Can the Philosopher Change the World? The Enduring Relevance of Anticolonial Marxism in an Era of Decoloniality

Abstract Decolonial theory (DT) has been advanced as a strategy for decolonisation alternative to 20 th ‐century anticolonialism, positioning decolonisation as an epistemic project rather than a historical‐material one. Here, I examine DT's arguments about anticolonialism: that it had a dogmatic bias towards nationalism and postcolonial state formation, and that anticolonial Marxism ignores cultural and epistemological aspects of colonialism. Via a consideration of the history of 20 th ‐century decolonisation and an engagement with the anticolonial Marxism of Walter Rodney and Amílcar Cabral, I argue that DT relies on a mischaracterisation of this intellectual and political history, thereby foreclosing serious engagement with it. An important consequence is the downplaying of the historical and continued significance of imperialism. Engaging recent work on the question of decolonising geography, I argue for greater engagement with the politics of national liberation and internationalism in contemporary discussions of decolonisation, and for the continuing relevance of anticolonial Marxism.