To photograph is in some way to appropriate the object being photo-graphed. It is a power/knowledge relationship. To have visual knowledge of an object is in part to have power, even if only momentarily, over it. – John Urry in The Tourist Gaze. I picked up a book, what seemed like a bog-standard picture book,…
Category: South Africa
Whose Anger Matters
I was interviewed by SmileFM about my Daily Maverick column of 30 April 2025. Click on the photograph for direct link to the column, and listen to SoundCloud recording below.
Calls for Appeasement and Status Quo Patriotism are growing louder and bolder
President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to have accepted the dismissal of Ebrahim Rasool without question, and seems to suffers from the same fear of Trump affliction that has debilitated CEOs in the USA, and driven them into what has been described cowardice. The dismissal of South Africa’s ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, from Washington is brightening the light…
Malaysia’s road to BRICS is laden with traps and mines
Malaysia’s decision to apply to BRICS for membership is visionary, but fraught with problems. These problems are mainly external, non-governmental, it should be said, and will probably continue to nag the application process and bedevil Malaysia’s actual membership and participation in the BRICS. The likely challenges Malaysia faces, more especially the Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim,…