South African politics and the legacy of the war against apartheid

Jan Haaken and Alan Wieder talk about South African politics and his recent tour there promoting his book "Ruth First and Joe Slovo: the war against apartheid". Jan asks Alan how he took it upon himself to tell the story of a contested history of political struggle. He talks about how the socialist revolution in South Africa, supported by the Soviet Union, never really turned into a socialist revolution; how after the fall of apartheid that the capitalist state reproduced itself; and Nelson Mandela's political historical significance.

Alan will be talking about his book and experiences that inform it at Broadway Books on August 20th from 7-8pm.