An Introduction to Amilcar Cabral in English and isiZulu

An Introduction to Amilcar Cabral in English and isiZulu by TigersEye99

A Short Introduction to John Holloway

From a pamphlet by the Church Land Programme

John Holloway is a communist philosopher whose work is often described

as being rooted in the autonomist or libertarian traditions.

Holloway was born in Ireland and was involved in important

debates and struggles in Britain. He wrote, for instance, about workers'

struggles at the Nissan car factory in Sunderland in the 1980s. He now

lives in Mexico where he has also been politically engaged, most famously

with the Zapatista movement. His 2002 book Change the World Without

Taking Power became very influential in the struggles against corporate

globalization that had moved around North America and Western Europe

after the huge protests against the World Trade Organisation in Seattle in

November 1999.

Umlando ka John Holloway

uRichard Pithouse

U John Holloway uyinculabuchopho eyikomanisi (communist philosopher), umsebenzi wakhe uchazwa njengogxile emizabalazweni yokuzimela kanye nenkululeko yabantu.

U Holloway wazalelwa eIreland wabamba iqhaza emizabalazweni yaseNgilandi. Wayebhala ngemizabalazo yabasebenzi bemboni yezimoto yakwa Nissan eSunderland ngo 1980. Njengamanje usehlala eMexico lapho eyingxenye yomzabalazo wombutho odumile okuthiwa ama Zapatista. Ngonyaka ka 2002 wabhala incwadi ethi Change the World without Taking Power (ukushintsha izwe ngaphandle kokuphatha umbuso). Lencwadi yaba nomthelela omkhulu ekulweni nogombela kwesabo abayizikhondlakhondla zomnotho basemazweni aseMelika nase Europe kumbandakanya nokubhikishela inhlangano yezokuhweba yomhlaba (World Trade Organisation) eSeattle ngo November ka 1999.

What does democracy name in South African politics?

by Michael Neocosmos, Church Land Programme

A living politics is the movement out of the places where oppression has assigned those who do not count (S’bu Zikode, Talk at CLP Fanomenal Event)

Democracy: what does it name?

I wish to begin by discussing the term democracy as deployed in public discourse in SA. My discussion is founded on and inspired by the ways AbM have questioned the term democracy as applied to the SA state. This questioning has not been picked up and debated by commentators, academic or otherwise. It has not been taken seriously, but I think it should be taken very seriously. Remarks by AbM have included at various times: ‘democracy is for the rich not the poor’, ‘we do not count’ (i.e. we are excluded from democracy) and ‘elections are only for politicians’ as well as the idea of ‘unfreedom’ (there is no freedom for the poor) and that of ‘dignity for all’. These are very important innovations in political thinking in a context where ‘democracy’ has become a fetish which is never questioned, and therefore they must be taken seriously. ‘Seriously’ here for me means thinking about them both theoretically and politically. Lets start by examining the term democracy.

Dark corners of the state we're in

Church Land Programme, Padkos

Just after the attacks on Kennedy Road in 2009, S'bu Zikode, then President of the shack-dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo said: "This attack is an attempt to suppress the voice that has emerged from the dark corners of our country. That voice is the voice of ordinary poor people. This attack is an attempt to terrorise that voice back into the dark corners. It is an attempt to turn the frustration and anger of the poor onto the poor so that we will miss the real enemy. ... "Our crime is a simple one. We are guilty of giving the poor the courage to organise the poor. We are guilty of trying to give ourselves human values. We are guilty of expressing our views. Those in power are determined not to take instruction from the poor. They are determined that the people shall not govern. What prospects are there for the rest of the country if the invasion of Kennedy Road is overlooked? ... Our message to the movements, the academics, the churches and the human rights groups is this: We are calling for close and careful scrutiny into the nature of democracy in South Africa" (29th September 2009).

Some comments for the discussion on thinking politically the recent Abahlali experience.

Michael Neocosmos was not able to attend the recent meeting hosted by Church Land Programme to discuss the character of South African democracy in the wake of the attacks on AbM. But this document was circulated to the meeting. Abahlali.org

The comments below follow from an attempt to develop new concepts for thinking the Abahlali experience of being subjected to violence in Kennedy Road and subsequent experiences of the criminal justice system. I would like to discuss these issues at length sometime but as I cannot attend the CLP meeting I would like to make a few points. These are developed at greater length in a more academic format in my paper on ‘Transition, Human Rights and Violence’ which some of you have. I am going to attempt to make these points below in a more succinct form. Further debate and explication of them is necessary.

Living Learning

Click here to download the Living Learning booklet in pdf.

Living Learning

Just two days before Abahlali baseMjondolo was violently attacked in Kennedy Road, the movement was in celebratory mood as hundreds of shackdwellers crowded into the eMmause Community Hall on Heritage Day, 24th September, for the launch of a new booklet, Living Learning.

Video Interviews from the Church Land Programme Fanon Event in May 2011

S'bu Zikode
Itumeleng Mosala
Ntombifuthi Shandu
Nigel Gibson
Zodwa Nsibande
Richard Pithouse
Rev. Mavuso
Michael Neocosmos
Busi Ngema

Politics at stake: a note on stakeholder analysis

Mark Butler and David Ntseng, July 2008, Church Land Programme (There is more writing by David Ntseng here.)

People in government, business, and political and civil society organisations routinely talk about 'stakeholders'. They do exercises in stakeholder analysis to inform their 'strategic planning'. Invariably they use the stakeholder language to advertise claims about the inclusivity of their thinking, their processes, and their practice. The organisation we work with was asked recently to prepare an input for a 'stakeholder analysis' for a collegial NGO and this forced us to reflect on why we were so uncomfortable with the very idea. We presented some of our thinking as the basis for discussions at the NGO meeting. It was good that there was a mix of people there including grassroots militants as well as civil society employees. The note below includes some thoughts we had prepared, as well as things we learned from people at the meeting. It outlines why we conclude that the stakeholder discourse, and the practices that go along with it, are in fact part of an order that functions to exclude and silence.