The development of Kwame Nkrumah's political thought in exile, 1966-1972

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Periodical article

Title:	The development of Kwame Nkrumah's political thought in exile, 1966-1972
Author:	Biney, Ama
Year:	2009
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	50
Issue:	1
Pages:	81-100
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	politicians political ideologies
About person:	Francis Nwia Kofie Nkrumah (1909-1972)
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/40206699
Abstract:	The focus of this article is an examination of the evolution of Kwame Nkrumah's political thought during the last years of his life, after he was deposed from power in Ghana on 24 february 1966. There is a discernible radicalization as Nkrumah's intellectual thought developed between 1966 and 1972. He had clearly abandoned the constitutional path to independence and begun to adopt revolutionary armed struggle as the only solution to Africa's myriad problems of capitalism, neo-colonialism and imperialism. The unfolding social and political struggles in Vietnam and Latin America and the unrest in America's black cities impacted profoundly on his thinking. Before examining the trajectory of Nkrumah's political thought as reflected in his letters and the books he published whilst in exile in Guinea-Conakry, the article explores the nature and causes of the coup which toppled him from power. The broader argument made is that, despite his exile, Nkrumah's intellectual life was driven by his single-minded ideological commitment to Africa's development. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited]