto, Coimbra, Braga, Leiria, Almada, Anadia, Se ...
, the Estado Novo established a concentration camp on the north bank of the
Kunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...
, to which they deported some anarcho-syndicalists that were involved in the strike. During the
Angolan War of Independence The Angolan War of Independence (; 1961–1974), called in Angola the ("Armed Struggle of National Liberation"), began as an uprising against forced cultivation of cotton, and it became a multi-faction struggle for the control of Portugal ...
, many Angolans began to develop anti-authoritarian systems of "popular power", during which people took control of and transformed their own lives while fighting against the Portuguese colonial authorities. However, once
Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...
achieved its
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
following the
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
, people were disarmed by the new
MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social d ...
government, which officially adopted
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various co ...
as its ideology and replaced the nascent "popular power" with a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
, igniting the
Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...
. The MPLA began to arrest left-wing opposition figures, including Maoists, Trotskyists and anarchists, and broke up workers' strikes for higher pay and better working conditions. In 1977, a
power struggle In political science and political history, the term power vacuum, also known as a power void, is an analogy between a physical vacuum to the political condition "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has repla ...
between MPLA moderates (led by
Agostinho Neto António Agostinho da Silva Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) i ...
) and radicals (led by
Nito Alves Nito Alves (1945Fauvet, Paul. "Angola: The Rise and Fall of Nito Alves". ''Review of African Political Economy'', No. 9, Southern Africa. (May – Aug., 1977), pp. 88–104.–1977) was an Angolan politician who served as the interior minister o ...
), culminated in an attempted coup d'état, after which the radicals were purged from the party's ranks and power was centralized further around the MPLA leadership.


Chad

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many Spanish republicans served as part of the
Long Range Desert Group )Gross, O'Carroll and Chiarvetto 2009, p.20 , patron = , motto = ''Non Vi Sed Arte'' (Latin: ''Not by Strength, but by Guile'') (unofficial) , colours = , colours_label ...
and
French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
during the North African campaign. On May 13, 1943, the 9th Company of the
Régiment de marche du Tchad The ''Régiment de marche du Tchad'' (RMT, " ''Ad hoc'' Regiment of Chad") is a mechanised unit of the French Army, belonging to the ''Troupes de Marine''. It is part of the 2nd Armoured Brigade. Formerly garrisoned north of Noyon it was moved ...
was established in
Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
from these Spanish republican volunteers, which included many anarchists. In September 1943, the company was transferred to
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and then the United Kingdom, as part of the 2nd Armored Division, going on to participate in the Battle for Normandy and the
Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Germ ...
.


Egypt

The anarchist movement first emerged in Egypt in the late nineteenth century, but collapsed in the 1940s. The movement has reemerged in the early 2010s. The movement re-entered global view when a number of anarchist groups took part in the
2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
, namely the Egyptian Libertarian Socialist Movement and Black Flag. The Egyptian anarchists have come under attack from the military regime and the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
. On October 7, 2011, the Egyptian Libertarian Socialist Movement held their first conference in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
.


Eswatini

In 2003, the
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF, also known as ZabFront or simply as Zabalaza), formerly known as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZabFed), is a platformist–especifista anarchist political organisation in South ...
(ZACF) began to build an underground presence in Eswatini, with Swazi members joining the organization. ZACF began to openly support the pro-democracy movement and popularised anarchist ideas among young people, with some members even working within the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO). On October 1, 2005, eight SWAYOCO members, including the ZACF member Mandla Khoza, were arrested by police during a youth demonstration in
Manzini Manzini may refer to: *Manzini, Eswatini, a town in the Manzini Region of Eswatini *Manzini Region, a region of Eswatini *Manzini (surname), an Italian surname See also *Roman Catholic Diocese of Manzini The Diocese of Manzini ( la, Manzinien(si ...
, which had been protesting against the suppression of the pro-democratic opposition. At the turn of 2006, 17 petrol-bombings were carried out by pro-democracy militants against state targets. Several democracy activists were arrested and charged with treason, while an article in the ''
Times of Swaziland The ''Times of Swaziland'' is a newspaper in Eswatini (formerly called Swaziland). It is the oldest newspaper in Eswatini, having been established in 1897 by Allister Mitchel Miller (1864-1951). References External links * {{Media in Eswatin ...
'' accused ZACF of having carried out an attack on a police vehicle during a demonstration in Manzini. This claim was denied by the ZACF, who issued a statement to the Times in which they reiterated their support for the pro-democracy movement and stated that the Swazi ZACF branch had denied taking part in the bombing. The ZACF subsequently noted the emergence of an armed struggle tendency within the pro-democracy movement, but they considered this to not be a viable option for liberation, instead proposing the construction of a mass movement for a participatory economy, while not ruling out armed self-defence. At the December 2007 ZACF congress, it was decided to restructure the organisation, establishing the Eswatini section as its own autonomous group. Members of SWAYOCO subsequently set up an anarchist study circle in
Siphofaneni Siphofaneni is a town in the Lubombo Region of central Eswatini (Swaziland), 45 kilometres from Manzini and 20 kilometres from Big Bend, a major sugarcane-producing town on the main highway leading to Durban. It has a tropical climate, very hot dur ...
, organizing the transport of anarchist materials from South Africa into Eswatini. Mandla Khoza also attempted to establish a community project in this time, but activity in the following years was limited, due to the poor living conditions of many pro-democracy activists. The year of 2008, which PUDEMO had slated to be the year of democratization, passed without any democratic reforms taking place.


