Black Political Thought in the Making of South African Democracy

C.R.D. Halisi is currently a commissioned scholar with the project on the Public Influences of African-American Churches. He is also engaged in research on citizenship and political development in South Africa.

"Despite its brevity this is a comprehensive analytical survey of the multidimensional evolution of black political thought in South Africa's politicization process. The author sums up his argument as follows: Non—racial and race conscious populist discourse bisects every other ideological confrontation in black South African political experience. Examining numerous categories of intellectual origins of South Africa's current political thought—nationality and race; racial proletarianization; liberalism, populism and socialism; the New Left; and a black republican synthesis— he follows a demanding methodology that utilizes generic and relevant comparative evidence from other divided societies. Highlighting a variety of unresolved problems, e.g., the conflict between Western—oriented individual and traditional communal rights, or black power versus civil rights in the search for equal access to political rights for all races, he notes the extent to which these issues create unresolved tensions in postapartheid South Africa. While the author believes that South Africans are engaged in contradictory patterns of Western and traditional political behavior, he nevertheless sees the potential for the coexistence of these dualities. The extensive footnotes and bibliography suggest the author's rich source of evidence. This is not an easy read but merits the effort. Recommended for upper—division undergraduates and above."—M. E. Doro, emeritus, Connecticut College , 2000dec CHOICE.

• ForewordChapter 1: Nationality and RaceChapter 2: Racial Proletarianization: Movements in the Evolution of A ConceptChapter 3: Liberalism, Populism, and SocialismChapter 4: A New Left Battles ApartheidChapter 5: The Black Republican SynthesisChapter 6: An Enduring Duality