One common mistake about neo-conservative/right-wing thought and the general trend that followed in the wake of Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations, is that Islam “colonised” Africa. This suggestion that Islam “colonised Africa” was reflected in Lyndall Beddy’s comment of 23 July. While I hold no brief for Muslims or Islam, it should be made clear that […]
I Lagardien
I am a political economist. In earlier incarnations, I worked as a journalist and photojournalist, as a professor of political economy and an international and national public servant. I rarely get time to write for this space as often as I would like to.... I don't read the comments section
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Africa is far too complex for generalisations: this should be self-evident
Lyndall Beddy made a couple of comments on Thought Leader that have been problematic. The most recent of these comments was this at the bottom of a recent post: “Western Culture for centuries has satirised leaders and held them accountable. African culture, until recently has been feudal, and venerated leaders, without holding them accountable. Both […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Institutions shoring up Eurocentrism and ‘Western civilisation’ are not ‘non-partisan’
A contribution to Thought Leader by David Saks reminded me of an intellectual movement with which I associate myself, and which questions the continued application of Western thought/Eurocentrism as the dominant paradigm for social organisation — especially governance, policy-making, development and so forth. Out of this movement emerges a body of thought that questions the […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Down the Nag’s Head: taking the piss about politics, ethics, morality and shandies* in sport.
On the only occasion I ever voted, I placed a cross beside the name of a man convicted of treason; as everyone knows, of course, treason replaced heresy after the mediaeval period as the highest crime one can possible commit against one’s country. Happy Birthday to the criminal, but this story is not about you; […]
Posted inSport
A pilot sports post: First, full disclosure
Warning: This post might offend. I have been thinking about submitting the occasional contribution to Sports Leader, but always feared that I might make very many people very woes. Seriously, I have very strange politics when it comes to sport. It’s a bit like my relationship with cars; I hate them but I love driving. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A reply to ‘The Ku Klux Klan is coming’
Commentaries to the KKK post were fascinating. First of all, let me say that the KKK post was in part, at least, a tongue-in-cheek piece. Hence the reference to the graffiti at the start of the post. This is not to say that I do not take the Klan seriously as a “hate group” in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Reply to comments on human trafficking post
There have been several comments to the two pieces I posted on this space in the past week or so. I will attempt to address only two in this submission. Let me start by providing some information on our investigation into human trafficking, or a slave trade between South Africa and Mozambique in the late […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Ku Klux Klan is coming! Let’s pretend we give a crap
There was a piece of graffiti in Johannesburg sometime during the 1980s. A cynical artist wrote the word “Izit” across a slogan that read: “The AWB is coming”. Much as I would like to, I cannot convey that same sentiment in this brief post, but… the Ku Klux Klan are coming! Actually, that might have […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Traffickers in human labour: Slavery redux?
Almost 20 years ago I, along with colleagues from the Weekly Mail, Eddie Koch and Phil Molefe, investigated a case of human trafficking between South Africa and Mozambique. We found that African teenagers, some as young as 14, desperate to flee the carnage of civil war in Mozambique, were rounded up and “sold” to white […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Reply to comments on a ‘spazza theory’
After publication of my “spazza theory” in May, “Rhythm and Chaos” asked whether I considered submitting my idea to other publications. “JR” was interested in where the “theory” was going, and suggested that I might have been unfair in my application of the “theory” to a group of people. In truth, I called it a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The US in the world: Barack Obama may turn out to be no different than previous presidents
Most people in the world, according to an Associated Press report, prefer Barack Obama for president of the United States. This optimism is somewhat understandable, given the global vigilantism of the ruling cabal that was identified by Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as the chief of staff of former foreign secretary Colin Powell. The cabal includes […]
Posted inGeneral
A (spazza) theory of isolated incidents
I started out writing this regular contribution at the start of 2008, at the tail end of finalising my doctoral dissertation. It was, therefore, a rather difficult period. Following the successful defence, and now being unemployed with time on my hands, I am more readily available to make a more consistent contribution to ThoughtLeader. That […]