From the 26th June to the 3rd July, US imperialism sent its chief political representative to Africa on a public relations exercise. The trip was cynically billed as building 'trade ties' and 'strengthening democratic institutions'. In the end, it emerged that Obama...
academic
The Weirdness Closes In
On the face of it, Mamphela Ramphele's long political Calvary has not seemed so strange. It has been clear ever since she returned to South Africa, flushed with neoliberal propaganda and plugging effortlessly into the right-wing smear campaign against President Mbeki,...
The BDS movement at 7: Stronger, more widespread and more effective than ever | by Palestinian BDS National Committee
Seven years after the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel was launched, the global BDS campaign has become stronger, more widespread, more effective and certainly more diverse than ever—a true cause for celebration...
Forty years of ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ | by Nigel Westmaas
Walter Rodney’s seminal work remains a compelling and persuasive living history and totem of critical resistance to the exploitation and underdevelopment of the African continent. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Walter Rodney’s How Europe...
“Art is a hammer to shape reality”: PalFest breaks the siege of Gaza | by Ayah Bashir
Amid the focus on the economic hardships caused by Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, it has been easy for many to overlook the fact that the territory’s 1.6 million people have been kept under a cultural siege as well. This is ironic because much...
‘Closing the doors of learning’ (to the Israeli state) opens the doors of freedom | by Patrick Bond and Muhammed Desai
One of South Africa’s largest tertiary institutions, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, is a site of multiple controversy but a near-disaster on Monday deserves more reflection because it points us in a positive direction: away from allying with the...
Lies, damned lies and statistics
Lies. damned lies and statistics. It’s a cliché that has been used several times in this column over the years. I have used it because statistical data, especially about employment and the cost of living, can influence attitudes, opinions and policy decisions. As...
James Claassen – an icon of health transformation | by Professor Gregory Hussey
James did his medical training at the University of Cape Town in eighties, a period that saw an exciting new development in South African politics manifested by the emergence of an organised and highly motivated progressive health and social services movement across...
Envisioning a new African university | by Steve Sharra
The month of October marks eight months since lecturers at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, stopped teaching, demanding guarantees of academic freedom. Despite verbal assurances from President Bingu wa Mutharika for a win-win solution to the problems that...



