Fatima Meer: a free mind, by Shireen Hassim

Abstract

The incisive Hassim opens the book with the powerful recognition that “women do not often feature as theorists who have shaped ideas of liberation in South Africa” (p. v). Predominantly, the struggle activists who come to my mind when reflecting on what I have been taught about the reign and demise of apartheid are men – Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Steve Biko – with dense writing covering their liberatory roles. And where female figures – Lilian Ngoyi, Fatima Meer and Winnie Mandela – featured within my history textbooks and university curriculum, their feats were documented on a single page or as a side note. Hassim notes that even within the Voices of Liberation series, “Fatima Meer is only the second woman – and the first black woman – to be recognized for her intellectual work” (2019, p. v). However, in paying homage to Meer’s legacy, Hassim not only disrupts the persistent shrouding of South African women’s political profiles, but deftly sutures South African history to a critical appraisal of a politics of visibility within the academy – and within feminism – which is particularly relevant today.