There is an ongoing effort to archive the materials of Arghiri Emmanuel (1911-2001), a Greek-French theorist and author of the seminal 1972 critique of imperialism Unequal Exchange. In the process of creating this archive, the Arghiri Emmanuel Association discovered new information about Emmanuel’s time in the Belgian Congo (1937-1941 and 1946-1960), particularly his relationship to Patrice Lumumba and the liberation movement. Here, by combining archival material with biographical information obtained in conversation with Emmanuel’s family and peers, it is revealed that much of Emmanuel's early political and intellectual development – including his theory of unequal exchange – was heavily influenced by lengthy periods of time in the Belgian Congo, including through personal relationships with prominent anti-colonial figures of the period. This is the first post of a two-part installment; the second post will follow next week.

Horman Chitonge and ROAPE's Peter Lawrence introduce Volume 51 Issue 180 of the journal, a special issue honouring the life and work of leading African scholar-activist and one of our contributing editors, Lungisile Ntsebeza. Ntsebeza’s work has prominently featured in debates on the land question, rural local government and social movements in South Africa and Africa more broadly. Yet Ntsebeza’s work has not only been academic. He has used his research on land and rural governance to inform and support the daily struggles of communities in different parts of South Africa and the continent.

Sixty-six years ago, on the eve of independence, Niger’s first African government council was led by the Sawaba party and its Prime Minister was a charismatic decolonial trade unionist called Djibo Bakary. Sawaba was then overthrown in 1958 by France in Africa’s first coup. Few know about the Sawaba party, its leader Djibo Bakary and the struggle in the 1960s for Niger’s true liberation.  For ROAPE, Sahidi Bilan and Rob Lemkin bring the hidden history of Niger’s fight for real liberation to life.

In recent years we have become familiar with the great sacrifices of whistleblowers. In the global context, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden have exposed the terrible crimes of the empire. Recently released publisher and activist, Julian Assange, was also incarcerated due to his role in aiding whistleblowers. Ugljesa Radulovic argues that the experiences of whistleblowers in Africa are less well known. Yet, Radulovic identifies that South African whistleblowers have been subjected to vicious, and sometimes, deadly reprisals, similar to that of their counterparts in the West.

ROAPE’s Reg Cline-Cole introduces the first issue of the journal (Vol. 51, Issue 179) in the year of our 50th anniversary, and as a fully open access publication. Though this year, Reg explains, is a new beginning, it is also a return to ROAPE’s radical origins half a century ago. The entire new issue is available for the first time fully open access, with no paywall or barriers to access anywhere in the world. Each article, briefing and review is accessible through the links below.