Until We Have Won Our Liberty at World Affairs Council

Evan Lieberman and Hayde Adams in conversation

Evan Lieberman was a guest speaker featured by the World Affairs Council to discuss his book, Until We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa after Apartheid, recently published by Princeton University Press. The book shines new light on the signal achievements of one of the contemporary era’s most closely watched transitions away from minority rule, at a time when many democracies are under strain around the world. South Africa’s democratic development has been messy, fiercely contested, and sometimes violent. But as Lieberman argues, it has also offered a voice to the voiceless, unprecedented levels of government accountability, and tangible improvements in quality of life.

“The South Africans themselves are very thoughtful, very reflective, write a lot about South Africa, and surely know more about South Africa than I do as an outsider. But I felt that I could bring a kind of informed outsider’s perspective, as someone who has followed this country for a long time. And that that would be valuable because I had some distance, but importantly, over the years — certainly in recent years — I could read my own newspaper, see on TV, the only news that came out of South Africa was very, very bad news...And for me watching this progression over time, I felt that there was a bigger picture that needed to be shared, and that we were kind of losing the forest through the trees” — Evan Lieberman

Lieberman was joined by Hayde Adams, anchor for Voice of America’s Straight Talk Africa, to discuss the book and tell their own personal stories from South Africa. They covered a range of topics including their takes on electoral politics, the legacy of apartheid, the African National Congress and Nelson Mandela, and the trials and triumphs of the young democracy in South Africa and how it relates to democracy worldwide. The program concluded with questions from the audience inquiring about the South African government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the overlooked impacts of population growth, and the patience of the underserved populations of South Africa as they face many challenges through the country’s reform.

The book has been positively reviewed in Foreign Affairs, and was featured on the Ideas Podcast and the Democracy Paradox podcast. It was selected for the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular by The Washington Post.

“As a South African, I found it very refreshing to read sort of an outsider’s perspective because South Africans are often criticized for being perhaps a little too inward-looking. Africans were always so preoccupied with their own country, their own politics, but you take us on a very interesting journey.” — Hayde Adams