Arab regimes achieved success within a short period but then ran out of steam as a result of their internal limits and contradictions. The ruling circles have given in to neo-liberal globalization, leading to rapid decline in social conditions. That is what caused the...
Democracy
The first round of the presidential elections in Egypt | by Samir Amin
The first round of the presidential elections was organized to produce the result that Washington and the Egyptian ruling power are pursuing, that is, to reinforce the alliance between the two pillars of the system, the high command of the Army and the Moslem...
‘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...
Wages, profits and labour productivity in South Africa: A reply
Forslund’s final reply to Sharp and Kantor, originally published on PoliticsWeb.co.za and SA LabourNews.co.za, 24 January, 2012. In this final reply, I will correct an error, account for a new finding and try to give a principled answer to the replies Brian Kantor and...
“Drones, Missiles, and Gunships, Oh My!” Welcome to the 2012 London Olympics | by Dave Zirin
As many as 48,000 security forces. 13,500 troops. Surface to air missiles stationed on top of residential apartment buildings. A sonic weapon that disperses crowds by creating "head splitting pain." Unmanned drones peering down from the skies. A safe-zone, cordoned...
Déjà vu at the Common | by Darlene Miller
Mother who got arrested protecting my daughter when she was brutally arrested by the new riot police. Lying in the cells listening to the women of Manenberg explain why they went to the Common left me wondering whether I had come full circle in the new South Africa: I...
Occupy the Rondebosch Common | by Lillina Ruiters
Where were the old revolutionaries? On Friday, 27 January, about 100 people marched from Manenberg to Rondebosch Common bent on occupying the wasted land resource. The march turned sour after the City refused to allow it to proceed. The protesters insisted (on what...
Freedom never rests an interview with James Kilgore | by Andre Marais
Kilgore’s remarkable debut novel We Are All Zimbabwean Now (2009) is a wonderful piece of fiction. It tells the story of an idealistic young American’s growing disenchantment with Mugabe. A member of the SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army, a US left-wing urban militant...
Romance, grace and football | by Mark Espin
When people write about football they often employ a series of overstated adjectives and nauseating hyperbole. The death of Sampaio de Sousa Vieira de Oliveira in December last year required that football writers be much more careful about their use of language when...








