"2010 Anarchist Survey" - notes for a critical assessment Lucien van der Walt, December 2010 (minor edit Feb 2013, marked with []) Recently, an "Anarchist Survey" was run online, with the results appearing around August 2010. You can visit the survey here. This is a very interesting, indeed important, initiative - let me stress that. … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: “2010 Anarchist Survey” – notes for a critical assesment
Author: Lucien van der Walt
I teach at Rhodes University, the Eastern Cape. I’m 10th generation South African, born and bred. I have long been involved in union and working class education, and have a background in social movement and left-wing activism, the Workers’ Library and Museum, the Anti-Privatisation Forum, and the National Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU).
I’ve presented or published 450+ papers, including conferences and workshops, co-edited 4 journal specials (on global and African labour history, and the left), and produced five books. Southern Africa editor for the 2009 'International Encyclopaedia of Revolution and Protest' (Blackwell). I won the 2008 international ‘Labor History’ PhD thesis prize, and the 2008/2009 Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) award for best African dissertation, for my thesis on South African anarchism, syndicalism and black militants. I have also done research in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2000, “Neo-liberalism comes to Wits University – 600 jobs on the line,” in ‘Umsebenzi’
[I wrote this as part of the campaign against the neo-liberal Wits 2001 restructuring at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa. The plan cut jobs, mainly in support services, sought to commercialise reserach and teaching, and imposed a series of mergers and managerial reforms. We lost, but when we went down, we … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2000, “Neo-liberalism comes to Wits University – 600 jobs on the line,” in ‘Umsebenzi’
[JOURNAL]: Ian Bekker& Lucien van der Walt, 2010, “The 2010 Mass Strike in the State Sector, South Africa: Positive Achievements but Serious Problems”
Ian Bekker and Lucien van der Walt, "The 2010 Mass Strike in the State Sector, South Africa: Positive Achievements but Serious Problems" Social.History Online / Sozial.Geschichte Online, open access journal Issue 4 / 2010 pp. 138-152 Article in PDF here Mirrored here Journal issue here The August-September 2010 mass strike in the South African state … Continue reading [JOURNAL]: Ian Bekker& Lucien van der Walt, 2010, “The 2010 Mass Strike in the State Sector, South Africa: Positive Achievements but Serious Problems”
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 1997, “South Africa after Apartheid ,” ‘Le Monde Libertaire’
Translated from Lucien van der Walt, "Afrique du Sud apres l'apartheid," 13-19 November 1997, Le Monde Libertaire, no. 1100Historically, South Africa epitomized the poverty and oppression associated with capitalism and racism. The first non-racial elections to parliament in April 1994 gave many hope for the redress of the injustices of the past. The holding of … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 1997, “South Africa after Apartheid ,” ‘Le Monde Libertaire’
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 1992, “South Africa: Looking back at the Rio Summit farce”
A discussion of the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, which proved an absolute failure in terms of attempts to halt environmental destruction. I wrote this for a short-lived anarchist paper called Revolt, published in Johannesburg in 1992 (it appeared in issue #2; there wasn't, in fact, an issue #1!). There … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 1992, “South Africa: Looking back at the Rio Summit farce”
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “80th anniversary of Kronstadt Uprising: 18 March 1921/ 18 March 2001”
A-Infos News Service, 18 March 200180 years ago, the workers' movement and rebellion at Kronstadt, near Petrograd in Russia, was bloodily suppressed by the state-capitalist regime of VI Lenin and Leon Trotsky. The article below, produced for the old Workers Solidarity (South Africa) in 1996, outlines the story. Further online references and links, including an … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “80th anniversary of Kronstadt Uprising: 18 March 1921/ 18 March 2001”
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 1998, “The Collectives in Revolutionary Spain”
SOURCE: From an unpublished paper on "How an anarchist economy could work", written in 1997, presented in 1998 (and hopefully to be revised one day and published). Mirrored here and in Greek here. Originally section on "Revolutionary Spain and Anarcho-syndicalism, 1936-7" in the essay How an anarchist economy could work written by "Lucien. W." <029walt@cosmos.wits.ac.za> … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 1998, “The Collectives in Revolutionary Spain”
