ONE VIRUS, TWO COUNTRIES, what Covid-19 tells us about South Africa

186pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2021

"Steven Friedman demonstrates his characteristic ability to weave together insights from history, social science and politics in a way that is not only accessible and lucid, but also provocative and persuasive. This compelling examination of public debate, media framing, politics and economic power shows why Friedman is considered one of South Africa’s foremost political analysts." Herman Wasserman, Professor of Media Studies, University of Cape Town

"Friedman provides an important case study of the damage caused when we develop policies by copying ‘best practice’ from Europe and the US, without testing them consistently against South African realities." Neva Makgetla, senior economist, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies

"With an emphasis on the politics of knowledge this book breaks new ground for critical reflection and public debate on the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a must-read". Vishwas Satgar, principal investigator, Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene, and editor of the Democratic Marxism series, University of the Witwatersrand

Steven Friedman is a political scientist and public commentator; newspaper columnist and former trade unionist. He is Research Professor attached to the Department of Politics in the Humanities Faculty, University of Johannesburg, and the author of Power in Action: Democracy, citizenship and social justice and Prisoners of the Past: South African democracy and the legacy of minority rule.