Ethiopia

In the 1960s, students at
Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, ...
began to protest against the absolutist rule of
Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ('' ...
, establishing the University Students Union of Addis Ababa (USUAA) in 1966 to coordinate the campaign, which culminated in a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
in early 1974, called by the
Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions The Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions (CELU) was an umbrella organization that represented a number of labor unions and employee self-help associations in Ethiopia. The Derg, the military junta which ruled Ethiopia at the time, banned the orga ...
(CELU). This campaign against the monarchy eventually resulted in a ''coup d'état'' by a
military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
known as the
Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...
, which overthrew the
Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
and established a Marxist-Leninist
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
in its place. During the
Red Terror The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
, the Derg used the term "anarchist" to describe many of its enemies, ordering the purge of "anarchists" from
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. Some more radical Ethiopian students, who saw themselves as the true standard-bearers of the Ethiopian Revolution, came to label the Derg as "
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
", after a number of students had been arrested by the government, with some accused of being "anarchists" for opposing the land reform program. In 2020, the ''Horn Anarchists'' collective was established to spread anarchist ideas throughout the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
, particularly in
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
and within the Ethiopian diaspora. The Horn Anarchists have been active in the campaign against the
Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...
, which they have described as a "
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
", analyzing it as a product of the rising
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
and a political shift to the right-wing under the government of
Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...
and the ruling
Prosperity Party The Prosperity Party ( am, ብልጽግና ፓርቲ, Bilits’igina Paritī; om, Paartii Badhaadhiinaa) is a political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic F ...
.


Guinea-Bissau

Between the 10th and 14th centuries CE, the
Balanta people The Balanta (Guinea-Bissau Creole and Portuguese: ''balanta''; ; lit. “those who resist” in Mandinka) are an ethnic group found in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, Cape Verde and The Gambia. They are the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, ...
first migrated from Northeast Africa to present-day Guinea-Bissau, to escape drought and wars. During the 19th century, the Balanta resisted the expansion of the
Kaabu Empire The Kaabu Empire (1537–1867), also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N'Gabu, was an empire in the Senegambia region centered within modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau, larger parts of today's Gambia; extending into Koussanar, Koumpentoum, region ...
, earning them their name, which in the
Mandinka language The Mandinka language (; Ajami: ) or Mandingo, is a Mande language spoken by the Mandinka people of Guinea, northern Guinea-Bissau, the Casamance region of Senegal, and in The Gambia where it is one of the principal languages. Mandinka belo ...
translates literally to "those who resist". The Balanta organize their society largely statelessly and without social stratification, with elder councils deciding on day-to-day matters. They also practice gender equality, with Balanta women taking ownership of what they themselves produced. Property and land are mostly held in common among the Balanta, with some personal property being allowed for subsistence farming and the
means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...
being held by individuals and their families. In 1885, the
Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence ...
brought the entire territory of Guinea-Bissau under the
effective occupation ''Uti possidetis'' is an expression that originated in Roman private law, where it was the name of a procedure used in litigation about land. It came from a Praetor's Edict, praetorial edict that could be abbreviated "As you possess, so shall y ...
of the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
, which had previously only occupied a few settlements in the area. During the 1890s,
Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Gu ...
was established as a separate military district, to promote Portugal's occupation, which began to impose taxes on the indigenous population and grant concessions to foreign companies to fund its expanding occupation. During this time, Guinea-Bissau was in part used as a penal colony for anarchists that had been exiled by successive Portuguese governments. Indigenous resistance to colonial rule continued well into the 20th century. By the time that the
28 May 1926 coup d'état The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of the authoritarian Estado Novo ( en, New State), the National Revolution ( pt, Revolução Nacional), was a military coup of a nationalist origin, that put ...
established a
military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
in Portugal, most of Guinea-Bissau had been occupied, administered and taxed, a process that was finally completed by the Estado Novo in the mid-1930s. In the 1950s, the Bissau-Guinean activist
Amílcar Cabral Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral (; – ) was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, pan-Africanist, intellectual, poet, theoretician, revolutionary, political organizer, nationalist and diplomat. He was one of Africa's forem ...
began to agitate against the Estado Novo, advocating for the independence of Portugal's African colonies. He established the
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from ...
(PAIGC) to coordinate the struggle, though he insisted the party "is not a system of chieftainship,", instead organizing along anti-elitist and anti-bureaucratic lines, in contrast to
vanguardism Vanguardism in the context of Leninist revolutionary struggle, relates to a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically "advanced" sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form organi ...
. Power instead lay in self-administering village committees, which were elected and recallable, rather than in party officials, as Cabral had stated that "we do not want any exploitation in our countries, not even by black people." In 1963, the independence struggle evolved into the
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence (), or the Bissau-Guinean War of Independence, was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea from 1963 to 1974. It was fought between Portugal and the African Party for the Independ ...
, in which the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (FARP) led an armed guerilla war against the Portuguese colonial authorities. The FARP was itself made up of unpaid volunteers and was not hierarchically structured, instead decentralizing command as much as possible. These decentralist tendencies led
Stephen P. Halbrook Stephen P. Halbrook (born 12 September 1947) is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and an author and lawyer known for his litigation on cases involving laws pertaining to firearms. He has written extensively about the original meanings ...
to consider Cabral as "one of the great libertarians of our age", although this libertarian socialist characterization is disputed.


