Achille Mbembe

Cameroonian philosopher and political scientist (born 1957)

philosopher, non-fiction writer, university teacher, political scientist, historian, announcer

Quotations with a citation

The time of the world can no longer be conceived as a line. It is increasingly experienced as a concatenation of multiple temporalities.

The colony is not merely a place; it is also a peculiar system of signs, a particular way of fabricating reality.

To live under colonial occupation is to experience a permanent state of injury.

Ultimately, the work of memory consists in preserving that which is worth preserving while remaining open to the future.

We are entering an era in which humanity itself is becoming the central question of politics.

The name 'Africa' evokes a multiplicity of places, experiences, and histories rather than a single reality.

The universal belongs to all of us, but none of us can claim exclusive ownership of it.

The ultimate expression of sovereignty resides, to a large degree, in the power and the capacity to dictate who may live and who must die.