On Articulation, Translation, and Populism: Gillian Hart’s Postcolonial Marxism

Abstract

This article reviews Gillian Hart’s unique anticolonial Marxism, which she deftly deploys to explore questions regarding development, capitalism, and the post-apartheid trajectories of South Africa, focusing in particular on the articulations of race, class, gender, and nationalism therein. We argue that Hart’s careful engagement with Gramsci’s work enables her to be particularly attentive to both materiality and meaning in particular historical and geographical conjunctures. In so doing, we focus on how Hart enrolls and furthers understandings of articulation, language, and populism to develop a conjunctural analysis that is sensitive to the differentiation and politics of racialized capitalism.

本文对吉利安·哈特（Gillian Hart）独特的反殖民马克思主义进行了评论。她巧妙地运用了这一理论, 探索南非在发展、资本主义和后种族隔离时期轨迹的问题。作者尤其关注了她在种族、阶级、性别和民族主义方面的表述。我们认为, 哈特在其理论中谨慎结合了安东尼奥·葛兰西（Antonio Gramsci） 的著作内容, 让她能够特别关注特定历史和地理局势的表现和意义。我们在分析的过程中也关注了哈特如何讨论并拓展关于表述、语言和民粹主义的理解, 进而做出对种族化资本主义的分化和政治做出敏锐的局势分析。

Este artículo revisa el singular marxismo anticolonial de Gillian Hart, que ella diestramente despliega para explorar cuestiones relacionadas con desarrollo, capitalismo y las trayectorias del pos-apartheid de Sudáfrica, centrándose en particular sobre las articulaciones de raza, clase, género y nacionalismo que en tal contexto concurren. Nos parece que el cuidadoso compromiso de Hart con el trabajo de Gramsci la habilita para estar particularmente preocupada con la materialidad y el significado de ciertas coyunturas históricas y geográficas. Al hacerlo, nos concentramos en el modo como Hart enrola y promueve los entendimientos de la articulación, el lenguaje y el populismo para desarrollar un análisis coyuntural que sea sensible a la diferenciación y la política del capitalismo racializado.

Key Words:

• Antonio Gramsci
• articulation
• Gillian Hart
• populism
• translation

关键词:

• 安东尼奥·葛兰西（Antonio Gramsci）
• 表述
• 吉利安·哈特（Gillian Hart）
• 民粹主义
• 翻译。

Palabras clave:

• Antonio Gramsci
• articulación
• Gillian Hart
• populismo
• traducción

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Nik Heynen and James McCarthy at the journal for their interest and comments on this article. Along with two referees, they helped us extend and sharpen the argument considerably. Mark Hunter initially encouraged us to write this article and provided generous feedback on an earlier iteration. The article would not have been possible without our collaborations with Gill Hart, whose intellectual generosity has shaped its form and content in a number of ways. We accept responsibility for the final product, including any remaining shortcomings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Ekers

MICHAEL EKERS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Geography at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. His writing draws on the work of Antonio Gramsci, and his current research engages with debates on the political economy of nature, settler-colonialism, and Indigenous resurgence to understand the colonial enclosure and financialization of forestlands in British Columbia, Canada.

Stefan Kipfer

STEFAN KIPFER is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. Drawing on Marxist and anticolonial theoretical currents, including the works of Gramsci, Lefebvre, and Fanon, he has published widely on issues ranging from urban-regional restructuring and urban ecology to public housing redevelopment, public transit, far-right populism, and social movements.

Alex Loftus

ALEX LOFTUS is Reader in Political Ecology in the Department of Geography at King’s College London WC2B 4BG, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. In seeking to develop a philosophy of praxis, he has published widely on political ecology, the right to water, and, more recently, on the financialization of water infrastructure.