Neville Alexander Was a Major Thinker of African Socialism

As a revolutionary public intellectual, activist, and former political prisoner, Neville Alexander was one of the most important theorists of the relationship between racism and capitalism to emerge during the struggle against South African apartheid. His activities and ideas remain a reference point for some of the key debates in contemporary history not only in South Africa but internationally.

A courageous opponent of the apartheid system who went on to reject the neoliberal trajectory embarked upon by the post-apartheid ruling establishment of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s, Alexander was always reflective and humble. But he never wavered from his own self-description as a nondogmatic Marxist, a Pan-Africanist, and an internationalist.

Alexander was born in Cradock in South Africa’s Eastern Cape in 1936. His father was David James Alexander, a carpenter, and his mother, Dimbiti Bisho Alexander, was a schoolteacher. Her mother was among a group of Ethiopian slaves who had been freed and placed in the care of missionaries in Cradock. Alexander went to a local school run by German nuns.

In 1953, he moved to Cape Town to take a degree in history and German at the University of Cape Town. There, he was influenced by (and later joined) the Teachers’ League of South Africa and the Non-European Unity Movement, a group that was inspired by Trotskyist ideas. He also helped found the Cape Peninsula Students Union and belonged to the Society of Young Africa with figures like Archie Mafeje.

A fellowship sent him to Germany’s University…