Neville Alexander - Against Racial Capitalism, Selected Writings

Neville Alexander is not a household name, but he should be. As a revolutionary public intellectual, activist and former political prisoner, he is among the most important theorists of racial capitalism to emerge during the struggle against Apartheid.

Alexander's writings engage with some of the important debates in South Africa from the last 50 years, many of which have international resonance today: from the unresolved national question and the relationship between 'race' and class; the continuities of racial capitalism in post-apartheid South Africa; the role and purpose of schooling and higher education; and the importance of nation building and multilingualism. An opponent of the neoliberal trajectory embarked upon by the post-apartheid establishment in the 1990s, Alexander was always reflective and humble but never wavered from his own self-description: a non-dogmatic Marxist, pan-Africanist and internationalist.

This carefully curated collection brings his incredible body of work to an international audience for the first time. It features a comprehensive introduction, a timeline of key events in the life of Alexander, selected articles, speeches, op-eds, book chapters and a bibliography of his writings.

Neville Alexander was a revolutionary scholar, educator and activist in the struggles against Apartheid and in post-Apartheid South Africa. He spent ten years (1964-74) as a political prisoner on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela and others before emerging as one of South Africa's foremost public intellectuals. His writings are a key reference point for understanding some of the most important debates in that country over the past half-century.


Salim Vally is Professor and Director of the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT) at the University of Johannesburg and the National Research Foundation’s South African Research Initiative’s Chair in Community, Adult and Workers Education (CAWE). He is co-editor with Enver Motala of Education, Economy and Society, and with Aziz Choudry of Reflections on Knowledge, Learning and Social Movements: History's Schools.

Enver Motala has worked in education for five decades. He has worked in the labour movement, an education NGO, in government and at various universities. He is currently an Associate of CERT and CAWE and of the Centre for Integrated Post-School Education and Training at the Nelson Mandela University.