The Role of Intellectuals in the State-Society Nexus

If we are to talk about a ‘new’ intellectual
movement, the question is begged: what happened to the ‘old’
intellectual movement? What happened to the thinkers who inspired and
led our struggle against colonialism, apartheid and exploitation? What
has happened to the thinkers who gave substance and guidance and, in
many cases, practical leadership to our attempts to undo the past and
forge a new future?

In pursuit of answers to these questions, the
Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), in partnership
with the Liliesleaf Trust, hosted a roundtable in March 2015 with the
theme ‘The Role of Intellectuals in the State-Society Nexus’. Inputs
were provided by a range of thinkers, including Ibbo Mandaza, Ben Turok,
Ari Sitas, Ayanda Ntsaluba, Xolela Mangcu, Joel Netshitenzhe, Tshilidzi
Marwala and Nomboniso Gasa, as well as provocative and piercing
contributions from the attendees.

This publication aims to put the
inputs and debates at the roundtable further into the public domain,
and simply records the contributions of the main speakers, the
respondents, as well as the discussion from the floor. The rigorous
debate at the roundtable spilled out of the boundaries of the event
itself and encouraged a number of thinkers to provide additional
material for this publication: Z. Pallo Jordan, David Moore (with
Tshilidzi Marwala) and Desiree Lewis.