General Political Economy Archives

IFAA pays tribute to Professor Vishnu Padayachee

“…[W]e will miss your boundless energy, your strength, your wisdom, your uncompromising intellectual incisiveness in the interests of the fundamental social transformation of our country; in the interests of the masses and not an elite.” These are the words of world-renowned economist and intellectual, Professor Vishnu Padayachee, who passed away … Read More

IFAA Public Forum: South Africa’s Urban Farming Revolution

Urban farming is not a new phenomenon but it has proliferated rapidly in recent years. This has been driven by advances in technology and global challenges that include food insecurity, energy shortage, urban migration, poverty, unemployment and environmental degradation. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization urban farming is … Read More

Kudos to our Senior Researcher Hibist Kassa

IFAA would like to congratulate our senior researcher, Dr Hibist Kassa, on the publication of her chapter ‘The Crisis of Social Reproduction in Petty Commodity Production and Large-scale Mining: A Southern Perspective on Gender Inequality’ in the new collection Inequality Studies from the Global South, Routledge (2020). For more information … Read More

Reshaping skills policy in South Africa: structures, policies and processes

The reforms of state policy in the early period of the transition were developed in the context of a broader response to a deepening capitalist crisis globally and in South Africa. A radical black working class organized in COSATU had gained momentum throughout the 1980s and the trade unions were … Read More

The Imperative for Productive and Jobs-Rich Investment

Capitalist development since the Second World War ushered in unprecedented rates of capital accumulation and structural change in the world economy in the form of rapid industrialisation. Fast and sustained industrialisation has been associated with large increases in wage employment, labour productivity, and health and educational welfare. Countries that have … Read More

Dualism in South Africa’s Economy

A number of recent speeches by President Thabo Mbeki have highlighted the important reality of “dualism” in the South African political economy. Among other things, the contributions by the President have pointed to the fact that our people inhabit distinct socio-economic worlds, and that there is no logic or dynamic … Read More

SA, the Global South and the Future of Capitalism: An Interview with Prof Vivek Chibber

Zunaid Moolla, New Agenda Deputy Editor spoke to Vivek Chibber while he was on a speaking tour of South Africa. He is a Professor of Sociology at New York University ZM: You have been to South African several times now. Do you see or hear anything different with this … Read More

CSIR: South African Players in R & D-An Interview with Sibusiso Sibisi

Sibusiso Sibisi is chief executive officer of the CSIR, South Africa’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. They don’t make many headlines, but CSIR research and development is opening the way for new made-in- SA technology and enterprises. Ben Turok: Is it true that CSIR was founded mainly to meet … Read More

Ideas and Power: Academic Economists and the Making of Policy

From the struggle years of the mid-1980s to the gearshift of the mid-1990s, progressive academic economists played a tangled role in the development of South Africa’s post-apartheid economic policy. Vishnu Padayachee is distinguished professor and Derek Schrier and Cecily Cameron Chair in Development Economics, School of Economics and Business Sciences, University of … Read More

Co-operatives in South Africa and Beyond

Alternative approaches to economic development are gaining popularity in many countries. Co-ops may not be considered an alternative approach because they’ve been around for several decades and probably precede the onset of capitalism. In this article IFAA Student and Youth coordinator Rekang Jankie looks at the status of co- ops in … Read More

Minerals are Not Forever: IFAA study for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

In 2016 IFAA was commissioned to do a study on mineral value chains in South Africa and Africa. The study was done by Ben Turok (lead consultant) with chapters by Anthony Black, Michael Kahn, Chris Callaghan, Pundy Pillay and Richard Levin, supported by IFAA staff. We reproduce parts of the final … Read More

Confronting Inequality: Thoughts on Public Accountability and Policy Resonance

Thuli Madonsela, Founder and Chief Patron of Thuma Foundation and former Public Protector, shares her thoughts on South Africa’s inequality problem. It is an absolute honour to be invited to this important conference on Confronting Inequality. The dialogue on inequality is timely as inequality and poverty in our country and … Read More

Confronting Inequality in South Africa

THIS IS THE BACKGROUND PAPER FOR IFAA’s FORTHCOMING CONFERENCE ON INEQUALITY. THURSDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2017, JOHANNESBURG *This paper will appear in New Agenda Issue 66 “We know from historical experience that if inequality is not addressed through peaceful means and peaceful democratic institutions it’s always potentially a source of violence.” … Read More

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