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He returned to South Africa in 1966 and worked on his mother’s farm in Stellenbosch for two years before lecturing at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Rhodes. He moved to Natal in 1970 and become a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Natal and in that same year he met [[Steve Biko]] and the two formed a close relationship and became the leading figures in [[The Durban Moment]].<ref>[http://www.gold.ac.uk/media/working%20paper_Ian%20Macqueen.pdf Black Consciousness in Dialogue: Steve Biko, Richard Turner and the ‘Durban Moment’ in South Africa, 1970 – 1974], Ian McQueen, SOAS, 2009</ref>
He returned to South Africa in 1966 and worked on his mother’s farm in Stellenbosch for two years before lecturing at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Rhodes. He moved to Natal in 1970 and become a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Natal and in that same year he met [[Steve Biko]] and the two formed a close relationship and became the leading figures in [[The Durban Moment]].<ref>[http://www.gold.ac.uk/media/working%20paper_Ian%20Macqueen.pdf Black Consciousness in Dialogue: Steve Biko, Richard Turner and the ‘Durban Moment’ in South Africa, 1970 – 1974], Ian McQueen, SOAS, 2009</ref>


Turner became a prominent academic at the University and assumed a leading role in South African political science and published a number of papers. His work was written from a radical existential perspective and stressed the virtues of bottom up [[popular democracy]] against authoritarian [[Stalinist]] and [[Trotskyist]] strands of leftism. He was a strong advocate of workers control and a critic of the reduction of politics to party politics.<ref name=TM/>
Turner became a prominent academic at the University and assumed a leading role in South African political science and published a number of papers. His work was written from a radical existential perspective and stressed the virtues of bottom up [[popular democracy]] against authoritarian [[Stalinist]] and [[Trotskyist]] strands of leftism. He was a strong advocate of workers' control and a critic of the reduction of politics to party politics.<ref name=TM/>

==Works==


In 1972 Turner wrote a book called ''The Eye of the Needle - Towards Participatory Democracy In South Africa''. The South African authorities thought that the book exercised a strong influence on opposition thinking with its plea for a radically democratic and non-racial South Africa. Such a society, he argued, would liberate whites as well as blacks.
In 1972 Turner wrote a book called ''The Eye of the Needle - Towards Participatory Democracy In South Africa''. The South African authorities thought that the book exercised a strong influence on opposition thinking with its plea for a radically democratic and non-racial South Africa. Such a society, he argued, would liberate whites as well as blacks.


In 1973 he published a widely influential article titled "Dialectical Reason", in the British journal ''[[Radical Philosophy]]''. In the same year he was banned by the South African authorities for five years. He was not allowed to visit his two daughters or his mother and had to stay in the Durban area. Even though he was banned this did not stop him from speaking out and in April 1973 Turner and other banned individuals staged an Easter fast to illustrate the sufferings that bannings impose on people. The fast was supported by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. {{Reference necessary|date=January 2011}} After his bannings Dr Turner was kept on the staff at the University even though he was not allowed to lecture.<ref name=IM>[http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/7348/ Re-imagining South Africa: Black Consciousness, radical Christianity and the New Left, 1967 – 1977], Ian McQueen, PhD Thesis, University of Sussex, 2011</ref>
In 1973 he published a widely influential article titled "Dialectical Reason", in the British journal ''[[Radical Philosophy]]''. In the same year he was banned by the South African authorities for five years. He was not allowed to visit his two daughters or his mother and had to stay in the Durban area. Even though he was banned this did not stop him from speaking out and in April 1973 Turner and other banned individuals staged an Easter fast to illustrate the sufferings that bannings impose on people. The fast was supported by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. {{Reference necessary|date=January 2011}} After his bannings Dr Turner was kept on the staff at the University even though he was not allowed to lecture.<ref name=IM>[http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/7348/ Re-imagining South Africa: Black Consciousness, radical Christianity and the New Left, 1967 – 1977], Ian McQueen, PhD Thesis, University of Sussex, 2011</ref>

==Political Activism==


He attended the SASO terrorism trial of nine Black Consciousness movement leaders as a defence witness in March 1976 where he expounded on theories expressed in ''The Eye of the Needle''.<ref name=IM /> In November 1976 Dr Turner received a Humboldt Fellowship, one of the world’s leading academic awards from Heidelberg University, but after months of negotiating with the Minister of Justice {{Who|date=January 2011}} was refused permission to travel to Germany.<ref name=IM />
He attended the SASO terrorism trial of nine Black Consciousness movement leaders as a defence witness in March 1976 where he expounded on theories expressed in ''The Eye of the Needle''.<ref name=IM /> In November 1976 Dr Turner received a Humboldt Fellowship, one of the world’s leading academic awards from Heidelberg University, but after months of negotiating with the Minister of Justice {{Who|date=January 2011}} was refused permission to travel to Germany.<ref name=IM />


In September 1977 Steve Biko was murdered by the apartheid police.<ref>[http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/turner-r.htm South African History Online]</ref>
In September 1977 Steve Biko was murdered by the apartheid police.<ref>[http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/turner-r.htm South African History Online]</ref>

