A book co-edited by the Dean of the SU Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Prof Ingrid Woolard, on the complexity of poverty and inequality in South Africa was launched at Stellenbosch University (SU) on Tuesday, 23 July 2019.

The book, Poverty & Inequality: Diagnosis, Prognosis, Responses, is part of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) series named State of the Nation.

The other editors are Prof Crain Soudien, Chief Executive of the HSRC and Prof Vasu Reddy, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria. The book also contains contributions from a range of other academics and experts in the field.

The launch was hosted by Prof Servaas van der Berg who leads the Research on Socio-Economic Policy group in the Department of Economics. There were also responses from Prof Sandra Liebenberg, HF Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights in the SU Faculty of Law, and Prof Usuf Chikte, Executive Head: Department of Global Health in the SU Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

In his introduction, Soudien said the approach of the book was to make sense of the question: Is there a distinctiveness about the nature of poverty and inequality in South Africa which makes us different from places elsewhere in the world?

“It is essentially an attempt to talk to the state of economics and where we think the economic discourse might take us,” said Soudien.

According to Woolard, the complexity of poverty and inequality in South Africa and particularly the ways in which the multiple factors behind them come together, “require that we develop explanations which account for their durability and persistence”.

The various chapters in the book introduce a number of dimensions of poverty and equality, directing readers to a future possibility that would reduce – or even eliminate – the gaps that accrue from on-going cycles of poverty, exclusion and inequality.

“It is our hope that the volume will push readers to confront the fact that understanding the broader context of diversity, interrogating context, place, histories, culture and the law are central in finding meaningful responses to the crises of poverty and inequality,” said Woolard.

Liebenberg said the great strength of this edited collection is that it does not shy away from the complexities of transforming social and economic relations in South Africa.

“The various contributions consider the regional and international context of South Africa’s struggle against poverty and inequality, the long shadow of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history, and the social relations that shape various responses to material deprivation and exclusion. The book demonstrates the riches that can flow from a multidisciplinary research approach to complex social and economic problems,” said Liebenberg.

In the foreword, the book stresses that it provides a reminder of the reality that poverty and inequality remain structural challenges in the way of the establishment and quality of a democratic nation state.

Liebenberg affirms that assertion. “As South Africa is dealing with the on-going ravages of state capture and internecine political strife, this book serves as a timely reminder of what is at stake in failing to improve the material conditions of life of all in South Africa. It suggests a number of pathways be explored in the quest to redress poverty and inequality. In so doing, it helps restore our focus to the burning unresolved issue of economic justice in South Africa.”

• Main photo by Anton Jordaan:F.l.t.r. are Prof Sandra Liebenberg of the SU Faculty of Law; two of the three editors, Professors Crain Soudien of the HSRC and Ingrid Woolard of the SU Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences; Prof Usuf Chikte of the SU Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences; and the host of the event, Prof Servaas van der Berg, who leads the Research on Socio-Economic Policy group in the SU Department of Economics.