marxism

From the article:

So you were defining yourselves in contrast to the “African socialism” that was the official state ideology of Tanzania?

Exactly. Remember, before I went to the university I was a pure nationalist, and very enthusiastic about Ujamaa, the African socialism espoused by [Tanzanian President] Julius Nyerere. But as I began reading Marx and other Marxist literature, I learned that this was a rubbish type of socialism, similar to what was introduced in England during the nineteenth century by Robert Owen and so forth, what Engels called “utopian socialism”. That’s when I broke with Nyerere, because he lacked a scientific understanding of capitalism and of oppression and exploitation.

From the article:

"Capital is a very dense and difficult text, even for native English or German speakers. Who do you hope will read your translation?

Capital is essentially a book for the proletariat — the working class, those who are exploited and oppressed by the capitalist system. I’m convinced that if the book is distributed to low-income people, it will have a very positive impact. I may not be able to prove this, but I believe it and it has also been my personal experience.

In 1976, during my undergraduate studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, I happened to teach Marxist political economy at one of the textile mills in the city. I used the same terminology that I’d been utilizing in the university. What I learned is that the workers in the factory were able to understand better when we discussed issues like “What is exploitation?”, or “Who is a worker, and who is a capitalist?” They were able to internalize these concepts much better than my students at the university, who were educated members of the petit bourgeoisie.

I was one of what they called “militants” at that time and had internalized Marxism at a young age, but when I discussed these ideas with my fellow students, they were unable to understand these concepts: “No, Mwami, we have no exploitation in Tanzania.” This experience proved to me that low-income people can understand Capital. Like I said, I may not be able to prove it, but history will prove me right."