Africa Past & Present » South Africa

Episode 59: Layering Racial Oppression in South Africa

c92scott — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:40:29 +0000

Jacob Dlamini, South African author, journalist, and historian, on his best-selling book Native Nostalgia, a memoir that challenges conventional struggle narratives. He also discusses the social and political history of Kruger National Park and a new research project on collaborators of the apartheid security forces.

Episode 57: African Activists

c92scott — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:14:29 +0000

Eddie Daniels and Christine Root on spending a lifetime working for African liberation; Daniels in South Africa, where he was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island (1964-79), and Root in the U.S. as Associate Director of the Washington Office on Africa in solidarity with such struggles. The African Activist Archive preserves records and memories of ordinary Americans’ support for Africans’ fight against colonialism and apartheid.

Episode 54: Political Biography

c92scott — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:44:07 +0000

Heather Hughes (University of Lincoln) on her new biography of John Langalibalele Dube, founding president of the African National Congress of South Africa, which celebrates its centenary in 2012. Hughes focuses on Dube’s rich connections to the United States; his educational work and political beliefs; and the previously overlooked role of Nokutela Dube.

Episode 52: Zulu Intellectual History

c92scott — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:11:38 +0000

Hlonipha Mokoena (Anthropology, Columbia U.) on her new book: Magema Fuze: The Making of a Kholwa Intellectual (2011). Explains the rise of a black intelligentsia in 19th- and early 20th-century South Africa through the remarkable life of Fuze, the first Zulu-speaker to publish a book in the language: Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Bavela Ngakona / The Black People and Whence They Came.

Episode 46: Popular Politics in Southern Africa

c92scott — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 06:28:59 +0000

Historian Paul Landau (University of Maryland) on rethinking the broad history of Southern Africa from 1400 to 1948. His new book re-asserts African agency by seeing Africans in motion, coming out of their own past. Drawing on oral traditions, genealogies, 19th-century conversations, and other sources, Landau highlights the resilience of African political cultures and their adeptness at incorporating diverse peoples.

Episode 44: Oral History and Memory Work in Africa

c92scott — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:10:47 +0000

Ntsimane interviews Florah Buthelezi (Photo: Kare Ahlschwede)

Radikobo Ntsimane (UKZN School of Theology) on African voices in the history of mission hospitals in South Africa and the Sinomlando Center‘s ‘memory box’ program. Ntsimane’s work demonstrates how oral history is not just an intellectual practice, but also ‘a human encounter that can have a profound effect on people’s lives.’

Free download of R. Ntsimane and P. Denis, “Absent Fathers: Why do men not feature in stories of families affected by HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal,” in Baba: Men and Fatherhood in South Africa, edited by Richter and Morrell (2006).

Episode 43: Reflections on Africa’s First World Cup

c92scott — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:57:03 +0000

Chris Bolsmann (Sociology, Aston University) on the successful 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Topics covered include experiences at stadiums; FIFA‘s Disney-fied World Cup; Pan-Africanism and African teams; and the economic and political impact of the tournament.

More World Cup Thoughts Online:

‘After the Final’ with Karabo Mathang and Sindi Mabizela (audio)
Laurent Dubois and Achille Mbembe on ‘The People’s Game’ (audio)
African Soccerscapes by Peter Alegi (book)
Dr. Bolsmann’s World Cup blog at Harvard Business Review
Footballiscominghome (blog)
Feel it! Reflections on SA 2010 (blog)
Chronicle of SA 2010 for Latin Americans (blog in Spanish)

Episode 41: 2010 World Cup and Grassroots Soccer

c92scott — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:53:21 +0000

Thabo Dladla, Conti Khubeka and Zeph Mthembu on the potential impact of the 2010 World Cup on grassroots soccer in South Africa. All three men are former professional players now coaching youths. What does 2010 mean to these elders of the game? Will the tournament address the legacy of apartheid and the new challenges of globalization? Putting people before profits, Dladla says, is necessary to effect positive social change.

Episode 39: South Africa – Precarious Liberation: Workers, the State, and Contested Social Citizenship

c92scott — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:08:33 +0000

Franco Barchiesi (Ohio State U) explains the precarious lives of South African workers and unemployed together with the role of politics and the impact of economic crises today. He also analyzes contests over social citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa and discusses the development of his own interest in South African labor matters.

Episode 38: South Africa — New Histories

c92scott — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:13:25 +0000

Jabulani Sithole (UKZN) on why history matters in South Africa. Sithole discusses his journey from activist to historian, and his research on the ANC and labor unions in KwaZulu-Natal, part of SADET’s landmark The Road to Democracy in South Africa series. He elaborates on Zulu identities and his role in renaming streets in Pietermaritzburg.