Although I only met Samir Amin in late 2010, I had studied his work for decades, finding in them superior analyses and inspiration. In fact, after reading so much of his work I was quite unprepared for the person I actually met. He was very down to earth, incredibly funny, and could actually listen, the latter characteristic not one that can ever be taken for granted, particularly in the case of individuals who gain iconic status.

There are many reasons to recognise the work of Samir Amin, and not just due to his turning 80. Time and space only permit me to note one: his analysis of the implications of the convergence of the crises of the Western welfare state, Soviet bloc so-called socialism, and the national populist projects of the global South. The importance of this analysis is that it has helped the left to better understand the conjuncture in which we operate.

Amin directed the left to understand that the challenges that we faced were not simply about will — and in that sense he helped arm us against voluntarism — but that a failure of the left to both understand and transcend non-revolutionary alternatives to capitalism created an ideological and political void. The emergence of this void has resulted in a situation where the response to the global reorganisation and rabidity of capitalism has taken various forms, including cynicism, anarchism, social movement resistance, religious fundamentalisms, as well as both left- and right-wing variants of anti-imperialism. In other words, the three crises noted by Amin have led to a level of disarray in the face of crises faced by global capitalism itself.

In his analysis Amin has remained both optimistic and strategic. Never succumbing to ‘knee-jerk’ anti-imperialism, Amin has emphasised the critical importance of a concrete analysis of actual conditions. In that sense one does not walk away from reading Samir Amin’s works filled with rhetorical platitudes but rather with new insights as well as questions worthy of further investigation, study and debate.

The global left, progressive anti-imperialists and Pan Africanists owe Samir Amin a debt of gratitude. In addition to his analyses, he has helped us appreciate the long timeline we operate on in the struggle for a socialism that is revolutionary, Marxist, democratic and truly emancipatory.

Happy birthday, brother Samir.

* Bill Fletcher, Jr, is a racial justice, labour and international writer and activist. He is on the editorial board of BlackCommentator.com and is the co-author of 'Solidarity Divided'.