The legacies of Thomas Sankara: a revolutionary experience in retrospect

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Periodical article

Title:	The legacies of Thomas Sankara: a revolutionary experience in retrospect
Author:	Harsch, Ernest
Year:	2013
Periodical:	Review of African Political Economy (ISSN 0305-6244)
Volume:	40
Issue:	137
Pages:	358-374
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Burkina Faso
Subjects:	heads of State revolutions 1983 political history
About person:	Thomas Sankara (1949-1987)
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2013.816947
Abstract:	A quarter century after the 15 October 1987 assassination of Thomas Sankara in a military coup, the late president of Burkina Faso remains a near-mythical hero for many young people in his country and across Africa. They idealise the image of a committed, self-sacrificing rebel, who during four years as leader of a small, impoverished Sahelian nation sought to improve the lives of ordinary people while at the same time projecting the country onto the international arena. Why has popular interest in Sankara persisted for so long, despite the collapse of his short-lived revolutionary venture? How is it that each anniversary of his death draws hundreds, if not thousands, to commemorations at his gravesite? This article offers some retrospective reflections and re-examines those features of Sankara's revolutionary era that still resonate with many citizens today, as well as those that have been left behind. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]