"Marxism and African Liberation"

1. Explain the debate Rodney is referring to at the beginning of his speech. Why does he argue it has come up now? Why do you think he felt it prudent to address this debate in front of an American audience?

2. Dissect this excerpt on page 5: “This is the difference with which I will start. A methodology which begins its analysis of any society, or any situation, by seeking the relations which arise in the production between men. There are a whole variety of things which flow from that: man’s consciousness is formed in the intervention in nature; nature itself is humanized through its interaction with man’s labor; and man’s labor produces a constant stream of technology which in turn creates other social changes.”

3. How did Cabral go about applying Marxist methodology in “The Weapon of Theory”? How does his approach directly refute arguments about the limited scope or dogma of Marxism?

4. Why is there no middle road between capitalism and socialism? What do bourgeois ideology and Marxist methodology inherently represent?

5. How is the separation of natural and social sciences a product of liberalism? What implications does this distinction have on global liberation struggles?

6. What can we infer from this text about the nature of race and class in the “American” context? What would a successful liberation struggle following Marxist methodology look like in the United States?