Hindsight
Our third issue explores the place of the past and raises questions of what, if anything, it means for us now. In the lead feature, historians Christopher L. Brown and Sebabatso C. Manoeli-Lesame call attention to moments prior to colonisation when power relations between Africa and Europe were in a state of flux and yet to settle on being distinctly colonial. Using these moments, Manoeli-Lesame and Brown argue that these un-colonial episodes from the past hold the keys to imagining decolonial futures. In the second feature, art historian Leslie M. Wilson examines Sydelle Willow Smith’s photographic series on white South Africans in the post-apartheid era. Wilson asks if it is possible to leave behind a past that is still very much with us. The articles in this issue are a reminder that even though humans construct ways to categorise and distinguish between periods, the deep connections between times are difficult to disentangle and parcel out. In a way, this hindsight issue is an invitation to reflect on the past’s unfinished business.
Our third issue explores the place of the past and raises questions of what, if anything, it means for us now. In the lead feature, historians Christopher L. Brown and Sebabatso C. Manoeli-Lesame call attention to moments prior to colonisation when power relations between Africa and Europe were in a state of Read More...