Kenya

According to oral tradition, the
Kikuyu people The Kikuyu (also ''Agĩkũyũ/Gĩkũyũ'') are a Bantu ethnic group native to Central Kenya. At a population of 8,148,668 as of 2019, they account for 17.13% of the total population of Kenya, making them Kenya's largest ethnic group. The te ...
were once ruled by a despotic king who was deposed in a popular uprising, which instituted a democratic system in the place of monarchy. This saw the establishment of the Ituĩka ceremony, a tradition in which the old guard handed over the reigns of society to the next generation, to avoid the institution of a dictatorship. The Kikuyu subsequently lived under a system of social equality, without class or gender stratification, where a federation of councils organized society from the bottom-up. But with the arrival of the
Imperial British East Africa Company The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) was a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the areas controlled by the British Empire. The company was incorporated in London on 18 April 1888 and granted a royal charter by Q ...
and establishment of the
East Africa Protectorate East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...
, the new British colonial authorities reintroduced a centralized autocratic system, appointing chiefs to rule over the Kikuyu. The last Ituĩka ceremony passed power from the Maina generation to the Mwangi generation in 1898. The next scheduled Ituĩka ceremony was eventually thwarted by the British colonial authorities, which cemented its centralized rule over the Kikuyu with the establishment of
Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...
. During the early 20th-century, the
Ghadar Movement The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the United ...
gained support from Indian expatriates in Kenya, remaining active up until the
independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
. In 1952, the
Mau Mau uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...
broke out, during which the
Kenya Land and Freedom Army The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, was a guerrilla army, formed mainly by the people of central and eastern Kenya, dominated by the Kikuyu people. It resisted British colonialism in Kenya from the late 1940s to ...
(KLFA) revolted against the rule of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
in Kenya, fighting for Kenyan independence. The KLFA was largely decentralized, with action being initiated by local cells, re-organizing the bottom-up council system that had been dissolved by colonial rule. The capture of rebel leader
Dedan Kimathi Dedan Kimathi Waciuri (31 October 1920 – 18 February 1957), born ''Kimathi wa Waciuri'' in what was then British Kenya, was the senior military and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau Uprising. Widely regarded as a revolutionary leader, he led t ...
on October 21, 1956, signalled the defeat of the Mau Mau. However, the rebellion survived until after Kenya's independence from Britain. The Mau Mau Uprising was described by
Stephen P. Halbrook Stephen P. Halbrook (born 12 September 1947) is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and an author and lawyer known for his litigation on cases involving laws pertaining to firearms. He has written extensively about the original meanings ...
as "the expression of centuries of anarchism and resistance to authoritarianism, among the Kikuyu people" although this characterization is disputed. Popular opposition to the arap Moi government eventually led to the
democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...
of the country in 1992 and the victory of the
National Rainbow Coalition The National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) is a political party in Kenya. As an alliance, it was in power from 2002 and 2005 when it collapsed due to disagreements between members over a constitutional referendum. Formation In preparation of the 2002 ...
in the
2002 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 27 December 2002. Voters elected the President, and members of the National Assembly. They coincided with the 2002 Kenyan local elections. Mwai Kibaki of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) was elected, ...
. Following this period of political opening, left-wing ideas and groups began to re-emerge throughout Kenya. In part influenced by the materials of the
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF, also known as ZabFront or simply as Zabalaza), formerly known as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZabFed), is a platformist–especifista anarchist political organisation in South ...
, the Anti-Capitalist Convergence of Kenya (ACCK) was established in 2003, as a coalition of Kenyan anarchists and socialists. The Wiyahti Collective was established in 2004 as a specifically anarchist section of the ACCK, with ZACF also establishing contact with the Wiyathi activist Talal Cockar.


