The Legacy of Ruth First in Development Studies: Critical Thinking in Revolutionary Politics

摘要

A little over thirty years ago, in August 1982, Ruth First stood at the corner of her desk in her office at the Centre of African Studies (CEA) in Mozambique, chatting and teasing while she opened a package. It contained a bomb sent by the security services of apartheid South Africa. The explosion killed her, blew out the wall of her office and left many people engulfed in a cloud of confusion, anger, stillness and loss.' There are streets named for her in all the major cities of South Africa. There is even a Ruth First Square in The Hague, a remnant from the days when The Netherlands had influential solidarity organizations, with connections to most of the world's major liberation movements — and when such liberation movements had an important role in international politics. Ruth First is known as a loved and respected comrade