Cover Story – samir amin
Volume 17, Issue 1, 2020
Samir Amin intro
SAMIR AMIN was born in Cairo as son of an Egyptian father and a French mother (both medical doctors). He spent his childhood and youth in Port Said, where he attended a French High School and obtained a Baccalauréat (1947). He studied in Paris (1947–1957) with degrees in political science (1952), statistics (1956) and economics (1957). His PhD thesis (1957) was on: The origins of underdevelopment – capitalist accumulation on a world scale but retitled: The structural effects of the international integration of precapitalist economies. A theoretical study of the mechanism which creates so-called underdeveloped economies. He worked in Cairo (1957–1960) for the government’s ‘Institution for Economic Management’. He was an adviser…
Editorial
So Covid-19 is here amongst us – a lifeless entity invisible to the human eye has brought our world to a stop! Revolutionary almost! The cover story of this issue is celebrating one of Africa’s most renowned revolutionary thinkers and activists: Prof Samir Amin who passed away on 12 August 2018. Amin devoted his life to the study of global capitalism and wrote extensively urging us to refuse the dictatorship of money, to rebuild and extend democracy, to de-link from Euro-centric policies and adopt an overall strategy of ‘self-reliance’, to globalize social struggles … and so much more. We hope that readers will glean some valuable knowledge and insights from this selection of his writings and the reflections. In March this year we…
REGULAR COLUMN
Cinema Nostalgia – A Sequel Reading the varied and fascinating contributions…
As I write this we are in the grip of a truly international health crisis.…
The third of the series of the workshops held by the Review of African Political…
Karim Hirji comments on `Babri Masjid: A Case of Criminal Trespass’ (Awaaz…
One daythe apoliticalintellectualsof my countrywill be interrogatedby the…
tribute to mohinder
Memories and Tributes to Mo (Sir Mohinder Dhillon)
Sir Mohinder Dhillon, ‘Mo’ to his friends, was a remarkable Kenyan. From an unschooled village lad in the Punjab, India, to becoming a world-famous frontline news cameraman; his life story is the stuff of legends. Official photographer to Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia; a near fatal helicopter crash on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro; coverage of the horrific Ethiopian Famine 1984-86; a bone-chilling escape from a firing squad in the Congo; filming Africa’s bruising independence struggles and war situations in Vietnam, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan; dining with Charlie Chaplin; a bizarre…
Special Feature
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Book & Film Reviews
Fighting Abuse in the #Metoo Era: Because We are Girls
Sexual abuse is rampant globally and yet, usually, people are uncomfortable discussing it. In some cultures, it is taboo to even mention such abuse; often, to raise a voice against it is considered airing dirty laundry in public. South Asian…
The Flavours of Nationalism: Recipes for Love, Hate and Friendship
Author: Nandita HaksarPubl: Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi During one of my first classes in anthropology, a professor noted the power of material culture studies. All human culture, she noted, can be traced through the study of…
October 1917 Revolution – A century Later
Author: Samir AminPubl: Daraja Press The only time I have ever met, and heard, the late Prof. Samir Amin was in 2010 at the Nyerere Intellectual Festival in Dar-es-Salaam when he gave the key-note address entitled ‘The Long Road to…
Insurgent Empire
Author: Priyamvada GopalPubl: Verso This book is a very important contribution to the history of anti-imperialism and racism in the UK. Priyamvada Gopal first tells the stories of several white colonialists who, as a result of the brutality…
On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal
Author: Naomi KleinPubl: Allen Lane For 20 years Naomi Klein has been one of the foremost activists, journalists and writers within the anti-capitalist and environmental movements. From No-Logo, a book that epitomised the anti-capitalist…
No One is Too Small to Make a Difference
Author: Greta ThunbergPubl: Penguin Books https://bookmarksbookshop.co.uk/view/48492/No+one+is+too+small+to+make+a+differe… A few weeks ago, we started the Biology unit in science. My teacher gave us a brief on the topic we would be…
Mask Off: Masculinity Redefined
Author: JJ BolaPubl: Pluto Press This incredibly enjoyable book utterly destroys the myths around masculinity and is a great read for younger men told to ‘man up’, ‘stop being such a wimp’ and so on. There has been a significant rise of books…
The Windrush Betrayal
Author: Amelia GentlemanPubl: Faber & Faber This book is a searing account of the effects of Tory immigration policy, introduced with the support of their LibDem partners, and designed to make it impossible for irregular migrants to…
Mau Mau Interrogator
Author: Ken LeesPubl: Skyscraper The 1950s Mau Mau war in Kenya was one of the bloodiest of the conflicts that ended the British Empire. The colonial authorities won, but the cost was too heavy to keep holding on. Still, the colonialists’…
The Many Faces of Kashmiri Nationalism: From the Cold War to the Present Day
Author: Nandita HaksarPubl: Speaking Tiger Nandita Haksar’s magnum opus traces the tortured history of Kashmiri nationalism through the lives of two men: Sampat Prakash, a Kashmiri Pandit and Communist trade Union leader who became active in…
About AwaaZ
Awaaz is a magazine published tri-annually out of Nairobi, Kenya. It aims to provide a broad platform for debate and reflection on issues of both contemporary and historical interest. What started off in 2002 as a focus on the role of the South Asian community in the historical, political and socio-economic spheres of Kenya; has now broadened to cover the larger debates on diversity, democracy, human rights and social justice. The magazine also critically examines the role of minorities both as communities in Kenya and East Africa; as well as a concept of human rights in a society be they ethnic, racial, gender based, sexual or political.
Friends Of AwaaZ
Yash and Jill Ghai, Mohez Karmali, Gijsbert Oonk, Vijoo Rattansi, Victoria Commercial Bank Charitable Trust, I& M Bank, Willy Mutunga, Chandaria Foundation, Asian Foundation, Firoze Manji, Muthoni Wanyeki, Wanjiru Gikonyo, Kirit Pattni, Ismail Ramadhani, Dr. Ramadhan Marjan, Radha Upadhyaya, Benegal Pereira, Mburu Gitu, Neela Ghoshal, Hindpal Jabbal, Krishna Sondhi, Nyawira Muthiga, Sheetal Kapila, Fiona Mati, Ramnik Shah, Shiraz Durrani, Madhukant Shah, Rosemelle Mutoka, Nivi Sharma, Salim Damji, Juzar Hooker, Mark Ojal, Mohinder Dhillon, Karen Rothmyer, Sachen Shah, Akbar Husein, Peter Kiama, Sarah and Felix Kyalo, Karim Hirji, Sultan Somjee, Musti and Shakila Mamujee