Overview

‘Popular Struggles or One Struggle?’ Originally published in 1988 shortly after the miners’ strike in South Africa of 1987, this book begins with a strongly argued and seminal discussion of this question by William Cobbett and Robin Cohen. The book had an urgency and relevance at its time of original publication, but many of the themes it discusses remain as relevant today. Nearly all the contributors were close to the sites of encounter and resistance they described, but at the same time they and the editors place the individual cases within the historical context.

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9781032741390

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Reviews

Original reviews of Popular Struggles in South Africa: ‘This is a book which should be read by everyone outside South Africa who is opposed to the horror and obscenity of apartheid. It documents in an accessible and riveting way, some of the tenacity, diversity and continuity of popular resistance to the state and its surrogates’. –David Mason Journal of Modern African Studies, 26 (4) 1988. ‘Above and beyond the analytical precision of these debates, and the sense of immediacy which participants convey, the value of this collection is to reveal the seriousness with which a generation of activists analyse problems in order to overcome them. Their cold-eyed analyses bring them to the heart of the dilemmas they face daily, incidentally offering us a window on their worlds. What might have been a collection of battleground snap-shots is in reality one of the most incisive and profound accounts of the tensions and conflicts which underlie the daily violence, tragedy, heroism and betrayals of their lives.’ – Donald Denoon Australian Journal of International Affairs, 44 (3) 1990. ‘The book under review analyses the internal dynamic of the struggle against the apartheid system. Contributions to it are from an illustrious group of progressive academics and activists, one of whom, David Webster, was recently murdered by the agents of the apartheid regime.’ – “Mzala” Journal of Southern African Studies, 16 (3) 1990. ‘The importance of this book is beyond doubt: its subject matter is of vital importance and too little represented in the abundant South African literature. It is a disturbing book, not only in its reports of repression, conflict and struggle, but also in its confirmation that intolerance has bred intolerance.’ – Anthony Lemon Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 28 (1) 1990.

Author Information

Robin Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Development Studies at the University of Oxford. For the first decade of his academic career, he worked on comparative labour issues. His books included Labour and Politics in Nigeria (1974) and the co-edited collections The development of an African working class (1975), International Labour and the Third World (1987), African Labor History (1978) and the current title, Peasants and Proletarians. He subsequently wrote on the themes of migration, globalization and diasporas. His best-known work is Global diasporas: An introduction (3rd edition, 2022). After acting as Overall Co-ordinator of PLANACT (1988-1992), William Cobbett moved to ANC HQ in 1992, and represented the ANC on the Transitional Executive Council (TEC). Following the 1994 elections of the Government of National Unity, William was appointed Director General of Housing under Minister Joe Slovo. He subsequently acted as Director of Housing in Cape Town (1997-98) before moving to Nairobi to join the United Nations. He was subsequently based in Washington DC (2001-2013) and Brussels (2013-2021) in the Cities Alliance secretariat, becoming Director in 2005 until his retirement in 2021. He has served both as a member of ROAPE’s EWG and as a Contributing Editor.

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