Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
This latest volume in the series is a book on nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa.
Synopsis
This book is an exploration of nation-building in post-apartheid South Africa. Sandy Johnston tracks the rise of the ANC and the idea of nationalism to the 'critical moment' of 1990-1994 when the end of communism and the cold war triggered an ethno-nationalist resurgence. He then explores the place nationalism inhabits in the 'new' South Africa, asking whether there is such a thing as the South African nation at all. In doing so, he investigates both the political framework of constitution and competing agendas and the cultural context of language, memory and identity.
About the Author
For almost thirty years Alexander Johnston was Professor of Political Science at the University of Natal, South Africa, before retiring as head of school in 2002. For the next five years he worked at the Centre for Development and Enterprise in Johannesburg, a public policy research and advocacy NGO, for whom he is still a consultant.
Table of Contents
Part I: LEGACIES1. Introduction: the problem of nationalism in post-apartheid South Africa
2. From nation to minority: the end of Afrikaner self-determination
3. Non-racialism and the ambiguities of African nationalism
Part II: NATION-BUILDING FROM MANDELA TO ZUMA4. Improvising the nation: 1990-96
5. Over the rainbow: from Mandela to Mbeki
6. Zuma and African populism
Part III: WHO ARE SOUTH AFRICANS TODAY?7. Towards a sociology of the nation
8. Do South Africans have a shared life?
9. Flirting with anomie
10. Crooked timber; nation-building in a fragmented society
Part IV: STATE AND NATION SINCE 200411. From nation-building to social cohesion: the Presidency and its diagnoses
12. Prescriptions for solidarity: the National Development Plan (2011); solidarity and its problems - the question of National Health Insurance
Part V: THE PROBLEM OF NATIONALISM REVISITED13. Whites: silence, exit and voice
14. The continuing uncertainties of Africanism
15. Conclusion: nation-building in a weak state; how much does nationalism matter?
Bibliography
Index