Tag: Wits University Press

Hugo ka Canham presents an understanding of life and death based on indigenous and black ways of knowing that he terms Mpondo theory. In Riotous Deathscapes, Hugo ka Canham presents an understanding of life and death based on indigenous and black ways of knowing what he terms Mpondo theory.

Focuses on the divide between Zulu and Xhosa speakers, Divided by the Word offers a refreshing new appreciation for the deep historicity of language and ethnic identity in South Africa, by reconstructing the ways in which colonial forces generate and impose ethnic divides with long-lasting and lethal consequences.

Through investigatory reports and interviews, Jonathan Jansen reveals the structural conditions for chronic dysfunction in a sample of South African universities. He reveals the political economy at work and the intense competition for resources on campuses. He also provides interventions for these fragile institutions.

As jobs disappear, wages flat-line and inequality grows, this timely book presents a compelling analysis of the need, conditions and possibilities for a universal basic income (UBI) in South Africa and beyond. Highly topical and distinctive in its approach, In the Balance: The Case for a Universal Basic Income in South Africa and Beyond offers a robust and critical examination of a universal basic income.

In Dockside Reading, Isabel Hofmeyr traces the relationships among print culture, colonialism, and the ocean through the institution of the British colonial Custom House.

Worrier State looks at the pervasive culture of fear in South Africa. It reveals how narratives of fear manifest in contemporary media forms and the people they serve, and how these are impacted by race, class, gender, space and identity.

This rich and absorbing biography of Can Themba, iconic Drum-era journalist and writer, is the definitive history of a larger-than-life man who died too young. Siphiwo Mahala’s intensive and often fresh research features unprecedented archival access and interviews with Themba’s surviving colleagues and family.

Democracy is being destroyed. This is a crisis that expresses itself in the rising authoritarianism visible in divisive and exclusionary politics, populist political parties and movements, increased distrust in fact-based information and news, and the withering accountability of state institutions.

Who controls the land and minerals in the former Bantustans of South Africa - chiefs, the state or landholders? Disputes are taking place around the ownership of resources, decisions about their exploitation and who should benefit. With respect to all of these issues, the courts have become increasingly important.

Bill Freund, the late social historian and leading analyst of African history, passed away in 2020 soon after finishing his autobiography. Often described as the academy’s ‘outsider insider’, he was an eminent South African historian who published prodigiously in the areas of labour, capital and economic history.