Apartheid nostalgia
South Africans agree that redistribution and economic security are urgent. But will they arrive via a deepening of democracy and public accountability, or a return to authoritarianism?
6426 Article(s) by:
Paul Milchick
Paul Milchik is a pseudonym for the author of this piece. His name has been changed due to his status as an international student in the US during the second Trump administration, in a context where foreign students have been targeted for detention and deportation as a result of expressing pro-Palestinian views.
Everything the government does
On the South African Department of Tourism’s pending sponsorship deal with Premier League football club, Tottenham Hotspur.
Greed has fiercer allies than justice
Libyan writer Ibrahim Al-Koni’s latest novel is a philosophical retelling of the story of Amazigh queen Al-Kahina.
The media of the useable past
Revisiting the papers of left, anti-colonial revolt from the continent can remind us of messy, rich alternatives.
Naija decides
This month, Africa’s largest democracy and economy goes to the polls. On the AIAC podcast, we discuss Nigeria’s upcoming elections.
Museveni’s goons are polite
Uganda’s rulers don’t get that clobbering words is impossible. The pen will escape every hammer, and cross borders to haunt oppressors, even if the authors are no longer around.
Milk in the Upington sun
Fear of the future, longing for the past: the new story in South African politics.
The humiliating weight of Frenchness in Tunisia
Tunisia had sought to Arabize itself since independence and failed. It’s relation to France still very much defines the country’s character.
Faster than the ashes of a burning fire
Hausa poetics of compassion and resistance in northern Nigeria in the age of pandemics and neoliberal democracy.
Making meaning in Johannesburg
Documenting an urban housing crisis and how tens of thousands of informal workers and unemployed people struggle to reshape Johannesburg.
The land doesn’t lie
Safi Faye’s 1976 film, ‘A Farmer’s Love Letter,’ exposes the gap between the post-colonial state and the concerns of ordinary people.
William Ruto and the evangelicals
Which theology we will use to make sense of the relationship between church and state in Kenya?
The legacies of their many shaykhs
Indigenous traditions possess the greatest potential for developing robust civic values and identity in Africa.
The future of Brazil
For his third term, Lula faces the ghosts of Bolsonarismo, contradictions in his own ruling coalition, and tough global conditions. On our podcast this week.
How knowledge makes a discourse true
Mainstream discourses about Aamajiranci, northern Nigeria’s Qur’anic schooling system, expose the power politics of knowledge in postcolonial societies.
Amilcar Cabral and the South Africans
Amilcar Cabral’s influence stretched far beyond the Portuguese colonies, profoundly influencing the political struggle in South Africa, past and present.
The limits of the cop drama
A bleak new television drama, ‘Donkerbos,’ explores secrets in small town South Africa, but fails to offer alternatives to the tropes of good vs evil.
How to make sense of Khoisan revivalism
Khoisan Consciousness is sweeping across South Africa. Exploring multiple perspectives is vital to make sense of it.
Consumed by numbers
The “follow-back” economy of Nigerian Twitter represents a struggle for recognition in a vastly unequal and status-obsessed society.
The people are our mountains
On the 50th anniversary of his murder, those who fought alongside Amilcar Cabral give a painful reminder of what could have been had he lived to see Guinea Bissau’s independence.