Sankarism (also written Sankaraism) is a term sometimes applied to denote a left-wing ideological trend within the

politics of Burkina Faso According to the 1991 Constitution of Burkina Faso, the politics of Burkina Faso take place in the form of a semi-presidential republic, with powers separated between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The President of Burki ...

, a landlocked country in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

, as well as the policies of the military government led by Captain Thomas Sankara. Sankara came to power in what was then the

Republic of Upper Volta The Republic of Upper Volta () was a landlocked West African country established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing state within the French Community. Before becoming autonomous, it had been part of the French Union as the French Upper V ...

in a popularly supported 1983 military coup, and ruled until his assassination in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré in 1987. There is a strong political dissonance between the movements which ascribe to Sankara's political legacy and ideals, a fact which the Burkinabé opposition politician Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara (no relation) described in 2001 as being "due to a lack of definition of the concept." The "Sankarists" range from

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and more moderate

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

to nationalists and populists.

History

During his time in power, Sankara – a well-known war veteran noted for his charisma – attempted to bring about what he called the "Democratic and Popular Revolution" (), a radical transformation of society with a focus on

self-sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person, being, or system needs little or no help from, or interaction with others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a sel ...

. A number of organizations were formed to implement this revolution, among them the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Popular Revolutionary Tribunals and the Pioneers of the Revolution. A vast number of reforms were enacted in the newly renamed Burkina Faso between 1983 and 1987, including mass vaccination programs, reforestation, elimination of

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

s through new housing developments, and the development of national infrastructure such as railway networks. Most of these were undone after the military coup which ousted and killed Sankara. Prior to his death, the Burkinabé government faced significant allegations of human rights abuses from

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and other international organizations, including extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and torture of political opponents. Even after the death of Thomas Sankara his legacy lived on, much due to his charismatic personal image. Sometimes dubbed the "

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

of Africa" due to his similarities in style to the Argentinian revolutionary and the inspiration he took from the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, Sankara became known for his frugal living, motorcycle riding, guitar playing, and opposition to the

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader,Cas Mudde, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create ...

, all personal traits which set him aside from contemporary African statesmen. For example, when asked why he didn't want his portrait hung in public places, as was the norm for other leaders on the continent, he replied "There are seven million Thomas Sankaras." Ideologically, Sankara was a pan-Africanist and

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...

who sought to reclaim the African identity of his nation and opposed

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the control by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony) through indirect means. The term ''neocolonialism'' was first used after World War II to refer to ...

, and although he was believed to be a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

for studying the works of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, he often refused to put his political ideology under one title using both Christian and various secular ideologies of leftist leaders in order to determine his political actions. One of the first groups to connect ideologically with the label of "Sankarism" was the Sankarist Movement, formed in exile in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

only weeks after Sankara's assassination on 15 October 1987. Since then, self-identified Sankarist political parties and other organizations have been a common feature within the Burkinabé opposition movement against the government of President Compaoré. Many Sankarist leaders have a past in either Sankara's government or in the organizations he created. For example, Ernest Nongma Ouédraogo – leader of the Sankarist Pan-African Convention – was Minister of Security under Sankara, and Sams’K Le Jah – leader of the Citizens' Broom () – received his political education as a teenager in the Pioneer movement. The Sankarists have been prominent in both the 2011 Burkinabé protests and the

2014 Burkinabé uprising Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an un ...

. The latter successfully overthrew President Blaise Compaoré in late October 2014, forcing the leader to resign and flee the country to the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and causing a military takeover. Thomas Sankara has been cited as a major inspiration for the protesters, some going as far as dubbing the uprising the "Revolution 2.0" in reference to Sankara's "Democratic and Popular Revolution" during the 1980s. Since the September 2022 Burkinabé coup d'etat which installed Captain Ibrahim Traoré as Head of State, the policies of Burkina Faso's government have been likened to those of Thomas Sankara by both domestic and foreign observers. Burkina Faso's former interim prime minister, Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla, was at one point personally invited by Sankara to join his cabinet, and has since stated that Burkina Faso "cannot be developed outside the path set by Thomas Sankara." The legacy of Sankara has been invoked in public speeches by Traoré, and the government's policies of populism, geopolitical non-alignment and nationalization of foreign assets have been compared to those of the Sankara government.

Sankarist organisations

Burkina Faso

Historical and current Sankarist groups include: * Burkinabé Party for Refoundation * Burkinabé Socialist Bloc * Convergence for Social Democracy * Convergence of Hope * Current of Democrats Faithful to the Ideal of Thomas Sankara * Democratic and Popular Rally * Movement for Tolerance and Progress * National Patriots' Party * Party of Social Democracy * Sankara Collective * Sankarist Democratic Front * Sankarist Movement * Sankarist Pan-African Convention * Social Forces Front * The Citizens' Broom * Union for Rebirth / Sankarist Movement * Union of Sankarist Parties

Abroad

The

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema, and his allies, on 26 July 20 ...

(EFF) is a Black nationalist, far-left political party in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, founded in 2013 by Julius Malema, the controversial former President of the

African National Congress Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (N ...

. The party is currently the third-largest party in both houses of the

South African parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Asse ...

, receiving 1,169,259 votes and a 6.35% share of the vote in the 2014 general election. The EFF claims to take significant inspiration from Sankara in terms of both style and ideology. In a May 2014 column, the prominent EFF member Jackie Shandu declared his party a "proudly Sankarist formation". Expelled from that party, Andile Mngxitama founded Black First Land First in 2015, with black consciousness and Pan-Africanist policies and a Sankarist leadership ethos. Didier Awadi, a

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

ese

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

musician and one of the most prominent rappers in Francophone West Africa, describes Thomas Sankara as his greatest inspiration politically. He has recorded several songs referring to Sankara, and visited the killed leader's family in Burkina Faso. In 2003 he formed "Studio Sankara", a music label and recording studio.

References

{{Authority control Communism in Burkina Faso Pan-Africanism in Africa Political ideologies Political movements in Burkina Faso Eponymous political ideologies Socialism in Burkina Faso Types of socialism Marxist schools of thought

History

Sankarist organisations

Burkina Faso

Abroad

See also

References