Huey P. Newton’s Intercommunalism: An Unacknowledged Theory of Empire

Narayan, John (2017) Huey P. Newton’s Intercommunalism: An Unacknowledged Theory of Empire. Theory, Culture and Society, 36 (3). pp. 57-85. ISSN 0263-2764

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Abstract

Huey P. Newton remains one the Left’s intellectual enigmas. Although lauded for being the leader of the Black Panther Party, Newton is relatively unacknowledged as an intellectual. This paper challenges this neglect of Newton’s thought by shedding light on his theory of empire, and the present-day value of returning to his thought. This will centre on how Newton’s critique of what he called ‘reactionary intercommunalism’ prefigures many of the elements found in the work of Hardt and Negri on Empire. This comparison will be used to show how Newton not only foresaw elements of the rise of contemporary neo-liberal globalisation, but also offered an idea of political solidarity and revolutionary politics for such a context. The paper concludes by highlighting how Newton’s ideas about the need for a war of position based on ‘survival pending revolution’ presents a more theoretically and empirically salient conceptualization of resistance than his successors.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1177/0263276417741348
Dates:	Date Event 6 October 2017 Accepted 27 November 2017 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Black Panthers, Black Power, empire, globalization, intercommunalism, multitude, neoliberalism
Subjects:	CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-02 - sociology
Divisions:	Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Law, Social and Criminal Justice
Depositing User:	John Narayan
Date Deposited:	24 Nov 2017 09:09
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2024 12:49
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5327

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