Libya

Italian anarchists were among the prominent opponents to the invasion of Libya, as part of a broader anti-militarist campaign against the expansionism of the
Italian Empire The Italian colonial empire ( it, Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (''Impero Italiano'') between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencie ...
. During the campaign, the anarchist sailor
Augusto Masetti Augusto Masetti (1888–1966) was an Italian anarchist known for an incident at the beginning of the Italo-Turkish War in which he shot his army commanding officer. A military court put him in an insane asylum, a move likely to have avoided cre ...
shot a colonel as he was addressing troops that were departing for Libya and shouted "Down with the War! Long Live Anarchy!". Anarchists also organized demonstrations and strikes to prevent troops from embarking. The Nigerian anarchist
Sam Mbah Sam Mbah (1963 - November 6, 2014) was a Nigerian author, lawyer, activist, and anarchist. Biography Mbah was born in 1963 in Enugu, Nigeria.Third International Theory The Third International Theory () was the style of government proposed by Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s, on which his government, the History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi#Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2011), G ...
proposed in the '' Green Book'' of
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
, particularly in the concept of the ''Jamahiriya''. The government of the
Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comman ...
officially stated that Libya was a
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
without any political parties, governed by its populace through local popular councils and communes (named Basic People's Congresses). Official rhetoric disdained the idea of a
nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
,
tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
bonds remaining primary, even within the ranks of the national army. However, Mbah noted that these principles were followed "more in the breach than in practice" and criticized the Libyan government's poor
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
record. The organizing among the
anti-Gaddafi forces The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi, killing him in the process. These opposition forces included organized and armed militia groups, participants in the Libyan Civil ...
during the
First Libyan Civil War The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libya ...
was described as having used anarchic methods. These included
decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...
, with the daily life of rebel-held territory largely being coordinated by the local councils that were established in various cities of Libya at the outbreak of the conflict, and
prefigurative politics Prefigurative politics are the modes of organization and social relationships that strive to reflect the future society being sought by the group. According to Carl Boggs, who coined the term, the desire is to embody "within the ongoing political p ...
, with young volunteers self-organizing the solicitation of
blood donation A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for blood transfusion, transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called Blood fractionation, fractionation (separation of whole blood com ...
s, establishment of
food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...
s and the collection and distribution of basic necessities. The role of the Libyan People's Committees was praised by the Syrian anarchist Mazen Kamalmaz, who argued that they should form the foundation of a new
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
in Libya, rather than just acting during the transition to a new regime. The Libyan anarchist Saoud Salem was among those that condemned the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 Resolution 1973 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 17 March 2011 in response to the First Libyan Civil War. The resolution formed the legal basis for military intervention in the Libyan Civil War, demanding "an immediate cease ...
, which sanctioned airstrikes against Libya, and rejected the prospect of foreign intervention by
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
states such as France, the United Kingdom and United States, demanding instead that the rebels be left to "finish the problem of Qaddafi by ourselves". This sentiment was echoed by foreign anarchists, who also condemned the NATO-led intervention in Libya, disputing its "humanitarian" characterization.


Madagascar

During the 1980s, the IMF imposed harsh
austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
measures across Madagascar, leading to the withdrawal of police, soldiers and government bureaucrats from much of the Central Highlands region. When the anthropologist
David Graeber David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist. His influential work in economic anthropology, particularly his books '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'' (2011) and ''Bullshit Jobs ...
visited the region, he described the formation of an anarchist community in
Arivonimamo Arivonimamo is a city (commune urbaine) in Itasy Region, in the Central Highlands of Madagascar. Arivonimamo is connected by the National Road No.1 to Antananarivo (50 km in the east) and Tsiroanomandidy (west). The Antananarivo international ...
, where decisions were made via consensus, apparently leading to a very low crime rate.


Morocco

Anarchism in Morocco has its roots in the federalism practiced by
Amazigh , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...
communities in pre-colonial Morocco. During the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, Moroccan nationalists formed connections with Spanish anarchists in an attempt to ignite a
war of national liberation Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) to establish separat ...
against Spanish colonialism, but this effort was not successful. Despite the brief establishment of an anarchist movement in post-war Morocco, the movement was suppressed by the newly independent government, before finally re-emerging in the 21st century.


Mozambique

From the 1890s, the
Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...
began to deport anarchists to jails in
Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony. Portuguese Moz ...
. One of these Portuguese anarchist prisoners was the print-worker José Estevam. Upon Estevam's release from prison in the early 1900s, he established the Revolutionary League (RL) in
Lourenço Marques Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088 ...
, which became the first known anarchist organization in the country. By the 1920s, an anarcho-syndicalist tendency had developed among Mozambican trade unions, which were allied with the General Confederation of Labour (CGT). But the
28 May 1926 coup d'état The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of the authoritarian Estado Novo ( en, New State), the National Revolution ( pt, Revolução Nacional), was a military coup of a nationalist origin, that put ...
established a
military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
in Portugal, bringing Mozambique under military rule. The dictatorship subsequently suppressed the nascent workers' movement in Mozambique, in a process that culminated with the establishment of the '' Estado Novo''.


Nigeria

Anarchism in Nigeria has its roots in the organization of various stateless societies that inhabited pre-colonial Nigeria, particularly among the
Igbo people The Igbo people ( , ; also spelled Ibo" and formerly also ''Iboe'', ''Ebo'', ''Eboe'', * * * ''Eboans'', ''Heebo''; natively ) are an ethnic group in Nigeria. They are primarily found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. A ...
. After the British colonization of Nigeria,
revolutionary syndicalism Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of prod ...
became a key factor in the anti-colonial resistance, although the trade union movement deradicalized and took a more
reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...
approach following the country's independence. The contemporary Nigerian anarchist movement finally emerged from the left-wing opposition to the military dictatorship in the late 1980s and saw the creation of the anarcho-syndicalist
Awareness League Anarchism in Nigeria has its roots in the organization of various stateless societies that inhabited pre-colonial Nigeria, particularly among the Igbo people. After the British colonization of Nigeria, revolutionary syndicalism became a key fac ...
.


