ABSTRACT
The next concept that this book will use to investigate post-colonial African politics is a trusty tool of all social scientists, the notion of class. This concept is invaluable to those studying politics because it is an excellent way of identifying the age-old battle between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ within society. Class, in this sense, is the study of inequality. And where inequality exists, relationships between competing groups, including the exploiters and the exploited, will follow. Politics will determine how such conflict is resolved. Indeed, Marxists believe class to be the key defining feature of any society. As Marx and Engels wrote in their Communist Manifesto, ‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.’1
