The Spirit of Marikana: The Rise of Insurgent Trade Unionism in South Africa

On August 16, 2012, thirty-four black South African mineworkers were shot by police working under the auspices of the African National Congress in what has become known as the Marikana massacre. An attempt to stop the rise of independent working-class power, the incident is now seen as a major turning point in the history of South Africa and its politics.

The Spirit of Marikana tells the story of the leaders of labor action at the world’s three largest platinum mining companies, who survived ongoing state-sponsored campaigns of violence, intimidation, torture, and murder to push forward a worker’s rights agenda and begin the hard work of transforming their workplaces and their nation. A close-up ethnographic account, the book brings the seemingly ordinary people behind the movement to life through vivid interviews and oral histories.