Senegal

In 1981, the
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
politician
Abdou Diouf Abdou Diouf ( ; Serer: ; born 7 September 1935)Biography at Socialist Party website
succeeded
Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...
as President of Senegal, overseeing the country's transition to a
multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...
. This new environment of political pluralism brought anarchism into the public light, with Senegalese anarchists establishing the Anarchist Party for Individual Liberties in the Republic (PALIR) at a congress in
Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade ...
, declaring their aim to establish a libertarian socialist society, based around the principles of
decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...
,
federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
,
common ownership Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every economi ...
of the
means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...
, and
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
. The PALIR's conception of libertarian socialism took inspiration from the social formations of the
Lebou The Lebu (Lebou, ''Lébou'') are an ethnic group of Senegal, West Africa, living on the peninsula of Cap-Vert. The Lebu are primarily a fishing community, but they have a substantial business in construction supplies and real estate.Keese, Alexan ...
and
Balante Balanta (or Balant) is a group of two closely related Bak languages of West Africa spoken by the Balanta people. Description Balanta is now generally divided into two distinct languages: Balanta-Kentohe and Balanta-Ganja. Balanta-Kentohe The B ...
peoples, who organized themselves without social classes or
tribal chief A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...
s. It is unknown what became of the PALIR in the ensuing years, due to the lack of studies on anarchism in Africa.


Sierra Leone

With the overthrow of the socialist
First Republic of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone first became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. The Limba were the first tribe known to inhabit Sierra Leone. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cult ...
in a ''
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
'' and the outbreak of the
Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...
, various competing factions began to vie for control of the country's diamond mining industry. The poor working conditions in the diamond fields eventually gave way to the rise of a Sierra Leonean branch of the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
(IWW). Led by Bright Chikezi, the IWW became particularly active among diamond miners, organizing up to 3,240 workers under their banner. They financed their activities through their mining work, while also receiving financial aid and literature from IWW branches in Britain. However, the effects of the civil war eventually came to a head in 1997, when the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the cap ...
seized control of the country in a military coup and began looting from diamond workers, forcing many IWW militants into exile in
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
, where they attempted to organize among Guinean miners. As a result of the coup, the international IWW lost contact with the local delegate in Sierra Leone.


South Africa

Anarchism dates back to the 1880s in South Africa, when the English anarchist immigrant Henry Glasse settled in
Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
in the then
Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
. Anarchists played a role in the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), established in
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
in 1904 and open to socialists of all persuasions. The first specifically anarchist organisations was the
revolutionary syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
International Socialist League (ISL), founded in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
in 1915. It went on to establish branches across much of South Africa, excluding the western Cape where the anarchists split from the SDF to form the Industrial Socialist League (IndSL). By mutual agreement, the IndSL operated in the western Cape, while the ISL operated in the rest of the country. The IndSL and the ISL would go on to organise the first trade union among workers of colour in South Africa, the Industrial Workers of Africa (IWA), modelled on the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
(IWW). Swept up in the atmosphere created by what at the time appeared to be a victorious worker revolution in Russia in 1917, the ISL and the IndSL dissolved into the
Communist Party of South Africa The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...
(CPSA) at the latter's founding in 1921, providing many notable early figures until the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
ordered the expulsion of the syndicalist faction in the party. Unaligned syndicalists like Percy Fisher were active in the miners' 1922
Rand Rebellion The Rand Rebellion ( af, Rand-rebellie; also known as the 1922 strike) was an armed uprising of white miners in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, in March 1922. Jimmy Green, a prominent politician in the Labour Party, was one of ...
, a general strike-turned-insurrection, and strongly opposed the racism of a large sector of the white strikers. The IWA meanwhile merged into the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) in 1920, one reason the ICU exhibited syndicalist influence. The anarchist movement in South Africa only re-emerged in the early 1990s with the establishment of small anarchist collectives in
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
and Johannesburg. The Anarchist Revolutionary Movement (ARM) was founded in 1993. It was succeeded by the more tightly organised Workers' Solidarity Federation (WSF) in 1995. As opposed to the looser ARM, the WSF was in the tradition of
platformism Platformism is a form of anarchist organization that seeks unity from its participants, having as a defining characteristic the idea that each platformist organization should include only people that are fully in agreement with core group ideas, r ...
. In 1999, for a range of reasons, the WSF dissolved. It was succeeded by the Bikisha Media Collective (BMC) and Zabalaza Books. These two books co-produced ''Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism'' and were active in the
Anti-Privatisation Forum The Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) was established in Johannesburg in July 2000 by activists and organisations involved in two key anti-privatisation struggles: the struggle against iGoli 2002, and the struggle against Wits 2001 at Wits University ...
. In 2003, the platformist Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZACF, or ZabFed) was founded, drawing in the BMC and Zabalaza Books (whose ''Zabalaza'' journal became the journal of the ZACF) as well as a number of other collectives that had been set up in
Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...
and Johannesburg, including a local chapter of the
Anarchist Black Cross The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), formerly the Anarchist Red Cross, is an anarchist support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organizes material and legal support for c ...
. In 2007, to strengthen its structures, ZabFed reconstituted itself as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF, or ZabFront). The new ZACF is a unitary "federation of individuals", as opposed to a federation of collectives like ZabFed, and has recently also come under the influence of
especifismo Platformism is a form of anarchist organization that seeks unity from its participants, having as a defining characteristic the idea that each platformist organization should include only people that are fully in agreement with core group ideas, r ...
, a tendency which originated within the '' Federación Anarquista Uruguaya'' (FAU, or Uruguayan Anarchist Federation). While committed to promoting syndicalism in the unions, ZACF work was in practice largely focused on the so-called "
new social movements The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy) which are cla ...
", formed in South Africa in response to the perceived failures of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC) government post-
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. The ZACF was involved in the campaigns of the
Anti-Privatisation Forum The Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) was established in Johannesburg in July 2000 by activists and organisations involved in two key anti-privatisation struggles: the struggle against iGoli 2002, and the struggle against Wits 2001 at Wits University ...
(APF) and the
Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement was an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a histor ...
(LPM). It has also been involved in solidarity work with
Abahlali baseMjondolo Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, , in English: "the residents of the shacks") is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which organises land occupations, builds communes
and the
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa.
. In addition to such work, the ZACF is active in organising workshops and propaganda.


