Burkina Faso

There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women, explains the leader of the 1983-87 revolution in Burkina Faso. Workers and peasants in that West African country established a popular revolutionary government and began to combat the hunger, illiteracy, and economic backwardness imposed by imperialist domination.

Preface, introduction, map, photos, index.

Also available in: Spanish, French, Farsi

Under SankaraÂ’s leadership, the revolutionary government of Burkina Faso in West Africa set an electrifying example. Peasants, workers, women, and youth mobilized to carry out literacy and immunization drives; to sink wells, plant trees, build dams, erect housing; to combat the oppression of women and transform exploitative relations on the land; to free themselves from the imperialist yoke and solidarize with others engaged in that fight internationally.

Second edition includes a preface by Mary-Alice Waters, a new introduction by editor Michel Prairie, maps, chronology, glossary, and index. Two extensive photo sections feature many unpublished photos of the Burkina Faso revolution.

Also available in: French

A natural sequel to Sobonfu Som's book on ritual and intimacy, Welcoming Spirit Home draws on the wisdom of the African ancestors to show how to build communities where children are not only welcomed but prized. The author demonstrates how ritual and the spirit can be used to enrich daily life.

"Our revolution in Burkina Faso draws on the totality of man's experiences since the first breath of humanity. We wish to be the heirs of all the revolutions of the world, of all the liberation struggles of the peoples of the Third World. We draw the lessons of the American revolution. The French revolution taught us the rights of man. The great October revolution brought victory to the proletariat and made possible the realization of the Paris Commune's dreams of justice."
--Thomas Sankara, October 1984

Thomas Sankara led the revolution of 1983 to 1987 in Burkina Faso. In the five speeches contained in this pamphlet, he explains how the peasants and workers of this West African country established a popular revolutionary government and began to fight the hunger, illiteracy and economic backwardness imposed by imperialist domination, and the oppression of women inherited from millennia of class society. In so doing, they have provided an example not only to the workers and small farmers of Africa, but to those of the entire world.

Also available in: French, Spanish

This final report describes the study of an exceptionally well-preserved Iron Age building discovered in northern Burkina Faso, West Africa. The site of Oursi hu-beero, meaning "the big house of Oursi" in the locally spoken Songhay language, was excavated in 2000 and 2001 by a scientific team from the universities of Frankfurt am Main and Ouagadougou. It is situated in the middle of a group of settlement mounds, nearby the modern village of Oursi. In the year 2000, deep erosion gullies were threatening the architectural remains on the surface, which were provisionally dated to the 10th century AD. Scholars from both universities saw the importance of this site and undertook immediate action. But even they were not prepared for what they uncovered under only one metre of destruction debris. The rich diversity of incredible finds in the 25 different rooms rendered their exposure of enormous importance for the archaeology and history of Burkina Faso. Complete storage jars, metal equipment, wooden furniture, rope and textile fragments, grinding stones and charred botanical remains are only a fraction of the total assemblage of finds. Although we are dealing with the results of a single occupation phase and from one building only, the density of finds, the preservation of the architecture and the absence of later disturbances add considerably to our understanding of daily life in this part of West Africa. Up to now the limited contextual information about life in villages and towns prior to the historical periods has promoted divergent and weakly argued interpretations. This volume breaks open new grounds of investigation and calls for further study. Additionally, the editors hope that this report will stimulate and encourage the discussion between historians and archaeologists of the fascinating West African past. The current volume presents an introduction to the expedition, an analysis of the site formation processes, the presentation of the architectural features, in-depth studies of the findings and a lively account of the heritage management project that resulted in an on-site museum. Nine authors contributed to this rich and multifaceted final report. The account of the construction, intensive use, violent destruction and subsequent rediscovery of the building is the enthralling subject of this volume, which is richly illustrated with numerous coloured drawings, photographs, maps and reconstruction drawings. It melds archaeological, historical and environmental data into a thrilling story. A story that reads like a new Crime Scene Investigation episode but happens to have been a real-life tragedy in the African Sahel almost 1,000 years ago.

Sous la direction de Thomas Sankara, le gouvernement révolutionnaire du Burkina Faso en Afrique de l’Ouest a mobilisé les paysans, les travailleurs, les femmes et les jeunes pour mener des campagnes d’alphabétisation et de vaccination ; creuser des puits, planter des arbres, construire des barrages et des logements ; combattre l’oppression des femmes et transformer les relations d’exploitation à la campagne ; se libérer du joug impérialiste et pratiquer la solidarité internationale. Dans ce recueil de 30 discours et entrevues, Thomas Sankara parle comme un remarquable dirigeant révolutionnaire des travailleurs, des agriculteurs et des jeunes du monde entier.

La deuxième édition comprend une nouvelle introduction par l’éditeur, Michel Prairie, ainsi qu’une préface, des cartes, une chronologie, un glossaire et un index. Le cahier de photos de 32 pages contient beaucoup de photos inédites de la révolution au Burkina Faso.

Parlant de la première édition en anglais, publiée par Pathfinder en 1988, Victoria Brittain a écrit dans le Guardian de Londres: « Le courage et l’originalité qui ont fait de Sankara et du Burkina Faso une source d’inspiration pour tant d’Africains brillent dans ce recueil de ses discours les plus importants. »

L’originalité de sa pensée, […] sa connaissance des réalités socio-économiques du pays, sa compréhension des rapports de force internationaux […] font de ce recueil de textes un outil très utile. Exprimées avec passion et lucidité, ses vues sur le nécessaire rééquilibrage entre villes et campagnes, sur l’importance cruciale de l’émancipation de la femme […] sont en parfaite syntonie avec les revendications des populations africaines actuelles.—Le Monde diplomatique

Préface par Mary-Alice Waters, cahier photos de 32 pages, cartes, chronologie, glossaire, index.

This volume in the "Marxist Regimes" series examines three African Marxist states which were formerly French colonies: Benin is discussed by Chris Allen, The Congo by Michael Radu and Keith Somerville, and Burkina Faso by Joan Baxter and Keith Somerville. From Independence in 1960 until Major Kerekou's 1972 coup, Benin was the least stable state in Africa. Since then, Benin has been a stable Marxist regime. Part 1 investigates the sources of the earlier unrest, the process of stabilization and its relationship to the radicalization of Benin's politics. Its claims to socialism are assessed and its gradual renewed contact with Western and capitalist systems in the 1980s is noted. The Peoples' Republic of Congo is the oldest self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist regime in sub-Saharan Africa. In Part 2, its political development is traced from Independence in 1960 to the Sassou-Ngouesso regime and the institutionalization of radicalism. The role of oil and the vulnerability of a one-commodity economy are covered, along with the Congo's part in the Angola-Zaire conflict and in Chad's civil war. Burkina Faso, formerly Upper Volta, also gained independence in 1960. The subsequent coups and involvement of the military in government are covered here, alongside the economic development plans and efforts of "national recovery". The name Burkina Faso was adopted in 1984.