Greece's Uncertain Future

A Thousand Flowers: Social Struggles against Structural Adjustment in African Universities

A Review by Refilwe Senatla and Fazel Khan

‘A Thousand Flowers’ is a project of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, and is published by African World Press and edited by Silvia Federici, George Caffentzis and Ousseina Alidou.

The book is a collection of articles that chronicles the social struggles against Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) in African universities from the 1980’s into the 90’s. It deals with experiences that are central to the lived experience on many African campuses but which almost never appear in donor funded ‘research’.

Mutabaruka - Life And Debt

The debt crisis, Africa and the new enclosures

by Silvia Frederici, 1990, Libcom

In that brief moment the world seemed to stand still, waiting. There was utter silence. The men of Umuofia were merged into the mute backcloth of trees and giant creepers, waiting. The spell was broken by the head messenger. "Let me pass!" he ordered. "What do you want here?" "The white man whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop."
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Hoisting the “Knowledge Bank” on Its Own Petard: The World Bank and the “Double Crisis” of African Universities

by George Caffentzis, Presented at the Faculty of Humanities Seminar, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, Feb. 16, 2010, Libcom

Struggle is like education and it just keeps going on.

For 'tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petard, an't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon.