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In South Africa today, analysis of current politics frequently invokes the term ‘corruption’ and the expression ‘state capture’. Yet both terms are inadequate conceptually, both on their own terms and for the explanations that they offer. What they obscure is a) the form of contemporary politics – that it is focused on the State-Owned Enterprises and the control of their procurement budgets and b) the politics of current politics – that it is driven by more than criminality but is underpinned by political convictions. In other words, it is necessary, not simply to explore the relationship between politics & criminality but to admit that under certain conditions the distinction breaks down.

Watch this recent lecture on the politics of elite populism at UJ, 2 August: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1yoKMpgPddpxQ

  • Presented by Ivor Chipkin
  • Thursday, 17th August 1pm – 2.30pm
  • R401 Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology Arts and Social Sciences Building c/o Merriman and Ryneveld Street, University of Stellenbosch