Sudan

Following the
1989 Sudanese coup d'état The 1989 Sudanese coup d'état was a military coup that occurred in Sudan on 30 June 1989 against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and President Ahmed al-Mirghani. The coup was led by military officer Omar ...
which brought Omar al-Bashir to power, a coalition of opposition groups formed the
National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...
(NDA), to coordinate resistance to the new government. In 2001, an NDA commander made contact with the South African Bikisha Media Collective and requested information on anarchist organization and tactics, to which the collective responded by directing them towards the theoretical works of
platformism Platformism is a form of anarchist organization that seeks unity from its participants, having as a defining characteristic the idea that each platformist organization should include only people that are fully in agreement with core group ideas, r ...
. The civil war was eventually ended in 2005 by the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, ar, اتفاقية السلام الشامل, Ittifāqiyyah al-salām al-šāmil), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on January 9, 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Moveme ...
, after which the NDA signed a deal with the government to cease hostilities. The peace deal and subsequent legalisation of opposition parties caused a fracture within the
Sudanese Communist Party The Sudanese Communist Party ( abbr. SCP; ar, الحزب الشيوعي السوداني, Al-Hizb al-Shuyui al-Sudani) is a communist party in Sudan. Founded in 1946, it was a major force in Sudanese politics in the early post-independence y ...
, leading certain far-left tendencies inspired by
Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...
and
libertarian communism Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...
to break away from the party. In the wake of the
Sudanese Revolution The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudane ...
that overthrew al-Bashir, anarchists in
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
that had participated in the resistance committees came together to form the "Sudanese Anarchists Gathering", an
anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" and ...
group that has raised anarchist flags at
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
during the
transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
and following the
military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...
.


Tanzania

The African socialist program of ''
Ujamaa Ujamaa ( in Swahili) was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. More broadly, ujamaa may mean "cooperative economics ...
'', developed by the
President of Tanzania The President of the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is the head of state and head of government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The President leads the executive branch of the Government of Tanzan ...
Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
following his
Arusha Declaration The Arusha Declaration ( sw, Azimio la Arusha) and TANU’s Policy on Socialism and Self Reliance (1967), referred to as the Arusha Declaration, is known as Tanzania’s most prominent political statement of African Socialism, ‘Ujamaa’, or ...
, was described by the Nigerian anarchist
Sam Mbah Sam Mbah (1963 - November 6, 2014) was a Nigerian author, lawyer, activist, and anarchist. Biography Mbah was born in 1963 in Enugu, Nigeria.means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...
and social produce were held in common. Although Nyere himself stated that "viable socialist communities can only be established with willing members," the ''Ujamaa'' program was eventually brought under state control and bureaucracy began to take over the previously self-governing communities. At the behest of the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, the Tanzanian government began to set production quotas and enforced the sale of produce to the state at a fixed price. Mbah held that "corruption and bureaucracy are the two basic factors that led to the collapse of the ''Ujamaa'' system."
Workers' control Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christian ...
was also practiced in several factories and hotels during a strike wave from 1972 to 1973 over anger at the ineffective workers committees, although the government of
Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...
initially supported the factory takeovers, it later repressed them, with some analysts arguing it was a form of
co-optation Co-option (also co-optation, sometimes spelt coöption or coöptation) has two common meanings. It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintai ...
.


Tunisia

Anarchism in Tunisia has its roots in the works of the philosopher
Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...
, with the modern anarchist movement being first brought to the country in the late 19th century by Italian immigrants. The contemporary anarchist movement arose as a result of the
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
and the aftermath of the
Tunisian Revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...
.


