Rick Turner: 'through the eye of the needle'

Abstract

Political philosopher, academic and anti-apartheid activist Richard 'Rick' Albert Turner has had an influence on politics, protests and trade unions that has lasted long after his untimely assassination. He studied in Paris during the 1960s, when the French were showing the world what student protest could achieve, and he brought that knowledge back to South Africa when he returned in 1966. Turner balanced a rigorously academic understanding of the nature of class and participatory democracy with a hands-on approach to community initiatives.