The Horizon of Decolonial Communism

Communism and decolonization: the two most fundamental critiques of the modern world. Communism attacks the system of private property, the means by which the few exploits the many. Decolonization attacks the system of Eurocentrism, the centering of the world around Europe. But although the two each take up oppositional positions, their relationship with each other has never been so clear as their relationship with the dominant society has been. The relationship of communism and decolonization is an open question. Re-readings of major historical revolutionary figures like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin trace this relationship to the past, present, and future of communist struggle. This book is an attempt to think through that question, and to give sketches for future approaches. Where should emancipatory politics begin? How should we (re)build a revolutionary mass movement? What is our relationship to the histories of emancipatory movements? Who are We? What kind of world are we building? From out of these questions, this book argues that communism is the truth of decolonization, and that decolonization is the truth of communism. If each is to be realized, it must learn from the other. This is the historical project of a decolonial communism, in which the free development of each is the condition of the free development of all.