Those featured in The Texture of Dissent were shaped and preoccupied by the issues facing South Africans after the Nationalist Party election victory in 1948 and most of the academics included in this volume only became prominent from the late 1990s. This volume draws on the ways in which public intellectuals are involved in the ‘political work of social change’ through defiant thought and action. Those assembled in this volume are, in the view of the writers, people who ultimately leave deep imprints on what it means to be human in a very complex and divided society.

A collection of edited life story interviews conducted with 25 current and past residents of Wentworth, Durban, that illustrates the social history of this historically ‘çoloured’ township.

This history from below documents the formation of the townships in the late 1950s and its history through the life experiences of the 25 residents during various periods. The book illustrates the wide diversity of the members of this black South African community in terms of origin, ancestry, class, educational qualifications, political outlook, self-identification, primary concerns, political activism, contribution to society, social impediments suffered, etc. that refute generalisations made about the ‘race’ to which they belong.

The life stories also illustrate the impact of major transformations, such as the advent of democracy, on members of this community.

After more than twenty years of democracy in South Africa, the history of the liberation struggle is losing relevance in the national consciousness as the country grapples with the pressing challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. Nevertheless, the liberation struggle spawned many heroes and heroines, some whose contributions have been captured in autobiographies, biographies, book chapters, books and journal articles. There are many more heroes and heroines that are mere footnotes in the vast historiography of the liberation struggle - whose recollections and reflections are recorded in the words of the authors and their names acknowledged as sources in footnotes. The names of a larger number are not mentioned and do not feature even as footnotes in any publication on the history of the struggle. The book The other side of freedom: Stories of hope and loss in South African Liberation Struggle 1950-1994 presents a compilation of 26 profiles of a diverse selection of activists and leaders in the liberation struggle, framed between an introduction, a brief chronological account of the liberation struggle between 1950 and 1994, and a conclusive analysis of the autobiographical accounts as well as their legacy. The chapters present a better and fuller portrait of several unsung heroes and heroines of the South African liberation struggle by penetrating beyond the deeds, ideals, sacrifices, glory and greatness to examine individual human beings who are still living, and their recollections of others who have passed on.

Paradise Lost. Race and Racism in Post-apartheid South Africa is about the continuing salience of race and persistence of racism in post-apartheid South Africa. The chapters in the volume illustrate the multiple ways in which race and racism are manifested and propose various strategies to confront racial inequality, racism and the power structure that underpins it, while exploring, how, through a renewed commitment to a non-racial society, apartheid racial categories can be put under erasure at exactly the time they are being reinforced.