Voices of Liberation: Archie Mafeje should be understood as an attempt to contextualise Mafeje’s work and thinking and adds to gripping intellectual biographies of African intellectuals by African researchers. Mafeje’s scholarship can be categorised into three broad areas: a critique of epistemological and methodological issues in the social sciences; the land and agrarian question in sub-Saharan Africa; and revolutionary theory and politics (including questions of development and democracy). Noted for his academic prowess, genius mind, incomparable wit and endless struggle for his nation and greater Africa, Mafeje was also hailed by his daughter, Dana El-Baz, as a ‘giant’ not only in the intellectual sense but as a human being.
Part I discusses Mafeje’s intellectual and political influences. Part II consists of seven of Mafeje’s original articles and seeks to contextualise his writings. Part III reflects on Mafeje’s intellectual legacy.
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Part I: His Life
Introduction: locating Mafeje
Family background and influences
Intellectual and political background
Cambridge and beyond
Life in exile
Return from exile
Part II: His Voice
The Ideology of ‘Tribalism’
The Problem of Anthropology in Historical Perspective: An Inquiry into the Growth of the Social Sciences
On the Articulation of Modes of Production
Peasants in Sub-Saharan Africa
Soweto and its Aftermath
South Africa: The Dynamics of a Beleaguered State
Democracy, Civil Society and Governance in Africa
Part III: His Legacy
Mafeje’s Legacy
Letter from Dana El-Baz to the CODESRIA Community
Select Bibliography
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Photos of Archie Mafeje
