... continued from last tweet #SAHS panel 136 today 13.40. Anna de Villiers: ‘Code Crane: the blue crane as a flagship species for modern conservation in South Africa c. 1990-2024’

The first of 2 papers I'm presenting today: this one, on Paul Landau's panel, about how the MPLA used its position in international politics to arm itself against internal critics of its own class / race character: liberation-era factionalism, UNITA & the challenge of Nito Alves.

The second paper I'm presenting today coauthored with Dr Daria Zelenova: the result of the rich opportunities for collaboration that came from the Global Soldiers The Leverhulme Trust project, bringing together my interviews with Angolan officers & Daria's work with Soviet officers.

A university that was in the centre of the struggle against South African apartheid takes a stand against Israeli apartheid & genocide. dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-0…

#KenyaProtests: What began as protests against a finance bill has revealed a crisis of legitimacy in the executive, legislature & police... western institutions that use [poorer] countries for economic experiments, 'get your priorities in order'. Nanjala Nyabola theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Congratulations to everyone at Wits who persevered in getting this through. May the rest of us be inspired and not merely shamed. 🇵🇸🇿🇦

Every academic conference I have ever been to.

Our colleagues & JSAS board members Thembi Justin Pearce Sishuwa Sishuwa are participating in this event to mark the 50th anniversary of Journal of Southern African Studies.

Discussion of slowness of the review process, due to pressure on academics' time when this is run on voluntary labour. Region-based academics under particular pressure. Could discuss further but Sishuwa Sishuwa points out that (true to form) the meeting's behind schedule. We move on...

Tall people to the back...

My department Wits Politics is looking to hire a permanent staff member at Lecturer/Senior Lecturer level with a specialism in gender studies, sexuality and feminist theory and politics. irec.wits.ac.za/OA_HTML/OA.jsp….

This will be worth waiting for. Congratulations Miles Tendi

The History Department is recruiting a lecturer. Details in the link below, deadline 31 August. Completed PhD is a minimum requirement. Follow the link for details. (For enquiries please use the contact in the ad. Enquiries made via X won't be answered.) sun-e-hr.sun.ac.za/OA_HTML/OA.jsp…..

From South African National Archives: Propaganda photo taken by SA Defence Force of Russian books seized at a FAPLA camp in Angola in 1980s. Includes a Portuguese study book, a work by Brezhnev, a volume of children's literature and a translation of Hemingway's Farewell to Arms.

Things to do on a wet afternoon: hold up a 50 rand note to the light and see a weird human-lion hybrid.

National Student Financial Aid Scheme shells out R166m in rent on luxury offices. Student living allowance is about half of what it costs to rent a basic room somewhere like Stellenbosch. Meanwhile we lecturers discuss foodbank schemes for hungry students. dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-0…

I agree with Sara. After organising panels for #ECAS2023 & #ASAUK2024 I'm happy to leave it to someone else for #ECAS2025. Please someone organise nice panels & I'll be delighted to join you!

Wonka, political economy analysis. Smug defender of free market against cartels forced to face the fact that the rosy dawn of capitalism involved Loompaland becoming a warren for orange skins. Strange that the epiphanic moment involved Hugh Grant but hey.

21 medical students from Al-Azhar University (Gaza) have arrived in South Africa to complete their studies. Massive thanks to the university of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

All of us who have done oral history or ethnography will recognise this: regulations or legislation that are drafted with medical research in mind don't translate usefully to our disciplines.