Capitalism is a disease
Anyone who lives in fear of getting sick exists in a state of unfreedom.
South Africa
More widespread than we think
Today's social movements rely on tech collectives to organize safely. But few know the history of other technologies used by earlier liberation movements.
Football and empire
AIAC Talk this week: the historical entanglement of South African football with English football, and what that tells us about politics and sport. Watch it on our YouTube channel.
The Black Man with the Bible in his Hand
An encounter on a Cape Town bus forces the writer to think about religion, especially Christianity, and queerness.
The politics of social welfare
Why are South African government policies benefiting black mothers still controversial?
What’s Left of the South African Left?
This week on AIAC Talk, we’re debating whether the moment is right for South Africa’s left to form a new party. Watch it live on YouTube.
South Africa’s Left needs a new party
Assuming today’s socioeconomic crisis benefits the Left is folly. That will only happen if we have the political vision to make class the fault line of social polarization, and for that we need to face the challenge of constructing a new party.
The king is dead
The death of the Zulu king highlights the unresolved issues that continue to shapes lives in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
A compassionate take on an invisible struggle
A new film by South African director Nomawonga Khumalo represents the contradictions and nuances of black women’s interior lives.
Representation that sells us shoes
Adidas and other private, for-profit companies that are embracing corporate queerness are never going to contribute to our liberation.
What is decolonization for?
Scholars Archie Mafeje and Cedric Robinson challenged Eurocentrism. Their ideas are becoming more widely known. They're the focus of AIAC Talk this week.
Border wars
The Joint Boundary Commission that Lesotho and South Africa have revived, gives hope that some sort of border deal might be possible between the two countries.
Why the tree is producing bad apples
Corruption is South Africa’s pandemic—one that has been disenfranchising and killing people long before our transition to democracy.
Lay him down on a high mountain
What is the South African political leader Robert Sobukwe’s legacy today?
Unchain my art
The system to pay out royalties to musicians in South Africa says a lot about the racial inequalities in the local industry.
Don’t cede the streets
#FeesMustFall was the most serious challenge to the post-apartheid political order, but didn’t connect to broader working-class struggles. Now, despite police brutality, students are beginning to make those linkages.
Abandoning racial language
If we stop using terms to describe race at all, we risk undermining our struggle to eliminate racism.
South African history through new ears
Is the future of podcasting a show featuring isiZulu retellings of 19th-century African life combined with an original soundscape composed with a revolutionary ethos?
People are the state
What would happen if people could transform state policy based on the principle of social justice? The AIDS struggle in South Africa has some lessons.