RETHINKING ACTIVISM IN AFRICA, voices and visionaries for social justice and human rights

260pp., illus., paperback, Fanele, Johannesburg, 2026

ISBN: 9781997448082

A collection of 14 essays written by activists from 8 different African countries that address some of the urgent political, economic and social issues they're facing: youth participation in democratic processes, civil society in war zones, internet freedoms, campaigns for equality and non-discrimination, alliances and the use of law. The essays also explore unexpected forms of resistance, such as compassion and care, music, theatre, food sovereignty and rest.

Mark Heywood is Adjunct Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, a distinguished visitor at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center and a visiting scholar at the Bonavero Institute for Human Rights, Oxford University. He is co-founder of the Treatment Action Campaign and co-founder and former Executive Director of SECTION27 (2010–2019), and sits on the boards of several health and human rights NGOs in South Africa and internationally. Between 2019 and 2023 he was editor of Maverick Citizen. In 2022 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Public Health Association of South Africa. In 2025 he founded the Justice and Activism Hub and the Union Against Hunger. He has written extensively on law, human rights, HIV/AIDS, health and literature.