Geography (2021 cohort)
My thesis aims to examine the influence of Marxism on the political thought and activism of the Afro-Guyanese historian, Walter Rodney (1942-1980). It will revise prior interpretations of his life and work, which have understated Rodney’s Marxist ideas to favour his Pan-Africanism and Black Nationalism. Looking at Rodney’s intellectual work, movements and networks, my thesis will analyse how his politics evolved through his engagement with Marxism in Africa, Europe and the Americas. In so doing, it will enquire into the potential significance of Rodney’s theories and activism for understanding the application of Marxism in colonial and post-colonial contexts.
I’m of Nigerian, Tanzanian and British heritage and I grew up in Geneva, Switzerland. I hold a BA History and Sciences of Religions from the University of Geneva and an MA African Studies from SOAS, University of London. I’m an Affiliate to the Editorial Board of the Review of African Political Economy because I like to read and write on African politics, popular struggles and the history of working-class resistance on the Africa and the diaspora. I have published a short introduction on the life and politics of the Afro-Guyanese Marxist Walter Rodney.
