Change in Contemporary South Africa

Leonard Thompson, Jeffrey Butler, Leonard Thompson, Jeffrey Butler

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520366367
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520324589
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

Change in Contemporary South Africa examines the intricate and often contradictory realities of South Africa during a period of significant political and social tension. The book explores the coexistence of apparent governmental stability—marked by economic growth, a strong coercive apparatus, and sustained White political dominance—with increasing signs of resistance, including labor strikes, student unrest, and growing international condemnation. By presenting a range of interpretations—from authoritarian entrenchment to the potential for revolutionary change—it delves into the complex dynamics that shape South Africa's trajectory. Structured across sections that analyze internal community dynamics, instruments of White domination, and the country's external relations, the book scrutinizes the processes of change within South Africa's unique socio-political framework. With contributions from scholars spanning diverse disciplines and perspectives, it raises critical questions about the future of racial inequality, the potential for redistribution of power and wealth, and the role of internal and external pressures in shaping outcomes. This comprehensive yet nuanced analysis offers a valuable lens for understanding a society on the brink of transformation, with implications that resonate far beyond its borders. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1975.

Many titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• The Authors and Editors
• Introduction’
• 1 Afrikaner Nationalism, White Politics, and Political Change in South Africa
• Ideological Change, Afrikaner Nationalism and Pragmatic Racial Domination in South Africa
• 3 The Politics of White Supremacy
• 4 The Significance of Recent Changes Within the White Ruling Caste196
• 5 Social and Political Change in the African Areas: A Case Study of KwaZulu
• 6 Class, Status, and Ethnicity as Perceived by Johannesburg Africans’
• 7 The Political Implications for Blacks of Economic Changes Now Taking Place in South Africa’
• 8 Profile of Change: The Cumulative Significance of Changes Among Africans
• 9 The Instruments of Domination in South Africa
• 10 South African Indians: The Wavering Minority
• 11 Major Patterns of Group Interaction in South African Society†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
• 12 Internal Constellations and Potentials for Change
• 13 The Effects on South Africa of Changes in Contiguous Territories’
• 14 The Politics of “Accelerated Economic Growth”
• 15 The Impact of External Opposition on South African Politics
• 16 White Over Black in South Africa: What of the Future?††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
• Selected Bibliography of Publications Since 1970
• Index