The Annual Ben Turok Memorial Lecture: with Yanis Varoufakis

Keynote speaker Yanis Varoufakis, renowned radical economist and former Greek Finance Minister, will speak on Africa in the Face of the new Cold War and the West’s new colonial escapades The annual Ben Turok Memorial Lecture marks the anniversary of the death of IFAA’s founder and former director, the struggle … Read More

Book Launch: Crossroads: I live where I like

Please join us for Crossroads Homecoming– a collaborative book launch festival– cohosted by: Jacana Media, the Department of History and the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of Western Cape, the City of Cape Town Crossroads Library, the UWC-Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archives, the Crossroads Philippi Young Women’s Reading … Read More

Happy Birthday Freedom Charter, Happy Birthday, Ben Turok!

Today (26 June) South Africa marks the 66th anniversary of the Congress of the People where thousands gathered to endorse the Freedom Charter. But it is of particular significance to those who also remember the man who wrote its economic clauses, the late Professor Ben Turok, whose birthday happens to … Read More

IFAA Public Forum: Youth Unemployment

The Institute for African Alternatives will mark Youth Day by inviting you to attend a public discussion on the critical challenge of Youth Unemployment on Tuesday 15th June 2021 at 3pm. Youth Unemployment is one of South Africa’s most formidable challenges and now even more exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. … Read More

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 pays tribute to Cecyl Esau

By Moira Levy The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) joins many South Africans in mourning the passing of Cecyl Esau, who will be remembered for his work as an underground activist in Umkonto we Sizwe and a community organiser within the United Democratic Front (UDF). His interest in politics emerged … Read More

IFAA Forum: Teaching and Learning in the time of a Pandemic

What impact has the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated ‘new normal’ had on the teaching and learning environment? In this IFAA Forum we invite, parents, teachers and students from a cross-section of high schools to reflect on the challenges that they have faced over the last year. Topic: Institute for … 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

IFAA Webinar: Reflections on Trotsky, Thursday, 29th October 2020

The Institute for African Alternatives invites you to join our online discussion forum: Reflections on Trotsky, on Thursday 29th October 2020, 3pm. Please read the brief and find the webinar link information below: Brief As we mark the 80th anniversary of Trotsky’s assassination we find ourselves in the midst of … Read More

IFAA Project Assistant

IFAA seeks to appoint a Project Assistant. The intern will be expected to work 3 days a week, usually from the IFAA offices in Community House in Salt River, but from home (online) during Covid-19 related Lockdowns. Requirements Comfortable with using digital media platforms especially Twitter and Facebook Undergraduate degree … Read More

IFAA Forum: What can we learn from the Gilets Jaunes?

    Join us for our latest IFAA forum which looks at the recent protests against a fuel tax increase in France. In November 2018, people all over the country decided to protest by setting up blockades and occupations on major roundabouts while marches were organized in major cities. Their … Read More

Call for Abstracts: The IFAA Forum

Call for Abstracts 2018 The IFAA forum provides a space for students in the Western Cape to share academic work, debate topical issues and engage in intergenerational conversation with academics, activists and interested members of the public. Presentations and discussions at the forum are primarily based (but not limited to) … 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

Neoliberalism and the Crisis in Higher Education in South Africa

By IFAA’s Student and Youth Department The Institute for African Alternatives’ research team is Alexander Pennington, ’Manapo Mokose, Michael Nassen Smith and Zimpande Kawanu.  This Article originally appeared in New Agenda: South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy, Issue 64. This and other articles in the “Crisis in Higher … Read More