1st Edition

Social Memory as a Force for Social and Economic Transformation

Edited By Muxe Nkondo Copyright 2023
    360 Pages 44 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    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.

    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

    Biography

    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.