LOVE AND VIOLENCE, the revolt against permanent juniority

300pp., paperback, Tafelberg, Cape Town, 2026

ISBN: 9780624096603

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi examines colonial violence and its impacts, including ‘black-on-black’ violence and black self-hatred. He discusses how, in the 1980s black youth reclaimed their humanity, escaping ‘permanent juniority’, and offers a new theory of emancipation grounded in political love.

Ndlozi's analysis includes his personal experience growing up without a father, unexpectedly coming across his father's name while researching the violence of the 1980s in Sebokeng, and his decision to interview him.

"Exploring race, domination and resistance deftly, Ndlozi rejects both generalities and the tendency to turn South Africa into a paragon of exceptionalism. Instead, he offers us historical depth and cultural specificity." Achille Mbembe

"Bound to change how we think about the historical black condition and black life in the South African present." Lwazi Lushaba

Public intellectual and podcaster Mbuyiseni Ndlozi holds a PhD in Political Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand, hosts the African Renaissance Podcast, and is currently a senior fellow at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. Love and Violence is based on his PhD research.