It was fascinating to see Ngũgĩ address his thoughts about capitalism very directly. While all of his novels and memoirs incorporate analysis and critique of capitalism, he writes at length about it in Something Torn and New. He explicitly associated the European Renaissance with the rise of capitalist modernity and the imperia mindset that resulted in the widespread colonisation of Africa. In his opinion, “There is no region, no culture, no nation that has not been affected by colonialism and its aftermath” (xi). So, it can be argued that he might think something similar about the reach of capitalism, as well.

The expansion of Europe’s wealth and industrialization was built on the exploitation of African people and land. Additionally, the capitalist focus on individually likely contributed to the strategic fracturing of African communities through the imposition of both physical and intellectual barriers. Through a comprehensive and systematic imposition of these colonial structures, European states strongly influenced the cultural memory of generations. It is this capitalist drive to destroy and exploit that Ngũgĩ condemns so strongly.

His writings in Something Torn and New echo his condemnation of capitalism in Wrestling with the Devil in which he writes, “Capitalism itself is a system of unabashed theft and robbery. Thus, theft, robbery, and corruption can never be wrong under capitalism, because they are inherent in it” (192). In his eyes, imperialism is the highest form of capitalism. It is very easy to dismiss capitalism as an abusive and corrupt system, though. Many do it with strong words and sensible reasoning, but very few, including Ngũgĩ, offer up a fitting alternative to a system that so many people believe they are thriving under. I think Ngũgĩ gives a fantastic argument against capitalism, but wish he would dive deeper to examine other ways in which countries could have flourishing economies without exploitation. Perhaps his advocating for community organizing and local production is his offered alternative, but it not nearly as explicit an argument as his points against capitalism. His argument could benefit from further explanation of different alternatives, in my opinion. It may be time for capitalism to fall in the minds of Ngũgĩ and his colleagues, but what will replace it? Hopefully not a system that is equally damaging, only in different ways.

Works Cited

Ngũgĩ, Thiong’o wa. Something Torn and New. BasicCivitas Books, 2009.

–. Wrestling with the Devil. New Press, 2018.