Behind and Beyond Bandung: Historical and Forward-Looking Reflections on South-South Cooperation N’Dri Therese Assie-Lumumba
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Assie-Lumumba Bandung: Journal of the Global South (2015) 2:11 DOI 10.1186/s40728-014-0011-5 RESEARCH Open Access Behind and beyond Bandung: historical and forward-looking reflections on south-south cooperation N’Dri Therese Assie-Lumumba Abstract In their respective struggles for liberation the Asians and Africans, as oppressed people, joined forces in the first half of the 20th century by forming several pre-Bandung organizations. On the African side people of African descent, from the continent and the Diaspora, united to provide the leadership for substantive participation to the common African-Asian front that led to the Bandung conference of April 18-24 1955. The intelligentsia of African descent, including young students in Western Europe and the United States, played leadership roles in shaping the movements. Among them are W. E. B. Du Bois of the United States and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. In terms of the post-Bandung establishment of enduring legacies, it is worth indicating that the resolutions and some of their applications led to global coalitions including the Non-Aligned Movement and G77 within the United Nations. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary that was marked by the April 22-24 2005 Asian-African Summit held in Indonesia African and Asian leaders decided to rekindle the spirit of Bandung and renew their commitment to attain its goal through renewed cooperation between Asia and Africa in adopting the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP). Despite the continued challenges that African countries face in varying degrees, a regained confidence building on their assets, especially with different generations of people of the continent and historic and recent Diaspora, with it would be possible to build a global front toward the reaffirmation of global common humanity guided by the spirit of Bandung. Background Conference created a unique momentum in the course For the African continent and its people, especially Africa of the contemporary world. As Guitard (1969) rightly South of the Sahara, the Nineteenth Century linked two pointed out, from the ardent supporters to the most intertwined historical periods of continent-wide ultimate powerful detractor, it has been unanimously acknowl- calamity that redefined the relationship between Africa/ edged that: Africans and Europe/Europeans: the transatlantic enslave- ment from the 1500 to the 1900 and the formal Bandung remains, in colonial history … a turning colonization of the African continent following the 1884/ point in world history … [it] was not a miracle … as it 85 Berlin Conference on the partitioning and colonization could be and carry the full weight of the future of the continent among the European colonial powers because it was preceded by more obscure meetings, (Davidson 1984 and 1991). prepared by more modest groupings, that made the Various countries in Asia were subjected to different first contacts explored their common difficultiesa. forms of oppression and domination by European powers through military means. The Africans and Asians had Conte (1965) argues that Bandung was in great part been systematically resisting these oppressive systems over the expression of the unacceptable contrast of the arro- a long period of time before Bandung. However, this gant opulence that characterized countries of the West after World War II and the continued degrading life and human misery in the countries of Asia and Africa. The Correspondence: [email protected] Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Centre de Recherches Architecturales et Bandung Conference held in the aftermath of the World Urbaines (CRAU), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Africa © 2015 Assie-Lumumba; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 11:01:34AM via free access Assie-Lumumba Bandung: Journal of the Global South (2015) 2:11 Page 2 of 10 War II, was marked by the commitment to promote an wisdom saying captured in the Akan Sankofa. This prov- alternative to the dominant system that created devasta- erb articulates the importance of making stops during a tion by war and continued the quest to rebuild itself journey, to look back to ascertain the appropriateness of while continuing the exploitation of dominated people. the direction and consider the need for a more strategic Thus, it was motivated by the idea of forming a global repositioning to move forward. This idea is also well ar- alliance to create and sustain a world of peace and co- ticulated by John Henrik Clarke, the African-American operation toward social progress on the global scale. scholar and activistb who wrote books such as Clarke In their respective struggles for liberation, the Asians and (1999), in explaining how crucial history is, when he Africans came to the conclusion that with a united front in stated (Clarke 1996): joining forces, they could break the back of colonial and imperial forces. One important purpose of this article is to History is a clock that people use to tell the political analyze some of the pre-Bandung struggles and organiza- and cultural time of the day. It is also a compass that tions of people of African descent, from the continent and people use to find themselves on the map of human the Diaspora, which contributed undoubtedly to their geography. History tells the people where they have readiness and leadership for substantive participation to been, what they have been, where they are, and what the common African-Asian front that led to Bandung. they are. Most important, history tells the people The post-Bandung period led to the establishment of where they still must go and what they still must be. many enduring legacies, and the celebration of many anni- versaries. Within the United Nations, for instance, the re- To articulate the complex process that led the Bandung, flection in this paper focuses on the 50th anniversary that it is important to pay due attention to the role of the youth. was marked by the April 22–24 2005 Asian-African Sum- It may appear as a paradox that many of the pre-Bandung mit held in Indonesia. On this occasion, African and Asian organizations were formed in Europe. The apparent para- leaders decided to rekindle the spirit of Bandung and re- dox is that the oppressed people were able to organize and new their commitment to attain its goal through renewed articulate their quest for freedom on the lands of the im- cooperation between Asia and Africa in adopting the New perial forces. However, the paradox is only apparent. In- Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP). This con- deed, these European cities were sites of convergence of stitutes the main “beyond Bandung” aspect of the paper. people from various colonized societies, most of whom This paper is a reflective essay using a historical ap- had migrated in pursuit of educational opportunities that proach to critically examine South-South cooperation as the socio-political and economic contexts of their respect- framed in the perspective of African-Asian connection. ive countries, most of which were formally colonized, did It is divided into three main sections. The first section not offer them. While resident in countries that held colo- analyzes what I have referred to in the paper as “Behind nial and imperial powers, they were able to compare their Bandung,” with a focus on the early and continuous similar oppressive conditions back home and their quest organizational capacity building in the 20th Century with for positive change. Thus, it was in fact a fertile ground for the deliberate goals of gathering strength for more ef- the Africans and Asians, on their respective sides and to- fectiveness in the struggle. It examines some of the key gether, to meet and organize for change. global and regional factors that contributed, directly or In The Souls of Black Folk written in 1903, Du Bois indirectly, to build the momentum toward Bandung. (1969) made one of his most famous observations: “The The second section discusses the immediate context of problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the the Bandung Conference, with a focus on some aspects color-line— the relation of the darker to lighter races of of the specificities of the agency and engagements of men [sic] in Asia and Africa, in America and the island African global actors committed to the African-Asian sea” Du Bois 1969:54). This examination had a meaning common front. The third section is a forward-looking not only in the context of the then racially segregated reflection on post-Bandung in the Twenty-first Century, United States, but also globally because colonialism was an analysis of the recent commitment to rekindle the essentially built on racism. This became significant in Bandung spirit, and follow through some of the concrete the global context and the search for alliance between action plans. The conclusion wraps up the reflection the African and Asian People. It was framed as an alli- while pointing to further research trails to have a fuller ance of the Black/Brown and the Yellow (as the Asians appreciation of the history as we move forward. were referred to at the time). The lawyer Henry Sylvester Williams, among other The African-Asian connection, the global-regional nexus, people of African descent from the Caribbean, lived in and factors and actors toward Bandung London at the end of the 19th century and the beginning In reiterating the relevance of my historical approach of the 20th Century. While he was a student, he and stated in the introduction, it is worth to refer to an African other students from West Africa, namely Ghana, the Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 11:01:34AM via free access Assie-Lumumba Bandung: Journal of the Global South (2015) 2:11 Page 3 of 10 Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, met and developed organization, they discussed themes that had identity relations and came to the realization that African people and political implications especially “Négritude” (Black had a common struggle.