Uncertain Promise Of Southern Africa

The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa

Edited by York Bradshaw and Stephen N. Ndegwa

Analyses of the problems and prospects for Southern Africa as a region in the post-apartheid era.

In the 1970s and 1980s Indiana University Press published a series of books edited by Gwendolen Carter and others on economic and political conditions in Southern Africa during the apartheid era. The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa is a return to that successful format in the post-apartheid era. Leading scholars analyze the economic, political, social, and cultural conditions in Southern Africa and the prospects for the region. The first part of the book examines the current political and development situation in six countries--South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Mozambique. The second part focuses on issues of enduring importance in the region--education, health, gender, the law, intra- and inter-regional power relations, international commerce, and popular culture.

York Bradshaw is Professor of Sociology at Indiana University. He has conducted substantial research in Eastern and Southern Africa. He is author of Global Inequalities (with Michael Wallace), Education in Comparative Perspective, Understanding Societies in a Global Age (with Joseph Healey), and many articles in social science and Africa-related journals.

Stephen N. Ndegwa is Assistant Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary. He is author of Two Faces of Civil Society and has published articles in American Political Science Review, African Studies Review, and Africa Today.

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Contents

I. Introduction

The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa, York Bradshaw and Stephen N. Ndegwa

Balance of Power in Southern Africa, Colin Legum

II. Countries

South Africa: Transition to Majority Rule, Transformation to Stable Democracy, Kenneth W. Grundy

Zimbabwe: The Erosion of Authoritarianism and Prospects for Democracy, Masipula Sithole

Democracy and Development in Post-Independence Namibia, Joshua Bernard Forrest

Democratizing the Administrative State in Botswana, John D. Holm and Staffan Darnoff

Militarism, Warfare, and the Search for Peace in Angola, Horace G. Campbell

Celebration and Confrontation, Resolution and Restructuring: Mozambique from Independence to the Millennium, M. Anne Pitcher

III. Themes

Popular Culture in Southern Africa, David B. Coplan

Gendered Terrains: Negotiating Land and Development, Whose Reality Counts? Jean Davidson

Law and Gender in Southern Africa, Chuma Himonga

Education in Southern Africa: The Paradox of Progress, Bruce Fuller and Allen Caldwell

Health and Society in Southern Africa in Times of Economic Turbulence, Ezekiel Kalipeni

Business in Southern Africa, Tony Dyer and Sue Kell

Compendium of Data for the Quantitative Analysis of Southern Africa, Leizell Bradshaw

"Sober and wide-ranging, this collection adds to a shelf of commentary on the area postlude to the surprisingly rapid and simultaneous collapse of Apartheid and the Cold War in Africa. In addressing largely informed observers of the socioeconomic and political scenes in Southern Africa, the editors, both accomplished US social scientists, are content to let the chapters speak for themselves. The short introduction summarizes major issues raised subsequently, broadly cast as regional inequality, political and social change, and social justice. Although the relevance of external influence is palpable throughout, two chapters are specifically devoted to the geographically regional political and economic relations that encompass several countries not individually discussed but that agree, for good and ill, on the hegemony of South Africa. Of the six country cases, four essentially explore aspects of the struggle over democratization, offering rich material for comparison and further explanation. Two other cases deal with conflict and reconciliation in different ways, with one (on Angola) concerned with conceptualization as much as description and evaluation of policy. The evidence indicates that the transformation achievements of South Africa influence a broad array of efforts in the region and perhaps elsewhere on the continent. How, when, and in what measure depend on context and issue and logically deserve a future volume. Upper-division undergraduates and above." --H. Glickman, Haverford College, 2001nov CHOICE Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

In the 1970s and 1980s Indiana University Press published a series of books edited by Gwendolen Carter and others on economic and political conditions in Southern Africa during the apartheid era. The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa is a return to that successful format in the post-apartheid era. Leading scholars analyze the economic, political, social, and cultural conditions in Southern Africa and the prospects for the region. The first part of the book examines the current political and development situation in six countries--South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Mozambique. The second part focuses on issues of enduring importance in the region--education, health, gender, the law, intra- and inter-regional power relations, international commerce, and popular culture.

York Bradshaw is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Memphis. He has conducted substantial research in Eastern and Southern Africa. He is author of Global Inequalities (with Michael Wallace), Education in Comparative Perspective, Understanding Societies in a Global Age (with Joseph Healey), and many articles in social science and Africa-related journals.

Stephen N. Ndegwa is Assistant Professor of Government at The College of William and Mary. His previous research has focused on Kenya, civil society and democracy and his current research is on land reform in Southern Africa. He is the author of Two faces of Civil Society. His other publications have appeared in journals such as the American Political Science Review, African Studies Review, and Africa Today.

I. Introduction

1. The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa

York Bradshaw and Stephen N. Ndegwa

2. Balance of Power in Southern Africa

Colin Legum

II. Countries

3. South Africa: Transition to Majority Rule, Transformation to Stable Democracy

Kenneth W. Grundy

4. Zimbabwe: The Erosion of Authoritarianism and Prospects for Democracy

Masipula Sithole

5. Democracy and Development in Post-Independence Namibia

Joshua Bernard Forrest

6. Democratizing the Administrative State in Botswana

John D. Holm and Staffan Darnoff

7. Militarism, Warfare and the Search for Peace in Angola

Horace G. Campbell

8. Celebration and Confrontation, Resolution and Restructuring: Mozambique from Independence to the Millennium

M. Anne Pitcher

III. Themes

9. Popular Culture in Southern Africa

David B. Coplan

10. Gendered Terrains: Negotiating Land and Development, Whose Reality Counts?

Jean Davidson

11. Law and Gender in Southern Africa

Chuma Himonga

12. Education in Southern Africa: The Paradox of progress

Bruce Fuller and Allen Caldwell

13. Health and Society in Southern Africa in Times of Economic Turbulence

Ezekiel Kalipeni

14. Business in Southern Africa

Tony Dyer and Sue Kell

15. Compendium of Data for the Quantitative Analysis of Southern Africa

Leizell Bradshaw