== Assassination ==


On 8 January 1978, Turner was shot through a window of his home in Dalton Avenue, Bellair (a suburb of Durban), and died in the arms of his 13-year old daughter, Jann.<ref>[http://www.anarchiststudies.org/node/502 Thinking More Than The State Allows: Radical Politics In These Troublingly Quiet Times], Taylor Sparrow, ''Institute for Anarchist Studies'', 2011</ref> After months of investigations police investigations turned up with no clues, and his killers were never identified. However it is widely believed that he was murdered by the apartheid security police.<ref name=IM />
On 8 January 1978, Turner was shot through a window of his home in Dalton Avenue, Bellair (a suburb of Durban), and died in the arms of his 13-year old daughter, Jann.<ref>[http://www.anarchiststudies.org/node/502 Thinking More Than The State Allows: Radical Politics In These Troublingly Quiet Times], Taylor Sparrow, ''Institute for Anarchist Studies'', 2011</ref> After months of investigations police investigations turned up with no clues, and his killers were never identified. However it is widely believed that he was murdered by the apartheid security police.<ref name=IM />

==Legacy==


He is recognised as the most significant academic philosopher to have come out of South Africa.<ref>[http://abahlali.org/files/nash.pdf The Moment of Western Marxism by Andrew Nash, 1999]</ref> His work is still read in popular radical movements and leading South African academics like Anthony Fluxman, Mabogo Percy More, Andrew Nash and Peter Vale have continued to make use of his work.
He is recognised as the most significant academic philosopher to have come out of South Africa.<ref>[http://abahlali.org/files/nash.pdf The Moment of Western Marxism by Andrew Nash, 1999]</ref> His work is still read in popular radical movements and leading South African academics like Anthony Fluxman, Mabogo Percy More, Andrew Nash and Peter Vale have continued to make use of his work.

==Family==


Turner's first wife, [[Barbara Follett (politician)|Barbara Follett]], later became a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] Member of Parliament.
Turner's first wife, [[Barbara Follett (politician)|Barbara Follett]], later became a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] Member of Parliament.

Revision as of 08:35, 27 July 2012

Richard Turner (1942, Stellenbosch – 8 January 1978, Durban), known as Rick Turner, was a South African philosopher who was allegedly assassinated by the apartheid state in 1978. Nelson Mandela described Turner "as a source of inspiration".[1]

Life

Turner graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1963 attaining a B.A. Honours. He continued his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris where he received a doctorate for a dissertation on the French intellectual, Jean-Paul Sartre.[2]

He returned to South Africa in 1966 and worked on his mother’s farm in Stellenbosch for two years before lecturing at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Rhodes. He moved to Natal in 1970 and become a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Natal and in that same year he met Steve Biko and the two formed a close relationship and became the leading figures in The Durban Moment.[3]

Turner became a prominent academic at the University and assumed a leading role in South African political science and published a number of papers. His work was written from a radical existential perspective and stressed the virtues of bottom up popular democracy against authoritarian Stalinist and Trotskyist strands of leftism. He was a strong advocate of workers' control and a critic of the reduction of politics to party politics.[2]

Works

In 1972 Turner wrote a book called The Eye of the Needle - Towards Participatory Democracy In South Africa. The South African authorities thought that the book exercised a strong influence on opposition thinking with its plea for a radically democratic and non-racial South Africa. Such a society, he argued, would liberate whites as well as blacks.

In 1973 he published a widely influential article titled "Dialectical Reason", in the British journal Radical Philosophy. In the same year he was banned by the South African authorities for five years. He was not allowed to visit his two daughters or his mother and had to stay in the Durban area. Even though he was banned this did not stop him from speaking out and in April 1973 Turner and other banned individuals staged an Easter fast to illustrate the sufferings that bannings impose on people. The fast was supported by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. [citation needed] After his bannings Dr Turner was kept on the staff at the University even though he was not allowed to lecture.[4]

Political Activism

He attended the SASO terrorism trial of nine Black Consciousness movement leaders as a defence witness in March 1976 where he expounded on theories expressed in The Eye of the Needle.[4] In November 1976 Dr Turner received a Humboldt Fellowship, one of the world’s leading academic awards from Heidelberg University, but after months of negotiating with the Minister of Justice [who?] was refused permission to travel to Germany.[4]

In September 1977 Steve Biko was murdered by the apartheid police.[5]

Assassination

On 8 January 1978, Turner was shot through a window of his home in Dalton Avenue, Bellair (a suburb of Durban), and died in the arms of his 13-year old daughter, Jann.[6] After months of investigations police investigations turned up with no clues, and his killers were never identified. However it is widely believed that he was murdered by the apartheid security police.[4]

Legacy

He is recognised as the most significant academic philosopher to have come out of South Africa.[7] His work is still read in popular radical movements and leading South African academics like Anthony Fluxman, Mabogo Percy More, Andrew Nash and Peter Vale have continued to make use of his work.

Family

Turner's first wife, Barbara Follett, later became a British Labour Party Member of Parliament.

Writing by Rick Turner

Articles on Rick Turner

See Also

References

  1. ^ Barbara Follett MP
  2. ^ a b Biographical introduction in 'The eye of the needle' by Tony Morphet, 1980
  3. ^ Black Consciousness in Dialogue: Steve Biko, Richard Turner and the ‘Durban Moment’ in South Africa, 1970 – 1974, Ian McQueen, SOAS, 2009
  4. ^ a b c d Re-imagining South Africa: Black Consciousness, radical Christianity and the New Left, 1967 – 1977, Ian McQueen, PhD Thesis, University of Sussex, 2011
  5. ^ South African History Online
  6. ^ Thinking More Than The State Allows: Radical Politics In These Troublingly Quiet Times, Taylor Sparrow, Institute for Anarchist Studies, 2011
  7. ^ The Moment of Western Marxism by Andrew Nash, 1999

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