Rhodes University together with Daily Dispatch Dialogues is hosting a lecture by provocative author Hein Marais at the launch of his latest book South Africa Pushed To The Limit: The political economy of change.
Billed by the pundits as an incisive analysis of South Africa’s economy told in an “accessible, moving and witty style”, the book is a ‘must have’ for anyone interested in understanding the political, economic and social change in post-apartheid South Africa.
While some progress has been made, the majority of South Africa’s unemployment is on the rise, the majority of the population still live in poverty; and the wealth divide is widening. Marais does not hold back and while pundits say the book acknowledges the legacies of apartheid and colonialism, it demonstrates that strategic choices made since the early 1990s have compounded those handicaps.
Gillian Hart, Professor of Geography and Chair of Development Studies at the University of California at Berkeley describes the book as “Essential reading for anyone trying to understand one of the great social experiments of our time.”
“Combining powerful analysis with a wealth of documentation (it) provides by far the best overview of political, economic and social change in post-apartheid South Africa.”
Marais is a writer and journalist and former deputy editor of Work in Progress magazine, South Africa, and former chief writer for the Joint UN Programme on AIDS.
His latest book builds on an earlier book South Africa: Limits to Change – The political economy of transition which won wide acclaim locally and abroad.
Marais has also written two benchmark studies on South Africa’s AIDS epidemic: To the Edge: AIDS policy in South Africa, and Buckling: The impact of AIDS).
Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, Dr Saleem Badat will introduce the author.
Venue: Rhodes University: Eden Grove Blue
Date: Friday, 4 March 2011
Time: 17h30