Black Consciousness 1977-1987; The Dialectics of Liberation in South Africa¶
Nigel Gibson (1988). Black Consciousness 1977-1987; The Dialectics of Liberation in South Africa. Africa Today, Vol. 35, No. 1, Black Consciousness in South Africa. Indiana University Press.
| Type | journal article |
| Scope | Wider apartheid literature |
| Method | archival narrative |
| Period studied | 1969–1987 |
| Regions | South Africa, Soweto, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town |
| Themes | resistance social movements, politics ideology elections, unions strikes, comparative theory |
| Citation key | gibson1988 |
Argument¶
Gibson traces the Black Consciousness Movement after the 1977 bannings, when it moved from Biko's humanist, Fanon-influenced philosophy of self-liberation toward 'scientific socialism' and vanguardism, mainly through AZAPO, BCMA and the National Forum. He argues that the attempts to broaden BC by incorporating Marxism failed because they adopted a doctrinaire, mechanistic Marxism. In his view BC's philosophy remained undeveloped, and it could have engaged Marx's humanism instead. The argument rests on organisational history, interviews with BC figures, movement documents and a reading of Biko and Fanon.
Evidence and method¶
BC and AZAPO documents and journals (Solidarity, Frank Talk, the Manifesto of the Azanian People), interviews with Saths Cooper, Neville Alexander (via Gail Gerhart), Biko and BC unionists, writings by Biko, Fanon, Pityana, Tlhagale, Mosala, Motlhabi and Goba, and secondary works (Brewer, Gerhart, Lodge, Adam).
Place in the debates¶
- Race vs class analysis of South African oppression (BC vs Marxist/Charterist approaches) (see Resistance and liberation movements). Gibson rejects the collapsing of race into class and the grafting of 'scientific socialism' onto BC. He favours a dialectic of race and class grounded in Marx's humanism and Biko's subjectivity.
- Whether BC was merely a passing psychological stage or a lasting liberation philosophy (see Resistance and liberation movements). He holds that BC was a new philosophic point of departure, not a passing phase, though one left underdeveloped.
- Idealism vs materialism in South African liberation theory (see Resistance and liberation movements). He criticises crude, Stalinist 'diamat' materialism and argues that reading Marx as a mere materialist is a poor reading.
- Role of independent trade unions relative to BC and the UDF/ANC (see Resistance and liberation movements). He notes that the independent union movement has been decisive and kept itself apart from both BC and the UDF, but he does not analyse it in depth.
Findings¶
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The 1977 bannings and the later repression nearly destroyed the founding BC leadership, and many militants went into exile. (p. 7)
In less than three years, almost the entire leadership of the founding Black Consciousness movements was wiped out.
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Many young BC militants joined the ANC and PAC in exile after Soweto, which revitalised the ANC. (p. 7)
Around 5000 young BC inspired revolutionaries fled the country and joined up with the ANC (African National Congress) and PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) guerrilla units.
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Tlhagale tried to place black labour at the centre of BC and moved beyond mere 'awareness' to a material struggle. (p. 10)
It is cheap labour that keeps the capitalist monster alive. It is black labor, specifically, that can herald in a new epoch.
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Neville Alexander's concept of 'racial capitalism' and Saths Cooper's prison studies helped bring class analysis into BC. (p. 10)
Put simply 'racial capitalism' is a system by which the state and capital maintain their economic hegemony by means of racial oppression.
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The National Forum's 1983 Hammanskraal Manifesto named racial capitalism as the enemy and set out four principles. (p. 11)
a document that identified "racial capitalism" as the enemy and was based on four basic principles: Anti-racism, anti-imperialism, anti-collaboration with the ruling class, and independent working class organizations.
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Gibson argues that AZAPO's claimed synthesis of race and class is mere assertion, since it equates the two and adds Marxian phrases. (p. 14)
This kind of assuredness seems to be the result of making class and race synonymous whilst adding some Marxian phraseology.
