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Study Cards on developing, political, socialism

How did the goal of 'national liberation' of African and Asian nations have an economic and political dimension?

The quest for political independence was inextricably linked to a desire for social development and for an end to their subordination to the industrialized states of Europe and the USA.

This explains why anti-colonial movements looked to socialism (not liberalism), as a vehicle for expressing their nationalist ambitions.

What was the appeal of socialism to the developing world based on?

On the fact that the values of community and cooperation that socialism embodies are deeply established in the cultures of traditional, pre-industrial societies.
It also provides an analysis of inequality and exploitation through which the colonial experience could be understood and colonial rule challenged. Developing-world nationalists saw 'armed struggle' as a means of achieving both political and economic emancipation, thus fusing the goals of political independence and social revolution.
(China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia)

What other route have nationalists in the developing world taken?

Nationalists in the developing world haven't always been content expressing their nationalism in a language of socialism or Marxism borrowed from the West.
Marxism-Leninism has often been replaced by forms of religious fundamentalism (often Islamic fundamentalism) .
This has given the developing world an anti-Western voice.