This volume of essays is a reflection on social memory as a force for social and economic transformation.
Written by scholars and organic intellectuals, it focuses on the uses of social memory, in particular the conflict between the legacies of colonialism and the movement for fundamental change. The content addresses both experts and ordinary citizens alike, with a view to advancing discourse on where we are right now, and how we move on from here to achieve meaningful transformation. As scholars and public representatives with a deep understanding of the social, economic and political dynamics of modern history of South Africa, the contributors offer their unique perspectives and reflections on history, politics, economics, culture, education, ethics and the arts, as well as the links that bind these aspects into an ecology of ideas and attitudes.
Table of Contents:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
FOREWORD Cyril Ramaphosa
FOREWORD Nathi Mthethwa
PREFACE MCR Makopo
PREFACE Jane Mufamadi
INTRODUCTION Muxe Nkondo
1. CONTRADICTIONS IN MEMORIALISING LIBERATION HISTORY
Albie Sachs
2. MEMORIALISATION AS A FORCE FOR RADICAL TRANSFORMATION: THE CASE OF FREEDOM PARK IN SOUTH AFRICA 11
Mandla S. Makhanya
3. FREEDOM PARK AS A PLACE OF MEMORY: SYMBOLIC REPARATIONS, INDIGENOUS AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND RECONCILIATION
Jane Mufamadi
4. MEMORY AND SOCIOECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Vusi Gumede
5. HOMELAND MANIFESTATIONS—A POSTAPARTHEID DENIGRATION OF SOCIAL COHESION
Modimowabarwa Kanyane
6. THE HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATION OF MALE INITIATION POLITICALCULTURAL PRACTICES AND ITS ROLE IN NATION-BUILDING: THE CASE OF THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE
Mthobeli Guma
7. MEMORY, KNOWLEDGE AND FREEDOM: FROM DISMEMBERMENT AND RE-MEMBERING
Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni
8. MEMORY FOR PEACE IN WAR: A CASE OF REMEMBERING AND REBUILDING POSTAPARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA
9. MENDING OUR WOUNDED SOULS: TOWARDS THE POSSIBILITY OF HEALING AND SOCIAL COHESION
Puleng Segalo
10. RECONCILIATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN SOUTH AFRICA: STILL THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF THE TRC?
Tembeka Ngcebetsha-Mooij
11. RISING VIOLENCE: THE CRISIS OF BROKEN INDIVIDUALS
William Gumede
CHAPTER 12 SOCIAL MEMORY THROUGH POSTHUMOUS REMEMBRANCE
Moeketsi Letseka
13. MEMORIALISING THE COMMUNITY PUBLIC HEALTH LEGACY OF THE RIBEIROS
Olga Makhubela-Nkondo
14. THE PLACE OF MEMORY IN THE LIFE AND WORK OF DESMOND TUTU
Tinyiko Maluleke
15. MEMORIALISING THE UNTOLD STORIES OF WOMEN, FOR TRANSFORMATION
Thenjiwe Mtintso
16. ON AND OF MEMORIES: UNDERSTANDING WOMEN’S STORIES, STITCHED PERCEPTIONS AND THE RUPTURE OF VIOLENCE IN THEIR LIVES
Thenjiwe Meyiwa
17. MEMORIES OF, AND REFLECTIONS ON, BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA
Marcia Socikwa
18. PRESS FREEDOM 25 YEARS POSTINDEPENDENCE: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN MODEL
Lauren Marx
19. UNIVERSITIES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM AND JUSTICE: THE POLITICS OF EVIDENCE AND DECISION
Muxe Nkondo
20. THE CENTRE, THE PERIPHERY AND SELFHOOD: RETHINKING THE ROLE OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES FOR RADICAL TRANSFORMATION
Tlhabane Mokhine Motaung
21. MEMORIALISING THE PAN-AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA
Molefe Ike Mafole
22. TO SING OR NOT TO SING: THE PROTEST SONG IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY
Vuyisile Msila
23. SHARED DREAMS: CREATIVE ART—FROM COLLECTIVE MEMORY TO SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
Judy Seidman
24. (SOCIAL) ANCHOR AS OPPOSITE TO TUMBLEWEED: THE NAMING OF "THINGS" AS MEMORY AND ANCHOR, REPRESSION AS EROSION AND DISLOCATION
Wiseman Magasela
25. MEMORIALISING FREEDOM DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN IN SOUTH AFRICA
Tembeka Ngcebetsha-Mooij
26. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ETHICS OF GLOBAL SOLIDARITY IN COVID-19
Muxe Nkondo
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
About the Author :
Muxe Nkondo, formerly Andrew Mellon Fellow in English and Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, Visiting Professor at Northwestern University, Chicago; one of 500 intellectuals from Africa and the diaspora, invited, in 2004, by the African Union to advise it on policy and related issues. Currently, he is a member of Council of the University of South Africa, and Chairperson of the Rixaka Forum and Collins Chabane Foundation. He has written extensively on the political economy of knowledge, language, culture and fundamental change, with a focus on South Africa.
