Forthcoming Book : Love Letter to the Many – Arguments for Transformative Left Politics in South Africa
In May 2022, Vishwas Satgar had a life-threatening COVID-19 infection. He now lives with a damaged immune system. This traumatic experience informed the making of a Love Letter to the Many – Arguments for Transformative Left Politics in South Africa.
The book can be pre-ordered from Jacana Press here: https://jacana.co.za/product/
Book Launch details for May in different parts of the country to follow shortly.
More details about the book are in the attached version of the cover and below.
Praise for A Love Letter to the Many
“ANC-led Alliance national liberation politics is exhausted. It is anti-worker, unjust, corrupt and a danger to our democracy. If you are interested in trail blazing people and worker led alternatives that can secure a transformative future engage these writings by Vishwas Satgar. He is one of our most consistent, thoughtful and critical left intellectuals at the frontline of contemporary struggles.”
Mike van Graan, playwright
“What do you do when your dreams turn to dust? How do you live your life when the movement you have built degenerates in a murky maze of contradictions, concessions, and even betrayal? Where do you go when there is a painful parting of the ways? So many activists in South Africa, who fought a long struggle to bring a liberation movement to power, only to see it capitulate to capital, have asked these questions. In this book, Vishwas Satgar bravely takes them on, telling his own story while examining the deepest issues about our movements, our species, our planet. He takes us through four decades of activism from a school boycott through grassroots organising in the UDF through holding a leading position in the SACP to building an alternative left outside the ANC-SACP. This book is a moving and insightful contribution to the current and future left.”
Helena Sheehan is Emeritus Professor at Dublin City University and author of such books as Marxism and the Philosophy of Science, The Syriza Wave, Navigating the Zeitgeist and Until We Fall.
“ Vishwas Satgar is a fearless fighter for social Justice. Whether you agree with him or not his voice is an important one to read and hear.”
Jay Naidoo was the founding General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and was a Minister in President Mandela’s Cabinet.
“A moving and inspiring volume emerging from over four decades of activism and scholarship, this love letter to future generations chronicles histories of struggle and hope, but also of betrayal by those in power. It frames a new decolonial and emancipatory politics of the Left, oriented towards solidarity of the many, and centred on ecological justice. Intellectually profound and oriented towards a transformative politics that challenges ecocidal capitalism. This book is ultimately a celebration of collective strength and the will to bring about new worlds.”
Nivedita Menon is Professor at Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India.
“For decades now, Vishwas Satgar has been rethinking and advancing the socialist project. This collection of essays shows his rigorous, historical analysis of left politics in South Africa, his commitment to democratic eco-feminist socialism as an active force for its renewal, and his hallmark, defiant lucidity. Satgar provides a crucial foundation for transformative strategies to accelerate and deepen the just transition from below. This volume speaks to the exigencies of our time and is profoundly relevant to a failing state, and the next generation, in a boiling world.”
Janet Solomon, director of Becoming Visible, co-founder of Oceans Not Oil.
“This is an amazing book: it bears witness to the hopes and struggles of countless activists for a new and progressive South Africa, and the disappointments of a revolutionary generation in this country and around the world. Vishwas Satgar has offered important contributions, for many years, to the struggles for justice, social change, and eco-socialism, and in this book he offers another powerful motivating force towards the recovery of a transformative left imagination and the dreams of freedom which are essential, so we can live in a world free of the threats posed by a hyper-destructive globalised and financialised capitalism.”
Alfredo Saad Filho is a Professor of Political Economy and International Development King’s College London
“This volume illustrates the making, the breaking and the re awakening of an activist. It illustrates the transformative potential of a politics that is willing to learn, evolve and be shaped by struggle. The volume uses the history of an individual to reflect the history of a nation. It perfectly balances the factual with the felt; it demonstrates the impact of individual struggle and how this informs the role one plays in collective struggle. Written with passion and conviction; and with radical love for the many- this is worth a read, and a re-read.”
Courtney Morgan is a climate justice activist and eco-feminist.
“A timely collection of conjunctural and against the grain interventions. It will rouse all those who mistakenly believe that retreats and defeats of the last three decades unhinged everyone and robbed the political left of all options. These writings remind us that ongoing renewal and involvement in struggle are the lifeblood of emancipatory politics, and is a worthwhile insurance against political ossification.”
Dinga Sikwebu is a retired educator of the metalworkers’ union in South Africa, NUMSA.
“Vishwas Satgar has long demonstrated the possibility of combining radical theory with praxis. In this book, coming at a time when our society is not only ravaged by manifold crises but above all paralyzed by a dearth of political imagination, Satgar reminds us that the starting point of any emancipatory vision must be love: love for humanity, love for nature, and love for life itself.”
William Shoki is the Editor of Africa is a Country
Vishwas Satgar writes from his personal experience of South Africa and his perspective on the failure of left politics. He challenges us to think of how to reimagine a leftist vision that bridges divides, and strives for transformative change for a just and inclusive society. Satgar eloquently articulates our shared purpose for urgent collective action, social and ecological justice in a world facing unprecedented challenges in our current poly crisis, especially the climate crisis. His profound insight shows the path toward a more equitable, sustainable, and compassionate future.
Francesca de Gasparis, Executive Director of Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute, SAFCEI.Cover
