| | The question of whether a Sudanese national bourgeoisie can be identified which is capable of serving as a reliable ally of the oppressed classes in an anti-imperialist campaign, as the first stage in an anti-capitalist struggle, is one which has engaged the Left in Sudan for several decades. F B Mahmoud takes up the issue, first surveying the stance of the Communist International in earlier decades and then looking at more recent literature focused on the African context. She then explores the political affiliation and orientation of the indigenous bourgeoisie in Sudan throughout the colonial and post-independent periods. On the basis of its demonstrated practice she questions the validity of assertions that a national bourgeoisie exists which is truly anti-imperialist and national in orientation and with whom alliance would serve any (lasting) progressive ends. L Kursany offers a contrasting view, asserting that sections of the bourgeoisie with clearly distinguishable interests can be identified and that alliance with the national section is not only possible but necessary. We offer these views as part of an ongoing and clearly important debate. |