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By the late 1980s AZAPO had shifted toward Leninist vanguardism and a 'scientific socialism' that Gibson sees as a departure from BC's origins. (p. 16)
As an idea originally situated in the subjectivity of the oppressed, which refused to comply with narrow "Marxist" applications, it is now merely the projection of another Marxist-Leninist tendency.
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Cooper himself doubted that the 'scientific socialism' rhetoric had real content. (p. 17)
I think Scientific Socialism is almost like a slogan without much consideration.
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Gibson identifies the independent trade union movement as decisive for any analysis of South Africa in the early-to-mid 1980s, independent of BC and the UDF. (p. 17)
What has been a decisive determinant to any analysis of South Africa over the past five years has been the trade union movement
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Biko held that economic change alone would not complete liberation, which supports Gibson's humanist reading. (p. 18)
So your problems are not solved completely when you alter the economic pattern to a socialist pattern. You still don't become what you ought to be.
Evidence ledger¶
Sources used¶
| Source | Kind | Period | How used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author's interviews with Saths Cooper (New York, April 1987) | interviews oral history | April 1987 | Supplies Cooper's account of prison-era study, AZAPO's defensive position 1978-82, the National Forum, and the weakness of 'scientific socialism' in BC. |
| Author's interview with a BC unionist | interviews oral history | c. 1987 | Cited as evidence of anti-intellectual attitudes and lack of written theory within BC. |
| Author's interview with a young Black Consciousness militant (New York, February 1987) | interviews oral history | February 1987 | Used to suggest some BC members only reluctantly adopted labour as a revolutionary force. |
| Interview with Neville Alexander by Gail Gerhart (Cape Town, November 1985), non-verbatim notes | interviews oral history | November 1985 | Establishes Alexander's account of forming the National Forum and Charterist withdrawal. |
| Interview with Steve Biko by Gail Gerhart (Durban, 24 October 1972) | interviews oral history | 1972 | Shows Biko's view that BC goals extend beyond overthrowing capitalism. |
| Bernard Zylstra interview with Steve Biko, The Reform Journal (Michigan), December 1977 | newspapers periodicals | 1977 | Source for Biko's statements on the cultural depth of BC, integration, and 'Hegelian theory'. |
| Steve Biko, I Write What I Like (London: Heinemann, 1979) | other | 1970s | Primary writings of Biko quoted for the philosophy of BC, the new humanity and African communalism. |
| AZAPO document 'Our Policy', September 1979 | union or movement records | September 1979 | Shows early BC view of trade unions and equitable distribution of profits instead of worker control. |
| AZAPO conference papers and issue (1981 conference paper via Lodge; February 1983 conference issue) | union or movement records | 1981-1983 | Documents AZAPO's self-description as taking BC into class struggle and Alexander's 1983 address on racial capitalism. |
| AZAPO newsletter July 1981 (Quraish Patel, Kwasala editor) | union or movement records | July 1981 | Evidence of BC's reflexive humanist self-definition and the AZAPO resolution that race is a class determinant. |
| Frank Talk (AZAPO journal), 1981-1987 issues including Vol. 1 Nos. 5-6 and Vol. 2 Sept. 1987 | newspapers periodicals | 1981-1987 | Shows AZAPO's shift to 'scientific socialism', black nationalism and the vanguard party concept. |
| Solidarity (BCMA London journal), issues 4, 5, 7, 11/12 (1980-1985) and BCMA 'Our Urgent Tasks' resolutions | union or movement records | 1978-1985 | Documents BCMA's adoption of scientific socialism and Tlhagale's 'Further Determination of BC'. |
| National Forum documents: Manifesto of the Azanian People, 'Know Your Forum', 'For the Record', Zwakala 1986 paper | union or movement records | 1983-1986 | Establishes the NF's principles, membership policy and treatment of racial capitalism. |
