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Degrowth in an African periphery Recentring decoloniality around circular ontologies By Roland Ngam Dr Roland Ngam is programme manager for climate justice and socioecological transformation at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Southern Africa, where he coordinates the climate blog ClimateJusticeCentral. Before that, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Emancipatory…

Editorial In search of a ‘developmental state’ – By Martin Nicol This Special Issue on Economics and Labour is divided into two sections. Contributions on current economic development are followed by three articles presented at a conference marking 50 years since the Durban Strikes of 1973. That said, all of…

‘How can we help and support MPs?’ – Chief Justice Zondo In the keynote address to the In Defence of our Constitutional Democracy colloquium Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said: “I think that Parliament has a very important role to play in bringing down levels of corruption in our country and…

Stunted: Panopticism and embedded neoliberalism in African states’ food & agriculture policies and the struggle to end Hunger on the continent Charles Simane (ed) Review by Rachael Nyirongo “African states are being monitored through the hegemonic institutions of the Global North, to produce a certain type of policies that are…

Dateline Africa 1 September 2023 – 31 November 2023 November November 9 November: The JSE, South Africa’s biggest stock exchange, introduced trading on a new local voluntary carbon market. Carbon markets allow for the buying and selling of carbon credits (one carbon credit is equal to one ton of carbon…

Partnership with UWC’s Institute for Social Development sealed “The journal should continue to be listed on the DHET accredited list on condition that the suggested improvements are implemented by the end of 2023.” -ASSAf Panel review of New Agenda, 2022 As described in previous issues of New Agenda, the original…

These Potatoes Look Like Humans: The Contested Future of Land, Home and Death in South Africa uMbuso weNkosi Wits University Press 2023. R300.00 Review by mpho ndaba Introduction The land holds memories of the violence. This is violence, and its ongoing-ness, in the case of what currently exists as South…

Unearthing the human dimension of climate change By Cecilia Ojemaye The pressing issues of climate change and environmental contamination are inextricably linked to social science and humanities, writes CECILIA OJEMAYE. She explains how at first this was a world she found herself lost in, but at the same time intrigued…

Madagascar: where inflation, climate change and cyclones collide By Ny Hasina Andriantsehenomamonjy In this study of the impact of climate change on the people of Madagascar NY HASINA ANDRIANTSEHENOMAMONJY explains how the climatic conditions that have severely affected countries in the region have dramatically impoverished the rice farming Malagasy, driving…

By Rachael Nyirongo African women and climate change Tracking the impact of the crisis in Nigeria and Mozambique Eco-feminists believe that the exploitation of nature and the oppression of women by patriarchal power structures ‘must be examined together or neither can be confronted fully’ (Hobgood- Oster, 2002: 1). RACHAEL NYIRONGO…

The rise, fall and rise of Eskom By Roland Ngam There are a number of important debates going on right now about energy production in South Africa. The biggest one of course concerns load shedding and the debilitating power outages that have increased over the past years. Then of course…

Slow violence for indigenous communities in the Global South By Liz Mwangi At the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, held in Nairobi in September 2023, discussions about carbon trading dominated many conversations. Kenyan President William Ruto said Africa’s carbon sinks provide an “unparalleled economic goldmine” and called for “a new way…

Africa Climate Summit promised a lot but delivered very little By Roland Ngam When all was said and done, the first ever Africa Climate Summit was all about money, money and more money, asserts ROLAND NGAM, who was there and who came away with constructive ideas of what could have…

Europe’s quest for energy fuels green colonialism in Africa By Roland Ngam As Europe ends its economic ties to Putin’s Russia, it has been pouring billions of dollars into Africa to urgently develop new energy infrastructure. African governments and elites have seized this opportunity, but these investments have failed to…

Climate imperialism How can the rest of the world respond? The third annual Ben Turok Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor JAYATI GHOSH at an online event held on 23 November 2023 hosted jointly by the Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) and the Institute for Social Development at the University…