Political Economy and Critical Engagement in South Africa

Rajend Mesthrie is Emeritus Professor and former National Research Foundation Research Chair in Language, Migration & Social Change, based at the University of Cape Town.

‘At a time when neoliberalism is under scrutiny yet progressive alternatives struggle to take root, the essays in Political Economy and Critical Engagement in South Africa serve as both a tribute and a call to action. They remind us that economic ideas matter, that institutions and intellectual networks must be nurtured and that the project of creating a more just economic order requires both rigorous critique and practical engagement.’ —Megan Bryer, Director in the Economic Policy division at the National Treasury of South Africa

• AcknowledgementsAcronyms and Abbreviations Vishnu Padayachee: Themes and Perspectives Chapter 1. Reflections on Intellectual Engagement in South Africa Chapter 2. The Significance of Umkomaas: Place, Time and Community in the Making of an Academic Chapter 3. Curiosity and Commitment: Vishnu Padayachee, Global Scholarship and Politics in Durban in the 1980s and 1990s Chapter 4. The Measure of Mistrust: African Artisanal Gold Mining and the Geopolitics of the Barbarous Rel Chapter 5. National Development and the Enlightenment Gaze: A Joint Project with Vishnu Padayachee Chapter 6. The Richness of Development Measures in Post-Apartheid South Africa? Chapter 7. The Political Economy of Nationalism and Populism: South Africa, India and the United States Chapter 8. The Economics of the Feasible in a Democratic South Africa: Anglo American and Economic Policy Chapter 9. An Unfinished Research Agenda on the South African Reserve Bank: Linking Academic Scholarship and Monetary Policy Chapter 10. Heterodox Economics and Macroeconomic Policy-making: A Critical Review of Vishnu Padayachee’s Contribution to Fiscal Policy Chapter 11. South African Capitalism: Conversations with Vishnu Padayachee Chapter 12. Reflecting on Ideas, History and Institutions in South African Social Policy through the Prism of Vishnu Padayachee’s Method Chapter 13. Locating Vishnu as Engaged Political Economist: A Personal Journey Chapter 14. Accounting for Some Recent Deaths in South Africa: Zombie Economics Blues Chapter 15. Regional Integration as an Instrument of Industrialisation: Perspectives from South Africa Chapter 16. The Engaged Intellectual, the State and Civil Society in the Post-Zuma Era: Lessons from the Eastern Cape Chapter 17. ‘Exodus without a Map’, 2: What Happened to the Durban Moment? Chapter 18. Race and Identity: The Revival of the Natal Indian Congress, 1971–74 Chapter 19. The University of Durban-Westville: Transition to an Open University and Merger with the University of Natal (1990–2003) Chapter 20. Graduate and Research Outputs and Efficiency in South African Universities Chapter 21. Books, Bannings and Activism: Excerpts from an Interview with Omar Badsha Chapter 22. An Intellectual in a Time of Struggle: A Tribute to Vishnu Padayachee Chapter 23. Vishnu Padayachee: An Economist’s Tribute Chapter 24. The Most Special of Special Assistants: A Tribute to Vishnu Padayachee Chapter 25. Four Slips and a Gulley: Reflections on Cricket in Vishnu Padayachee’s Life Chapter 26. Vishnu Padayachee at Ike’s: A BMW Life (Books, Meanders and Wine)Notes on Contributors Index