A century of the SACP: national democracy and revolution in the Global South

Abstract

This paper argues that Tom Lodge’s Red Road to Freedom is a milestone in South African history and a model of historical writing. The author reconstructs the history of an underground revolutionary movement in all its complexity mobilizing a huge array of sources. He details the role the protagonists played, provides a wealth of information, and delves into local politics without ever losing sight of the bigger picture. Lodge demonstrates that the South African Communist Party (SACP) made “national democracy” and the alliance with ANC its cause and rallying cry effectively taking ownership of post-Stalinist Soviet political theory. Thus, he compels historians to delve into the actual materialization of international ideological currents in the global South.