Although it has widespread appeal, equality can be seen as a rather arbitrary ideal. From a humanitarian point of view, to relieve suffering or to uplift people living in absolute deprivation are immediately comprehensible goals. The same is not true of equality: why should an equal distribution of resources be considered as good in itself? Concerns... Continue Reading →
Decolonising Higher Education: Postcolonial Theory and the Invisible Hand of Student Politics
In the following reflections on the decolonisation of higher education, I have three objectives. First, I intend to analyse decolonisation discourse both theoretically and experientially. I do so partly on account of what I would call its viscerality but also because lived experience is an essential category of analysis in postcolonial theory. Drawing on theoretical... Continue Reading →
White Monopoly Capital: Its Ideological and Historical Deficiency
A strange phenomenon has arisen within the national liberation movement, where some within our ranks seek to sow ideological confusion with the aim of distorting our historical and present reality. The consequence is that in the construction of revolutionary theory - which sees society as a dynamic, contradictory, and changing process - incorrect tactics meant... Continue Reading →
Some Propositions on the Black Elite: A response to James Ngculu
My point of departure is the following: Does the national question have the same content after the coming to political power of the African National Congress (ANC) as before ? The ANC tradition Apartheid deliberately obstructed the emergence of a black elite and even a black middle class. This was part of the system... Continue Reading →
African Nationalism in the ANC
The “national question” fifty years ago In May 1954, a symposium was staged in Cape Town on the national question. In attendance were, among others, Lionel Foreman, Thomas Ngwenya and Jack Simons. The purpose of the symposium was explained as being: “To encourage and develop a unity of ideas in the movement, especially on the... Continue Reading →
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 visit? VC: No. I have... Continue Reading →
IFAA Statement on the Resignation of President Jacob Zuma
IFAA Statement Re: Resignation by President Zuma The Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) welcomes the resignation of President Jacob Zuma and believes it is long overdue. The public and private life of Jacob Zuma since the Schabir Shaik trial has been filled with misconduct and dubious practices. His record as a senior person in government... Continue Reading →
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 the Witwatersrand. For the progressive... Continue Reading →
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 South Africa. Drawing comparisons with... Continue Reading →
