Michelle Williams

The indefatigable spirit and exceptional mind of Michael Burawoy was taken from us on 3rd February 2025. The callous act of violence of a hit-and-run driver in Oakland, California, put to rest the legendary scholar. Michael was my MA and PhD supervisor between 1995 and 2005. After I left Berkeley and moved to South Africa, Michael visited regularly and over the years became a very close friend and remained a mentor throughout. He’s been one of my fiercest...

I am one of the many people who was able to count Erik Olin Wright as a mentor, collaborator, friend, and fellow traveller. Many tributes have focused on his enormous intellectual contribution, his legendary supervision and mentoring, his engagement and commitment to finding pathways beyond capitalism, and his contribution to Marxism. While I too experienced these aspects of Erik, I want to focus on my personal experiences with Erik...

Marx’s ideas about the emancipatory and oppressive dimensions of capitalism have inspired scholars, politicos, and activists across the globe for over 150 years and have led to an entire intellectual tradition known as Marxism. Few intellectuals and radical actors have had such an impact on the world except perhaps Adam Smith, Charles Darwin, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ, the Prophet Mohammed and the Buddha. Marxism has simultaneously sought...

South African universities have faced enormous challenges in overcoming the legacies of apartheid. We witnessed just how deep and complex are those legacies in recent student movements – #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall – but they should not detract from novel experiments taking place in South African higher education. Among these the National Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) stands out as especially successful. In its...

In Kerala, India, a remarkable worker cooperative has defied the predictions of mainstream economists for over 90 years. Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), a 2000 member-strong worker-owned construction cooperative, builds large infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and building complexes. Named after the Uralungal hamlet in northern Kerala’s Malabar region, the Uralungal Cooperative has pioneered local-level alternative...