Uganda

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
was largely stateless until the rise of states, such as Kitara and
Buganda Buganda is a Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda, Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Buganda's Districts of Uganda, Central Region, inclu ...
, in the 13th century. Thereafter,
stateless societies A stateless society is a society that is not governed by a state. In stateless societies, there is little concentration of authority; most positions of authority that do exist are very limited in power and are generally not permanently held p ...
continued to exist within Uganda, particularly among the
Lugbara people The Lugbara are a Central Sudanic ethnic group who live mainly in the West Nile region of Uganda, in the adjoining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and few in South Sudan. They speak the Lugbara language, a Central Sudanic langu ...
of the West Nile – a horticultural society made up of decentralized segments, without chiefs or
monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...
. In the wake of the
First Congo War The First Congo War, group=lower-alpha (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), with major spillo ...
, an anarchist insurgency against the government of
Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and retired senior military officer who has been the 9th and current President of Uganda since 26 January 1986. Museveni spearheaded rebellions with aid of then ...
reportedly began in the
Rwenzori Mountains The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range' ...
of Western Uganda. The insurgency was led by the Ugandan Anarchist Democratic Forces (UADF), a militant group operating in leaderless cells that the Ugandan government designated as a terrorist organization. On the morning of September 2, 2000, the UADF launched an attack on the Nkooko Police Post in
Kibaale Kibaale is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Kibaale District, and the district headquarters are located there. Location Kibaale is in Buyaga County, approximately , by ro ...
, killing two police officers and capturing another. They also burnt police documents and set fire to the post, publicly addressing the people of Nkooko with chants of anti- IMF slogans. In a communique, the UADF claimed to be struggling for a
classless society The term classless society refers to a society in which no one is born into a social class. Distinctions of wealth, income, education, culture, or social network might arise and would only be determined by individual experience and achievement ...
, with the free and equal distribution of land, against the corruption and authoritarianism of Uganda's successive regimes. Ugandan anarchists have been critical of the country's
parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
and contemporary
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
. In 2015, it was reported that Ugandan anarchists were fielding a frog in the
2016 Ugandan general election General elections were held in Uganda on 18 February 2016 to elect the President and Parliament. Polling day was declared a national holiday.National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...
and the opposition
Forum for Democratic Change The Forum for Democratic Change ( sw, Jukwaa la Mabadiliko ya Kidemokrasia; FDC), founded on 16 December 2004, is the main opposition party in Uganda. The FDC was founded as an umbrella body called Reform Agenda, mostly for disenchanted former m ...
.


Zambia

Following the
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
of areas north of the
Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...
river by the
British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...
, what is today Zambia was brought under the direct rule of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, establishing the protectorate of
Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...
. As a reaction to the introduction of British capitalism and the beginnings of a vast mining industry, workers in the region began to gravitate towards anarchist and
syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...
ideas, organizing the country's first trade unions. During the 1920s, the first wave of
anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
spread throughout much of Africa, with the South African Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) even establishing a section in Northern Rhodesia, although the ICU ended up collapsing by the early 1930s. Nevertheless, trade union organizing persisted, with African mineworkers organizing the 1935 Copperbelt strike over poor safety standards and increased taxes. In 1940, miners in Northern Rhodesia went on strike again, using the leverage of their importance to the Allied effort in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
to demand higher salaries. In the mid-1990s, the anarchist Hamba Kahle Wilstar Choongo, who worked as a librarian at the
University of Zambia The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia's largest and oldest learning institution. The university was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. The language of ...
(UNZA), began writing a series of articles in '' The Post'' that criticized the new
Constitution of Zambia The Constitution of Zambia was formally adopted in 1991 and amended in 2009 and last amended in 2016. The Zambian constitution has 20 parts, ranging from the SUPREMACY OF CONSTITUTION to GENERAL PROVISIONS. It begins with a PREAMBLE. The Zambia ...
and argued instead for
decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...
. Wilstar Choongo was himself inspired by the
anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" and ...
tendencies of his own tribe in Southern Zambia, which he described as a "flattened, chiefless hierarchy", and suggested these tendencies could help to advance anarchism in Zambia. Wilstar Choongo and a number of young members of the UNZA's Socialist Caucus moved towards anarchism, setting up the Anarchist Workers’ Solidarity Movement (AWSM) in 1998, which they considered affiliating with the South African
Workers' Solidarity Federation Anarchism in South Africa dates to the 1880s, and played a major role in the labour and socialist movements from the turn of the twentieth century through to the 1920s. The early South African anarchist movement was strongly syndicalist. The as ...
(WSF). However, Wilstar died from malaria in 1999, at the age of 35, with the AWSM apparently collapsing in the wake of his death. In 2009, a former AWSM member Malele D Phiri reflected on the new institutional role of trade unions and NGOs in Zambia's civil organization, describing it as the "dialectical opposite" of the ruling structure established by ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe.


