Portrait of an engaged intellectual: Ruth First the academic, teacher and scholar

Abstract

The 17th of August 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of South African sociologist, Ruth First's untimely passing and many in South Africa celebrated and honoured Ruth First the journalist and political activist. This paper narrates the often untold story of Ruth First's intellectual contributions and interventions. As an academic, teacher and scholar she conceived of her work as advocating for a more just world, her scholarly work was informed and sharpened by her political activism. In allying herself with political movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) in London and the Front for Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), she developed a kind of rationale for her intellectual labour. Engaging with her work as an intellectual and inserting her intellectual contributions, which like those of many African scholars have given way to debates from the global North, into social science curricula would perhaps be the real refutation of the assassin's bomb. This engagement is also crucial because it extends much further than the striking accolades which take the form of buildings and lectures established in her honour.