In January 2024, Makerere University in Kampala hosted a two-day conference to reflect on 40 years of neoliberalism in Uganda. Writing on the conference, Serunkuma reminds us that, 40 years on, Uganda remains an epicentre of neoliberalism - or what he terms the 'new colonialism' in Africa. Consequently, neoliberalism and its many ills must remain at the forefront of scholarly and activist discussion and analysis.

Owei Lakemfa and Salvador Ousmane write about a vibrant conference held in Abuja on the politics, life and ideas of Lenin. The conference involved a rich array of discussion and debate about socialist and working class politics in Nigeria, Africa and the world. Students, researchers and activists, discussed the relevance of Lenin’s revolutionary ideas for the deep and on-going political and economic crisis in Nigeria.

In 1973, fifty years ago, South Africa experienced a historical turning point. From 9 January 1973, workers of the Coronation Brick and Tile factory in Durban came out on strike. Eighteen months before workers and students in South Africa’s colony South West Africa (today’s Namibia), took dramatic and radical action. Heike Becker writes about how workers made their demands heard across Southern Africa in the early 1970s.

The revolutionary work and activism of Walter Rodney was celebrated in Cape Town as workers and students gathered to read his work in the context of neocolonial capitalism in Azania. Joseph Mullen writes about a weeklong event in June which marked 50 years since the publication of Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.

A recent workshop brought together scholars, agricultural practitioners, and activists from the degrowth and the critical agrarian studies communities to discuss visions of agriculture which do not rely on growing productivity. Stefan Ouma, Eugen Pissarskoi, Kerstin Schopp and Leiyo Singo summarise some insights from a vital discussion.