Amandla! is free here, but we welcome donations.
by Chris Webb There is a passage from Olive Schreiner’s 1883 novel The Story of An African Farm where she describes the isolated existence of the rural Karoo, with its “weird and almost oppressive beauty...the stone walled sheep kraals and kaffer huts.” This cursory...
The recent controversy about the artist Brett Murray's "The Spear" painting provoked furious verbal and other acrobatics. Those who opposed the public showing of the painting did so claiming not to be censoring an exposed penis per se, but to be objecting to the...
Subverting the classic vision of the private-public power relationships, some African countries are repeating the same motto that an East European newspaper used on the occasion of the visit of the German chancellor in 1999: 'We forgive the crusaders and await the...
“The Future We Want,” the text being discussed by governments for Rio+20, promotes rhetoric of empowering women but in reality, it not only disempowers them further, it also gives more rights and access to corporations. The basic step towards achieving women...
La Via Campesina Position Paper - June 6, 2012 Governments from all over the world will meet in Río de Janeiro, Brazil from June 20-22 2012, to supposedly commemorate 20 years since the “Earth Summit,” the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development,...
Some five years ago, the overwhelming majority of both rural and urban South Africans would have baulked at the idea of polygamy. However, it seems that polygamy has regained some legitimacy and currency. Together with President Zuma, celebrities such as the composer...
“The Future We Want,” the text being discussed by governments for Rio+20, promotes rhetoric of empowering women but in reality, it not only disempowers them further, it also gives more rights and access to corporations. The basic step towards achieving women...
Cosmas Desmond One of the most compelling books on dispossession and forced removals is the late Cosmas Desmond’s The Discarded People. In the preface, Lord Caradon wrote: “This is a terrifying book. It is an account of callous contempt for human suffering, the...
Small-scale farmers had little hope that leaders negotiating on their behalf would change their plight. Dressed in her white T-shirt and wide-rimmed hat, Dominica Shumba didn’t expect her first visit to Durban to be so hot and humid, amidst thundering clouds. The...