South Africa

ISBN-13: 9781780931920 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 368 str.

Alexander Johnston

Opis

At the heart of South Africa's 'miracle' transition from intractable ethno-racial conflict to democracy was an improvised nation born out of war weariness, hope, idealism and calculated pragmatism on the part of the elites who negotiated the compromise settlement. In the absence of any of the conventional bonds of national consciousness, the improvised nation was fixed on the civic identity and national citizenship envisaged in the new constitution. In the twentieth anniversary year of the country's democracy, South Africa reviews the progress of nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa, assesses how well the improvised nation has been embedded in a shared life for South Africans and offers a prognosis for its future. It draws up a socio-economic profile of the population which is the raw material of nation-building. It measures the contributions of the polity and the constitution, religion and values, as well as sport and the media, to building a sense of national citizenship. The book explains the abrupt discontinuity between the contributions of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki to nation-building and goes on to note the changing focus from reconciliation between black and white to include a concern for social cohesion in a society beset by violent crime, corruption and citizen deviance and dissidence. South Africa reconsiders the short, intense life cycle of Afrikaner nationalism and portrays the ambiguous relationships between African nationalism, non-racialism, civic nationalism and 'African tradition' in the ideology and practice of the African National Congress. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive analysis of a crucial aspect of South Africa's first twenty years of democracy, as well as exploring intriguing questions for the student of nationalism.

Recenzje

Alexander Johnston has written a carefully thought-out and impeccable tour de force of sober and sobering analysis. He diagnoses every aspect of the contemporary South African condition with a care and commitment to research and balance that makes other scholars feel ashamed. This is without doubt the best book on South Africa since it attained majority rule. Stephen Chan, Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of London, UK

Spis treści

Introduction: The problem of nationalism in post-apartheid South AfricaPart I: The raw material of nation-building1. Who are South Africans?Part II: Nationalism and the end of apartheid2. Legacies3. Improvising the nation: 1990-96Part III: Beyond the improvised nation4. Over the rainbow: from Mandela to Mbeki5. From reconciliation to social cohesionPart IV: South Africa today: coming together or falling apart?6. Do South Africans have a shared life?7. The spectre of anomie: deviance and national citizenship8. Nation-building 20 years onConclusion: The problem of nationalism in South Africa todayGlossaryBibliographyIndex

O autorze

Alexander Johnston is the author of Inventing the Nation: South Africa (2014). From 1994 to 2002 he was Professor of Political Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Subsequently he was Senior Associate at the Centre for Development and Enterprise, Johannesburg. He is currently an adjunct researcher of the Durban University of Technology, South Africa.