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “Towards a History of Anarchist Anti-imperialism: ‘In This Struggle, Only The Workers And Peasants Will Go All The Way To The End'”
First published in the Against War and Terrorism compilation (2001); besides numerous reprints in English, it has also been translated into French - here and Greek - here. PDF version from Against War and Terrorism is online here PDF version from The Peak is online here PDF version from The NorthEastern Anarchist: a magazine of class struggle theory … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “Towards a History of Anarchist Anti-imperialism: ‘In This Struggle, Only The Workers And Peasants Will Go All The Way To The End'”
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2008, “‘The Tradition of All the Dead Generations’: Some Critical Notes on Che Guevara and the Cuban Mirage”
Unfashionable truths are still truths. Cuba is a state-capitalist dictatorship, even today despite shifts to neo-liberalism; Che Guevara helped establish that regime, and played a key role in its early crackdowns on opponents. His forthright opposition to US imperialism was commendable, and accounts for much of his reputation. He has, of course, also been … Continue reading [ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2008, “‘The Tradition of All the Dead Generations’: Some Critical Notes on Che Guevara and the Cuban Mirage”
[JOURNAL]: Lucien van der Walt, Chris Bolsmann, Bernadette Johnson, & Lindsey Martin, 2003, “Globalisation, the Market University and Support Service Outsourcing in South Africa: class struggle, convergence and difference, 1994-2001”
van der Walt, Lucien (and Chris Bolsmann, Bernadette Johnson, and Lindsey Martin), (2003), "Globalisation, the Market University and Support Service Outsourcing in South Africa: class struggle, convergence and difference, 1994-2001," Society in Transition, volume 34, number 2 PDF is now online here ABSTRACT: 'Globalisation' is all too often understood m a monolithic process that produces … Continue reading [JOURNAL]: Lucien van der Walt, Chris Bolsmann, Bernadette Johnson, & Lindsey Martin, 2003, “Globalisation, the Market University and Support Service Outsourcing in South Africa: class struggle, convergence and difference, 1994-2001”
[DISCUSSION]: Lucien van der Walt, 1997, “Against Corporatism: the Limits and Pitfalls of Corporatism for South African Trade Unions”
van der Walt, Lucien, (1997), "Against Corporatism: the limits and pitfalls of corporatism for South African trade unions", version presented at African Studies Association of South Africa Third Biennial International Conference PDF is online here ABSTRACT: This paper reflects upon the experience of corporatism in South African and other contexts. It argues that the prospects for the establishment … Continue reading [DISCUSSION]: Lucien van der Walt, 1997, “Against Corporatism: the Limits and Pitfalls of Corporatism for South African Trade Unions”
[ANALYSIS]: Lucien van der Walt, 2000, “GEAR versus Social Security”
Lucien van der Walt, Lucien, 2000, "GEAR versus Social Security," South African Labour Bulletin, volume 24, number 5 Get the PDF here
[SPEECH]: Lucien van der Walt, 2003, “University Restructuring: whose gain, whose pain, whose transformation?” presentation to COMSA union
van der Walt, Lucien, (2003), "University Restructuring: whose gain, whose pain, whose transformation?" presentation to Combined Staff Association, University of Durban-Westville, 2 July 2003 This was a talk to the militant, independent union COMSA, based at the then-University of Durban-Westville. PDF online here
[REVIEW ESSAY]: Lucien van der Walt, 2001, “‘Fix It or Nix It?’ The anti-globalisation movement – review of J. Brecher, T. Costello and B. Smith, 2000, ‘Globalisation from Below: the power of solidarity'”
van der Walt, Lucien, (2001), "'Fix It or Nix It? The anti-globalisation movement [Review of J. Brecher, T. Costello and B. Smith, 2000, Globalisation from Below: the power of solidarity]," South African Labour Bulletin, volume 25, number 5 PDF online here
[INTERVIEW]: Lucien van der Walt, 2009, “Subcontracting is Just a Ploy to Woo Votes”
‘Subcontracting is just a ploy to woo votes’Vuvuzela, 27 February 2009Masibulele Yaso reportsThe ANC’s policy on outsourcing and subcontracting is ‘just a ploy to woo voters’, according to sociologist and lecturer in the Sociology Department, Dr Lucien van der Walt. Van der Walt told Vuvuzela that ‘because of the election mood’, the ANC would … Continue reading [INTERVIEW]: Lucien van der Walt, 2009, “Subcontracting is Just a Ploy to Woo Votes”
Lucien van der Walt 