Fighting Two Colonialisms
Fighting Two Colonialisms by Stephanie Urdang, published by Monthly Review Press in January 1979, offers an in-depth examination of Guinea-Bissau’s struggle for independence from Portuguese colonial rule. This 320-page book details the historical context of Guinea-Bissau, highlighting the brutal nature of colonization under a fascist dictatorship and the emergence of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956. Urdang explores the initial strategies of the PAIGC, which included organizing workers and advocating for negotiations, and the pivotal shift towards armed struggle following violent repression.
Readers will find a thorough analysis of the PAIGC’s ideology, particularly its commitment to integrating women’s emancipation into the broader revolutionary movement. The book discusses the necessity of mass participation in the fight for independence and the role of women in both the armed struggle and the formation of a new society. Through this lens, Fighting Two Colonialisms provides valuable insights into the historical and social dynamics of Guinea-Bissau’s fight against colonialism, making it a significant contribution to the understanding of post-colonial studies and gender roles in revolutionary movements.
Official synopsis Publisher
Guinea-Bissau, a small country on the West Coast of Africa, had been a colony of Portugal for 500 years, and with the 1926 rise of a Portuguese fascist dictatorship, colonization of the country became both brutal and complete. In 1956 the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded by Amilcar Cabral and a few country people. At first PAIGC’s goal was to organize workers in the towns, hoping that through demonstrations and strikes they would convince the Portuguese to negotiate for independence. It soon became clear that this approach to independence would not work. Each demonstration was met with violence, until the 1959 massacre of fifty dockworkers holding a peaceful demonstration at Pidgiguiti. This was a turning point for PAIGC: they realized that independence could not be won without an armed struggle, one that had to be based on the mass participation of the people. This book focuses on the way in which PAIGC ideology integrated the emancipation of women into the total revolution: the way it emphasized the need for women to play an equal political, economic, and social role in both the armed struggle and the construction of a new society.
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