Critical South

Send us a textIn this episode of Critical South Professor Lawrence Hamilton talks to Professor Amilcar Pereira about the history of racism, the anti-racism movement and the fight against the myth of racial democracy in Brazil.They talk about the importance of the political struggle to transform society, touching on a wide range of events, ideas and thinkers including Amílcar Cabral as an educator of the revolution and how he influenced Paulo Freire.

Send us a Text Message.For the first time since the dawn of democracy in South Africa 30 years ago, the African National Congress has lost its majority, forcing the liberation party to enter a coalition for it to rule the country. In this episode Professors Lawrence Hamilton and Susan Booysen have an in-depth discussion about the 2024 election results, how these results came about, how the country got to the junction of a government of national unity and what this means for South Africa. And in our political agenda feature, we unpack  terror charges that the Indian government  levelled at noted author Arundhati Roy and  retired law professor Sheikh Showkat Hussain for comments they made 14 years ago.   

Send us a Text Message.How has Narendra Modi survived as India's Prime Minister since 2014? And how will he last beyond India's current 2024 elections? In this episode of Critical South we trace the political trajectory of Modi as Professor Lawrence Hamilton has a one-on-one with Professor Sanjay Ruparelia from Toronto Metropolitan University. Ruparelia draws some parallels between Modi's party and the African National Congress in South Africa and talks about castes, class and voting ability in the largest democracy in the world.And in our slice of the political agenda, Political Studies scholar Moshibudi Motimele looks at whether the results of the recent elections in South Africa  matter beyond the infrastructure collapse in the country.   

Send us a Text Message.How did the Piquetero Movement in Argentina come about? And what did this movement  as arguably the most significant unemployed workers' movement in the world do differently to other social movements. In this episode Professor Lawrence Hamilton speaks with Professor Federico Rossi about social movements and political change in Argentina. They discuss the emergence of the Piquetero Movement and  the concept of Peronism in the country. Also, not to be missed, in our monthly feature called the Political Agenda,  political studies scholar Moshibudi Motimele looks at the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  

Send us a Text Message.How is democracy  domesticated on the African continent? And when we talk about misgovernance in Africa, what do we mean? In this episode Professor Lawrence Hamilton has a one-on-one with Professor Bernard Matolino to answer these questions.  Matolino talks about democracy by consensus  versus majoritarian democracy  looking at issues of representation and equality. And  he casts a critical eye on misgovernance on the continent, even touching on the subject of the controversial former South African President Jacob Zuma and his late counterpart Robert Mugabe. Also, not to be missed, in our monthly feature called the Political Agenda,  political studies scholar Moshibudi Motimele looks at the recent coup in Niger.  

Send us a Text Message.In this episode of Critical South the focus is on how systemic corruption influences constitutional reform in Chile. Professor Lawrence Hamilton has a one-on-one with Dr Camila Vergara, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the University of Cambridge  on the ongoing quest for constitutional reform in the South American country.  She  breaks down the challenges with systemic corruption and  talks to us about the need for plebian democracy in the world. And in the political agenda segment  political studies scholar Moshibudi Motimele goes to Senegal where there has been an internet shut down  since June 1 due to widespread protests. 

Send us a Text Message.In this episode of Critical South, Dr Nicole Beardsworth from the University of the Witwatersrand is interviewing Professor  Aili Tripp, who is a Professor of Political Science, Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Prof Tripp explains why African autocracies adopt gender reforms.  She has done some fascinating work in various African countries and will tell us if there are any differences between how autocracies and democracies  on gender in the  promote women as leaders to gain traction. And in our political agenda segment this time round, Dr Laura Martin takes a quick look at how democracy is faring in the West African country of Sierra Leone.

Send us a Text Message.In today's episode we look at radical politics, representation, populism and citizenship both in the global North and global south. Professor Lawrence Hamilton engages with Professor Lasse Thomassen from Queen Mary University of London and Professor Laurence Piper from University West Sweden.  They discuss the Cape Town suburb of Hout Bay to understand how  they're not being represented and  what it means for their citizenship. And they talk about Donald Trump's brand of populism.Also in this episode, in the political agenda segment, political studies scholar Moshibudi Motimele gives a run down of the conflict and the never ending road to democratic government in the North Eastern African state of Sudan. 

Send us a Text Message.Robert Mugabe is known as the anchor of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle and problem child in its post-colonial politics. But what is the real legacy of his long 37 year rule of Zimbabwe?In this episode  Professor Lawrence Hamilton interviews Professor David Moore on his new book Mugabe's Legacy: Coups, Conspiracies and the Conceits of Power in Zimbabwe. Moore talks about modes of production in Africa, corruption, violence and rent-seeking and gives us his views on exceptionalism in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Also not to be missed in the political agenda is a snapshot of  the recent Nigerian elections and a look at how much of an issue corruption was at the polls.

Send us a Text Message.In this episode we discuss South Africa's recent journey of electoral reform. Dr Sithembile Mbete, who was on the ministerial advisory council, has a hearty one-on-one with Professor Lawrence Hamilton giving us the backstory to the Electoral Amendment Act, signed off by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The act came about after the Constitutional Court ruled that the Electoral Act was unconstitutional and needed to be amended. But there is still a lot of unhappiness about the legislated changes. Dr Mbete tells us all about it – and why it's still problematic.Delving deeper into electoral reform  later in the show she tells us about developing democratic sustenance, on vehicles for political representation, and why the youth are not just not going to the polls anymore. This spells trouble.  Also, in our political agenda feature we jet to Chile where Dr Camila Vergara tells us how an increase in metro fare in Chile led to a long process of deliberation, dispute and debate that ended in a radical constitution that was never adopted!And to top it all off, Dr Mbete gives us some critical insights into Julius Malema – the sometimes contentious character behind the men and women in red overalls in South Africa's  parliament.