The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa

ISBN: 0253214246

Author: Bradshaw, York

Condition: New

Review "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 (H. Glickman, Haverford College, 2001nov CHOICE) Product Description 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. About the Author 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 & 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.