Communists and Black liberation movements

Divergent trajectories in the United States and South Africa, 1939–1969

Bibliographic Data

ID18955131
AuthorsM Paret (0000-0003-1031-2270, University of Utah, corresponding author), Z Levenson (0000-0001-9077-4664, University of Johannesburg)
Year2025
Volume103
Issue4
Pages1374-1392
Publication date2025-04-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Forces (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-7732 • E-ISSN: 1534-7605
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/sf/soae171
OpenAlexW4406397728
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited45

In the 1920s, the Moscow-based Comintern began to promote a Black Communist movement, with specific emphasis on the United States and South Africa. Despite this common point of departure, the United States and South African Communist parties followed opposite trajectories. By the mid-20th century, the former dwindled as it grew increasingly detached from Black movements, while the latter developed a close relationship with the African National Congress, setting the stage for the party’s explosive growth in the post-apartheid period. To explain this divergence, we focus on what we call movement politics: the dynamic interaction among movements as they pursue particular political orientations and strategies. In the instances examined here, movement politics takes the form of a triangular relationship among three sets of actors: the international Communist movement, Black movements, and national Communist parties. We examine this dynamic interaction in two key conjunctures: first, during World War II, when loyalty to the Soviet Union proved to be an asset for the CPSA and a liability for the CPUSA; and second, during the Cold War, when South African Communists and Black movements converged on a politics of national liberation, while in the United States, Black movements turned to Third World liberation or anti-Communism as two alternatives to the CPUSA. These divergent trajectories reveal the period considered here, 1939 to 1969, as a critical juncture when American Communists became alienated from Black movements, while their counterparts in South Africa developed a lasting alliance with Black movements that persists to this day

Liberation · Liberation movement · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Race, History, and American Society · South African History and Culture