Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by edmondduong
A Certain Amount of Madness The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara by Amber Murrey
4.5
For those interested in Thomas Sankara, I would advise you to watch the documentary "Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man".
A Certain Amount of Madness is quite an exceptional collection of essays on the life and legacy of Thomas Sankara. Sankara, in his short reign as leader of Burkina Faso, had shown us a prospect of another future for Africa by building upon humanist socialist ideologies. His focus on the historically disenfranchised — the peasantry, women, the non-urban Burkinabè society — while rejecting neocolonialism and imperialism showed his dedication to reinventing an egalitarian society. His untimely death at the hands of his close ally Compaoré backed by imperialistic France had brought all this progress to a halt. Under Compaoré's rule, Burkina Faso suffered the very problems that Sankara had warned about in accepting foreign aid and loans. Presently, Burkina Faso is a country with one of the lowest HDIs, suffering from effects of structural adjustments, and is rife with corruption, inequality, and many other social problems. From Sankara's ideology, one could imagine a better future that never came true.
The different essays touch on different parts of Sankara's life, policies and ideas, showing his 'madness' in his rejection of Western hegemonic ideologies that were imposed upon many post-colonial western Africa states, favouring instead a society that believes in self-determination over imperialist control. While this book is largely approving of Sankara's rule, it does not shy away from criticising Sankara's shortcomings, some of which had led to his eventual assassination.
While most of the 23 essays in this volume are of quite a high standard, there are a handful that fail to reach this level. Some of the essays are too superficial and others are jargon-filled to the point of unintelligibility. It is interesting how some authors disagree with one another in their essays, presenting a well-rounded view on Sankara from both sides.
As one of the few English compendiums on Thomas Sankara, A Certain Amount of Madness was quite the comprehensive overview of what Sankara's impact on the world is. I must give credit to Murrey for the well-structured and edited book. Sankara allows us to glimpse a possible socialist future for the world. Let us remember the name of the greatest African revolutionaries: Thomas Sankara.
A Certain Amount of Madness is quite an exceptional collection of essays on the life and legacy of Thomas Sankara. Sankara, in his short reign as leader of Burkina Faso, had shown us a prospect of another future for Africa by building upon humanist socialist ideologies. His focus on the historically disenfranchised — the peasantry, women, the non-urban Burkinabè society — while rejecting neocolonialism and imperialism showed his dedication to reinventing an egalitarian society. His untimely death at the hands of his close ally Compaoré backed by imperialistic France had brought all this progress to a halt. Under Compaoré's rule, Burkina Faso suffered the very problems that Sankara had warned about in accepting foreign aid and loans. Presently, Burkina Faso is a country with one of the lowest HDIs, suffering from effects of structural adjustments, and is rife with corruption, inequality, and many other social problems. From Sankara's ideology, one could imagine a better future that never came true.
The different essays touch on different parts of Sankara's life, policies and ideas, showing his 'madness' in his rejection of Western hegemonic ideologies that were imposed upon many post-colonial western Africa states, favouring instead a society that believes in self-determination over imperialist control. While this book is largely approving of Sankara's rule, it does not shy away from criticising Sankara's shortcomings, some of which had led to his eventual assassination.
While most of the 23 essays in this volume are of quite a high standard, there are a handful that fail to reach this level. Some of the essays are too superficial and others are jargon-filled to the point of unintelligibility. It is interesting how some authors disagree with one another in their essays, presenting a well-rounded view on Sankara from both sides.
As one of the few English compendiums on Thomas Sankara, A Certain Amount of Madness was quite the comprehensive overview of what Sankara's impact on the world is. I must give credit to Murrey for the well-structured and edited book. Sankara allows us to glimpse a possible socialist future for the world. Let us remember the name of the greatest African revolutionaries: Thomas Sankara.