Zimbabwe

In the 1920s, the first wave of
anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...
spread throughout much of Africa, with the South African Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) even establishing a section in
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
. The Southern Rhodesian ICU developed a substantial rural base, responding to the question of land rights with the policy of a union ownership scheme, aiming to establish a "collective, de-colonised and decommodified working class and black ownership". Although the ICU dissolved in the early 1930s, the South Rhodesian section continued to operate as the
Reformed Industrial Commercial Union The Reformed Industrial Commercial Union (RICU) was a trade union in Southern Rhodesia during the 1940s and 1950s. History The RICU was founded in 1946 by Charles Mzingeli, who had previously been active in the Southern Rhodesian branch of the ...
until the 1950s, when the region was incorporated into the
Central African Federation Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
. Following the
Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...
, trade union activity rapidly increased, bringing with it an increase in strikes and industrial disputes, even against the wishes of ZANU-PF. The new government responded by breaking up the strikes, suppressing and taking over existing trade unions, revoking union control of wage negotiations and instituting the party appointment of union officials. From a merger of six trade union centres, ZANU-PF established the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is the primary trade union federation in Zimbabwe. The Secretary General of ZCTU is Japhet Moyo and the president is Peter Mutasa. The former General Secretary was Morgan Tsvangirai. Jeffrey Mutandare is a f ...
(ZCTU), aiming to reduce industrial disputes and increase the influence that the government had over the trade union movement. But by 1987, unions again began to establish their independence from ZANU-PF, to which the government responded with police terror. The government even began to lose control over ZCTU, which increasingly criticized government policy surrounding trade unionism, eventually outright opposing the government due to its neoliberal economic policies, corruption and authoritarianism, going on to form an alliance of opposition groups which became the
Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congress ...
(MDC). However, the MDC soon strayed from its working class base, taking on a
reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...
and
liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
party line, instituted by a middle class leadership. Dissilusionment with the MDC led to libertarian socialism emerging from the opposition movement, with some Zimbabwean anarchists establishing the Uhuru Network to organise amongst working class communities. With the outbreak of the
2016–2017 Zimbabwe protests The 2016–2017 Zimbabwe protests began in Zimbabwe on 6 July 2016. Thousands of Zimbabweans protested government repression, poor public services, high unemployment, widespread corruption and delays in civil servants receiving their salaries. ...
, Zimbabwean anarchists characterized the protest movement as representing a new society based on "solidarity, equality, grassroots democracy, free of all forms of oppression", identifying it with the anarchist approach to a bottom-up struggle against the state. In the wake of the
2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état In November 2017, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was removed as president and party leader of ZANU-PF and was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa. On the evening of 14 November 2017, elements of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) gathered arou ...
, in which
Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (, American English, US: (); born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Muga ...
seized power from
Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
as part of a power struggle within ZANU-PF, Zimbabwean anarchists offered an
anti-state Anti-statism is any approach to social, economic or political philosophy that rejects statism. An anti-statist is one who opposes intervention by the state into personal, social and economic affairs. In anarchism, this is characterized by a comp ...
perspective for the future of Zimbabwe, proposing mass action as a means to build libertarian socialism. There has since been movements to develop a specific anarchist organisation in Zimbabwe, in the hopes of forming a broad-based libertarian movement against the Zimbabwean state.


Anarchist organisations in Africa

* International Socialist League (South Africa), 1915–1921 * Industrial Workers of Africa (South Africa), 1917–1920 * Industrial Socialist League (South Africa), 1918–1921 * Anarchist Party for Individual Liberties in the Republic (Senegal), 1981 *
Awareness League Anarchism in Nigeria has its roots in the organization of various stateless societies that inhabited pre-colonial Nigeria, particularly among the Igbo people. After the British colonization of Nigeria, revolutionary syndicalism became a key fac ...
(Nigeria), 1991–1999 * Anarchist Revolutionary Movement (South Africa), 1993–1995 * Workers' Solidarity Federation (Southern Africa), 1995–1999 * Anarchist Workers’ Solidarity Movement (Zambia), 1998–1999 * Bikisha Media Collective (South Africa), 1999–2007 * Zabalaza Books (South Africa), 1999–2007 * South African chapter of the
Anarchist Black Cross The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), formerly the Anarchist Red Cross, is an anarchist support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organizes material and legal support for c ...
, 2002–2007 * Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (Southern Africa), 2003–2007 * Wiyathi Collective (Kenya), 2004 *
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF, also known as ZabFront or simply as Zabalaza), formerly known as the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation (ZabFed), is a platformist–especifista anarchist political organisation in South ...
(Southern Africa), 2007–present * Black Flag (Egypt), 2010s–Present * Libertarian Socialist Movement (Egypt), 2011–present * Disobedience Movement (Tunisia), 2011–present * Feminist Attack (Tunisia), 2011–present * Horn Anarchists (Ethiopia), 2020–present * Sudanese Anarchists Gathering (Sudan), 2020–present


See also

*
Black anarchism Black anarchism (also known as panther anarchism) is a term applied to a group of people of African descent who identify with the principles of anarchism. These people include, but are not limited to, Ashanti Alston, Kuwasi Balagoon, Loren ...
*
Politics of Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
*
History of Somalia (1991–2006) Between the Somali Civil War, fall of Siad Barre's Somali Democratic Republic, government in Somali Rebellion, January 1991 and the establishment of the Transitional National Government in 2006 (succeeded by the Transitional Federal Government), ...
, a period without a central government sometimes considered to be anarchy


Notes


References


Further reading

* ''"Anarchism and Revolutionary Syndicalism in South Africa, 1904–1921"'' by
Lucien van der Walt Lucien van der Walt (born 8 September 1972) is a South African writer, professor of Sociology and labour educator. His research engages the anarchist/syndicalist tradition of Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin; trade unionism and working class ...
* ''"Military Dictatorship and the State in Africa"'' by Sam Mbah and I. E. Igariwey, an anarchist critique of the African
military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
s. * ''"African Anarchism: The History of a Movement"'' by Sam Mbah and I. E. Igariwe
African Anarchism: The History of a Movement – Sam Mbah & I. E. Igariwey


External links


African Anarchism, freedom and revolution in Africa


An introduction to today's western Africa from Anarchist perspective.



An interview with Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt. {{DEFAULTSORT:Africa Anarchism by region
Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...