| Contemporary press: Johannesburg Star (May 1979), Post (20 Oct 1979), Christian Science Monitor (30 June 1983), City Press (20 March 1983) | newspapers periodicals | 1979-1983 | Used for statements of BC/BCMA/AZAPO leaders on class consciousness, symposia, the National Forum and Alexander's view of BC. |
| News and Letters (Chicago), including interview with a Sowetan youth (27 March 1987) and Jongilizwe (Dec 1986) | newspapers periodicals | 1960-1987 | Supplies testimony from BC youth and activists about AZASM and the need for theory. |
| Africa News (Durham, NC), June 1979 (Pityana Howard University address and other pieces) | newspapers periodicals | 1979 | Source for Pityana's critique of capitalism and alienation. |
| Gail Gerhart, Black Power in South Africa: The Evolution of an Ideology (1978) | secondary literature compilation | 1960s-1970s | Used for Fanon's influence on BC and for the Biko interview. |
| South Africa: Time Running Out (Foreign Policy Study Foundation report, 1981) | commission or official report | 1981 | Cited for Marxist leanings of BC prisoners on Robben Island and exiles. |
| Karis and Carter, From Protest to Challenge, documentary history (document 98, Tabata 1951) | secondary literature compilation | 1882-1964 | Source for I. B. Tabata's 1951 statement that the power of ideas is central to the movement. |
New data¶
Author conducted a small set of interviews (e.g., Saths Cooper April 1987, a BC unionist, a young BC militant, February 1987) in New York; no systematic dataset built.
Inference¶
Quantification: None.
Qualitative intellectual and political history: close reading of BC leaders' speeches, movement documents, journals and interviews, interpreted through a Fanonian/Marxist-Humanist dialectical framework, tracing change in BC ideology across 1977-87.
Key claims¶
| Claim | Basis | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| After 1977 bannings and repression, BC's founding leadership was largely eliminated or dispersed, with many militants joining the ANC/PAC or the UDF. (p. 10) | Narrative of events from movement histories; no cited archive; figure of 5000 uncited. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| BC's attempts to incorporate Marxism after 1977 adopted doctrinaire 'scientific socialism' grafted onto BC philosophy rather than developing Biko's philosophy. (p. 9) | BCMA 'Our Urgent Tasks', AZAPO documents, Frank Talk quotations and Cooper interview. | Partial data |
| AZAPO has drifted toward black nationalism with Marxist-Leninist vanguard rhetoric, essentially a rehash of 'diamat' with nothing distinctively BC. (p. 16) | Selective quotations from Frank Talk (1984-87) and AZAPO statements. | Partial data |
| The National Forum (1983) was a broad, non-sectarian front that adopted the Manifesto of the Azanian People identifying racial capitalism as the enemy, with AZAPO the largest but not dominant member. (p. 14) | NF documents, Cooper and Alexander interviews, claimed membership figures in footnote. | Partial data |
| Release of Robben Island 'graduates' in the early 1980s was a turning point that revitalised AZAPO and introduced class analysis. (p. 16) | Cooper interview and AZAPO 1983 conference proceedings. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| BC suffers from anti-intellectualism and lacks philosophic development of Biko's ideas. (p. 17) | Single anonymous BC unionist interview plus journal content. | Illustrative or anecdotal |
| Biko's BC was grounded in Fanon's dialectic and in a humanist quest for a new humanity, not merely a passing psychological stage. (p. 4) | Biko's published interviews/essays and Fanon's texts read interpretively. | Partial data |
The author's caveats¶
The author notes that one interviewee's views are not necessarily official ('I do not assume that this is the official attitude') and that the trade union movement is not examined for lack of space; the Alexander interview is cited as non-verbatim notes.
Gaps in the evidence¶
The argument rests on selected quotations and a few interviews, with no systematic sample of AZAPO/BCMA documents, membership records or organisational data to test the claimed shift in ideology. Claims such as the 5000 exiles and the NF membership figures are uncited or based on organisational claims; archives of AZAPO, BCMA and security-police records and wider oral histories exist today and could test them. Evidence on the influence of BC within the labour movement is absent.
Replicability: Data poorly documented.