Voices of Liberation-Archie Mafeje

Voices of Liberation-Archie Mafeje

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).

Living Biography

  • Product Information
  • Format: 210mm x 148mm (Soft Cover)
  • Pages: 312
  • ISBN 13: 978-0-7969-2564-0
  • Rights: World Rights

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.

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

Permissions

Photos of Archie Mafeje

Bongani Nyoka holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of South Africa. He is a researcher at the Archie Mafeje Research Institute at the same university. Some of his articles appear in journals such as the TransformationAfrica InsightJournal of Black Studies and African Sociological Review. He has worked as a researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council. In 2013 he was a laureate of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). His research focus includes the works of Archie Mafeje and Bernard Magubane, higher education curriculum, and South African historiography.

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