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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 in terms of which growth... Continue Reading →
One by one, nations across the African continent won formal political independence in the second half of the 20th century. Some decades since the formal end of colonial rule, the continent continues to be plagued by significant residues of a bygone era. Neo-colonialism is a concept designed specifically to capture several, now implicit, economic,... Continue Reading →
Review by Professor Roger Southall: Twilight of the Money Gods: Economics as a Religion and How it all went wrong by John Rapley. London; New York; Sydney; Toronto; New Delhi: Simon and Schuster. 2017. Michael Gove, the Tory politician, declared during the Brexit referendum campaign that the British people had had enough of ‘experts’, by... Continue Reading →
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) topics in political philosophy, political... Continue Reading →
Call for Abstracts 2018 Transforming Economics Curricula at South African Universities Economics Curriculums across the globe are under increasing pressure to transform. This interrogation has been sparked by the Great Recession and the subsequent crisis of neoclassical economics. In South Africa, the student movement has raised the issue of transforming local economics curriculums in the... Continue Reading →
