50 Years of Independence: Reflections on the Role of Publishing and Progressive African Intellectuals. Issue 3 (December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bgoya, Walter
• Is Part Of: Afrika Spectrum. Volume 49:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 107
• Page End: 119
• Publication Date: 2014-12
• Subjects: Africa -- Tanzania -- contemporary history -- intellectuals -- social status/social role -- publishing houses/industry -- Afrika -- Tansania -- Zeitgeschichte -- Intellektuelle -- Sozialer Status/Soziale Rolle -- Verlag/Verlagswesen; Africa -- Periodicals; Afrique; Africa; Afrique; Periodicals; 960.05
• DOI: 10.1177/000203971404900305
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-0397

Abstract

In this contribution, the role of progressive African intellectuals fifty years after independence in the context of African postcolonial, political and socio-economic conditions is examined. African intellectuals have been marginalized by the African state, and progressive intellectuals have been disunited in their struggle for relevance. The possibilities for African intellectual autonomy and international solidarity are shown through a recollection of the flourishing intellectual environment and local publishing output of post-independence Tanzania. The end of that era and the demise of publishing, including in African languages, has negatively impacted African economic and intellectual emancipation and can only be addressed by international solidarity among progressive intellectuals.