Great simplification pulsing lines

Ep 137  |  Mamphela Ramphele

Mamphela Ramphele: “The Art of Movement Building: Personal Liberation for Public Change”

Check out this podcast

TGS137 Mamphela Ramphele The Great Simplification

Show Summary

Addressing the risks we face on a global scale is a challenge that can feel both enormous in execution and personally daunting. When it comes to finding the motivation and inspiration to do such work, one of the best sources of insight comes from the visionaries and activists who have come before us, who know what it takes to battle – and successfully transform – entrenched systems of power. What advice and wisdom can we learn from their stories and experience? 

In this episode, Nate is joined by Mamphela Ramphele, co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, which was instrumental in building the ideological foundation that galvanized the struggle for Liberation under the apartheid regime in South Africa, ultimately leading to its dismantling. She shares her wisdom gained from over five decades of movement building and liberation as a means of structural change; something that is deeply relevant to positive outcomes during the coming Great Simplification. 

What does it mean to be self-liberated and what role does this process play in propeling shifts in cultural values? How can we work across and within generations to create movements that transcend immediate and near term-goals? Is it possible to create policies founded on a deeper set of values- – and could doing so encourage more people to become ‘Guardians of the Planet’?

About Mamphela Ramphele

Dr. Mamphela Ramphele has had a celebrated career as an activist, global public servant, academic, businesswoman and thought leader. Dr. Ramphele was co-founder of The Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko that reignited the struggle for freedom in South Africa. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology, is a medical doctor, and is the co-founder of ReimagineSA, the former co-president of The Club of Rome, and is the Chair at the Desmond Tutu IP Trust.

In French, we have a motto that says that a simple drawing is often better than a long explanation. Jean-Marc Jancovici Carbone 4 President

That’s very understandable because with left atmosphere thinking, one of the problems is that you see everything as a series of problems that must have solutions. Iain McGilchrist Neuroscientist and Philosopher

We can’t have hundreds and hundreds of real relationships that are healthy because that requires time and effort and full attention and awareness of being in real relationship and conversation with the other human. Nate Hagens Director of ISEOF

This is the crux of the whole problem. Individual parts of nature are more valuable than the biocomplexity of nature. Thomas Crowther Founder Restor

Show Notes & Links to Learn More

00:00 – Dr Mamphela Ramphele work + info, The Black Consciousness Movement, ReimagineSA, Club of Rome, Desmond Tutu IP Trust
*Note: Whilst many publications refer to the Black Consciousness Movement as an “anti-apartheid” struggle, Dr Ramphele has noted that it should more accurately be referred to as a “struggle for Liberation”. 

01:07 – Apartheid

04:45 – Demographics during apartheid

08:25 – Stephen Biko on the philosophy of Black Consciousness 

09:26 – Owen Horwood

10:46 – University college at Westville + University of Zululand

11:10 – Stephen Biko’s writings

16:40 – Mandela in jail + Tambo in exile + Sobukwe in jail

18:00 – Frantz Fanon

18:13 – Barney Pityana

18:32 – Censorship during apartheid

18:40 – The Black Power Movement + student movements in US + liberation movements in Africa

19:25 – Dr Ben Khoapa

21:56 – Craig Williamson

22:22 – Desmond Tutu + South African Council of Churches + British Council of Churches

25:00 – Demond Tutu’s Ubuntu philosophy

25:30 – Anglican church and the Black Consciousness Movement

28:38 – Words vs Reality Earth Day talk

29:20 – Early African civilisations + mathematics in ancient Egypt + astronomical alignment of pyramids + egyptian astronomy 

31:38 – 11 official languages of South Africa 

32:00 – African National Congress

32:54 – Things are worse in South Africa today than they were in 1994

33:12 – Mandela’s presidency

34:50 – Flooding in South Africa + Droughts in Limpopo + Food insecurity due to droughts Southern Africa

35:28 – Youth unemployment South Africa + distribution of educational attainment 

41:31 – LEAP school system

45:20 – We are consuming more than our planet can sustain

45:58 – Multilateral institutions created by victors of WWII

46:48 – Casey Camp-Horinek, TGS Episode

48:40 – Genocide in Americas + genocide in Namibia + Opium War

50:20 – Early Dutch settlers in South Africa + indigenous relationship to Table Mountain

50:44 – Global Commission on Economics of Water

51:52 – Personhood of rivers New Zealand 

52:20 – Indigenous people make up 6% of population, but take care of over 80% of biodiversity

53:49 – Agriculture and the displacement of indigenous communities: Brazil + Indonesia

56:35 – African vernacular huts + energy efficiency of traditional homes in South Africa

1:01:46 – Planetary guardians

1:04:24 – UN Decade of Sciences

1:10:50 – Sandrine Dixson-Declève 

1:11:05 – Africa-EU partnership

1:11:40 – Global Compassion Coalition

Download transcript
Back to episodes
The Past and Future of Societal CollapseWith Luke KempThe Great SimplificationEp 194 | Luke Kemp

It’s widely known that Earth’s forests provide home to countless numbers of species, act as a vast sink for carbon, and provide much of the food, materials, and clean water on which our societies rely. But emerging science shows us that forests may play another critical role: making rain. This theory, called the biotic pump theory, hypothesizes that instead of being passive recipients of rain, forests may actively create the conditions for precipitation over land – a premise that turns modern meteorology on its head.

Watch nowSep 24, 2025
Why We Need ForestsWith Anastassia MakarievaThe Great SimplificationEp 193 | Anastassia Makarieva

It’s widely known that Earth’s forests provide home to countless numbers of species, act as a vast sink for carbon, and provide much of the food, materials, and clean water on which our societies rely. But emerging science shows us that forests may play another critical role: making rain. This theory, called the biotic pump theory, hypothesizes that instead of being passive recipients of rain, forests may actively create the conditions for precipitation over land – a premise that turns modern meteorology on its head.

Watch nowSep 10, 2025
Where Will Humanity Move When the World Gets Too Hot?With Sunil AmrithThe Great SimplificationEp 192 | Sunil Amrith

In the next 25 years, the International Organization for Migration estimates that one billion people will be displaced from their homes due to climate-related events. From island nations underwater to inland areas too hot and extreme to sustain life, the individuals and communities in these areas will need somewhere new to live. Where will these people go, and how will this mass migration add further pressure to the stability of nations and the world? 

Watch nowAug 27, 2025

Subscribe to our Substack

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future (ISEOF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, founded in 2008, that conducts research and educates the public about energy issues and their impact on society.

Support our work
Get in touch
x