Send us a text In 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 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. ...

Send us a text 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 abil...

Send us a text 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 miss...

Send us a text 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 touch...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text 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 Do...

Send us a text 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 ...

Send us a text 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 ...