Synopses & Reviews
This book looks at anti-apartheid as part of the history of present global politics. It provides the first comparative analysis of different sections of the transnational anti-apartheid movement. The author emphasizes the importance of a historical perspective on political cultures, social movements, and global civil society. Analyzing a part of 20th century post-war history mainly from a sociological perspective it also highlights dimensions of globalization in an era in which we still live; the power of the media; and the power of collective action.
Review
"Hkan Thrn's powerful history of the anti-apartheid movement shows us how it was at once one of the most successful transnational campaigns in history, and at the same time how it produced a new globalization of politics, marked by the emergence of transnational networks of solidarity around issues of universal justice, equality and human rights. Thrn shows how the anti-apartheid movement was the most important of the social movements that have led to the construction of an active global civil society. The apartheid movement thus stands today as the historical model for the production of forms of contemporary collective action and solidarity in the new social movements - the first occurrence of what might be called a new Fifth International." -- Robert J.C. Young, New York University, Author of
Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction (2001)
"Hkan Thrn's book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how social movements have adapted to the global age. His study is not only well-researched and thus greatly expands our knowledge of the anti-apartheid movement. It also advances our theoretical knowledge of social movements by revealing how new information technology has influenced how contemporary social movements can be effective in the new global public sphere. This is an important book." -- Ron Eyerman, Yale University
"...the book makes a significant contribution to knowledge concerning global social movements...the book offers a rare full-length, empirically detailed and conceptually sophisticated examination of the bases of global political solidarity...It is to be hoped that this work gets the wide attention in global social movement studies that it warrants." -- Jan Aart Scholte, Acta Sociologica
Synopsis
Looking at anti-apartheid as part of the history of present global politics, this book provides the first comparative analysis of different sections of the transnational anti-apartheid movement. The author emphasizes the importance of a historical perspective on political cultures, social movements, and global civil society.
Synopsis
Looking at anti-apartheid movements as part of the history of present global politics, this provides the first comparative analysis of different sections of the transnational anti-apartheid movement.
About the Author
HKAN THRN is Professor at the Department of Sociology, Gteborg University, Sweden. His research mainly deals with issues related to social movements and globalization and he has written and co-edited several books on these topics, including Horizons: Perspectives on a Global Africa and The Politics of AIDS: Globalization, the State and Civil Society.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements * List of Abbreviations * Prologue: Apartheid as a Dark Side of Modernity * Introduction: Anti-Apartheid, The Media and 'New Social Movements' - Beyond Eurocentrism *
PART I: ANTI-APARTHEID IN GLOBAL CONTEXT * Narratives of Transnational Anti-Apartheid Activism * The Globalization of the Anti-Apartheid Movement * National Politics in a Global Context: Anti-Apartheid in Britain and Sweden * The Struggle Over Information and Interpretation * PART II: PUBLIC DEBATES ON APARTHEID/ANTI-APARTHEID IN BRITAIN AND SWEDEN 1960-90 * Beginnings: Sharpeville and the Boycott Debates
Sports as Politics: The Battle of Bstad and 'Stops the 70's Tour' * 'A New Black Militancy' - Before and After the Soweto Uprising * Sharpeville Revisited and the Release of Nelson Mandela *
Conclusion: Anti-Apartheid and the Emergence of a Global Civil Society * Epilogue: The Legacy of Anti-Apartheid * Notes * References * Interviews * Index