Contributions from "Southern Marxisms" and National Liberation Struggles to Political Theory

Against arguments made on Marxism as a Eurocentric and determinist theory and methodology that is unable to offer avenues for peoples from the Global South, there is increasing effort to shed light on the contributions made by these very peoples in developing Marxism in their own diverse contexts. From Latin America and the Caribbean to Asia and Africa, political theorization was and still is a strategic endeavor of national liberation from colonization and neocolonization, for envisioning emancipatory avenues towards decolonized futures. Addressing questions such as racism and racial subjugation, religion, culture, nation and nationalism, and self-determination, intellectuals, party cadres and social leaders have drawn on Marx and Engels’ own writings and widened the scope of the critique of colonialism as a regime working to expand capitalism world-wide, including in its imperialist stage, unveiling the pervasive effects of such a regime in contemporary societies. This paper engages with some of these works by outlining a synthesis of tactical and strategic analyses made by these thinkers as contributions to political theory. Like others, the paper argues that these contributions deserve recognition and inclusion in the scholarly register —not only as research subjects but as efforts of political theorization in their own right.