Deborah Posel – författare

Deborah Posel breaks new ground in exposing some of the crucial political processes and struggles which shaped the reciprocal development of Apartheid and capitalism in South Africa. Her analysis debunks the orthodoxy view which presents apartheid as the product of a single `grand plan', created by the State in response to the pressures of capital accumulation.Using as a case study influx control during the first phase of apartheid (1948-1961), she shows that apartheid arose from complex patterns of conflict and compromise within the State, in which white capitalists, the black working class, and popular movements exercised varying and uneven degrees of influence. Her book integrates a detailed empirical analysis of the capitalist State and its relationship to class interests.

A collection of essays examining cultures of consumption on the African continentFrom early department stores in Cape Town to gendered histories of sartorial success in urban Togo, contestations over expense accounts at an apartheid state enterprise, elite wealth and political corruption in Angola and Zambia, the role of popular religion in the political intransigence of Jacob Zuma, funerals of big men in Cameroon, youth cultures of consumption in Niger and South Africa, queer consumption in Cape Town, middle-class food consumption in Durban and the consumption of luxury handcrafted beads, this collection of essays explores the ways in which conspicuous consumption is foregrounded in various African contexts and historical moments. The essays in Conspicuous Consumption in Africa put Thorstein Veblen's concept under robust critical scrutiny, delving into the pleasures, stresses and challenges of consuming in its religious, generational, gendered and racialised aspects, revealing conspicuous consumption as a layered set of practices, textures and relations. This volume shows how central and revealing conspicuous consumption can be to fathoming the history of Africa's projects of modernity, and their global lineages and legacies. In its grounded, up-close case studies, it is likely to feed into current public debates on the nature and future of African societies – South African society in particular.

From early department stores in Cape Town to gendered histories of sartorial success in urban Togo, contestations over expense accounts at an apartheid state enterprise, elite wealth and political corruption in Angola and Zambia, the role of popular religion in the political intransigence of Jacob Zuma, funerals of big men in Cameroon, youth cultures of consumption in Niger and South Africa, queer consumption in Cape Town, middle-class food consumption in Durban and the consumption of luxury handcrafted beads, this collection of essays explores the ways in which conspicuous consumption is foregrounded in various African contexts and historical moments. In 1899, Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase ‘conspicuous consumption’ to describe status-seeking in the obscenely unequal world of late-nineteenth century America. Many of the aspects he described in The Theory of the Leisure Class are still evident in our world today. While Veblen’s crude denunciation of material extravagance finds echoes in media exposés about the lifestyles of the rich worldwide, it is particularly recognisable in reporting on Africa. Here, images of conspicuous consumption have long circulated in local and global media as indictments of political corruption and signs of moral depravity. The essays in Conspicuous Consumption in Africa put Veblen’s concept under robust critical scrutiny, drawing on theorists like Mbembe, Guyer and Bayart by way of critique or addition. They delve into the pleasures, stresses and challenges of consuming in its religious, generational, gendered and racialised aspects, revealing conspicuous consumption as a layered set of practices, textures and relations. The authors resist the trap of easy moralisation, pointing to more complex ethical and political registers of analysis and judgement. This volume shows how central and revealing conspicuous consumption can be to fathoming the history of Africa’s projects of modernity, and their global lineages and legacies. In its grounded, up-close case studies, it is likely to feed into current public debates on the nature and future of African societies – South African society in particular.

From early department stores in Cape Town to gendered histories of sartorial success in urban Togo, contestations over expense accounts at an apartheid state enterprise, elite wealth and political corruption in Angola and Zambia, the role of popular religion in the political intransigence of Jacob Zuma, funerals of big men in Cameroon, youth cultures of consumption in Niger and South Africa, queer consumption in Cape Town, middle-class food consumption in Durban and the consumption of luxury handcrafted beads, this collection of essays explores the ways in which conspicuous consumption is foregrounded in various African contexts and historical moments. In 1899, Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase ‘conspicuous consumption’ to describe status-seeking in the obscenely unequal world of late-nineteenth century America. Many of the aspects he described in The Theory of the Leisure Class are still evident in our world today. While Veblen’s crude denunciation of material extravagance finds echoes in media exposés about the lifestyles of the rich worldwide, it is particularly recognisable in reporting on Africa. Here, images of conspicuous consumption have long circulated in local and global media as indictments of political corruption and signs of moral depravity. The essays in Conspicuous Consumption in Africa put Veblen’s concept under robust critical scrutiny, drawing on theorists like Mbembe, Guyer and Bayart by way of critique or addition. They delve into the pleasures, stresses and challenges of consuming in its religious, generational, gendered and racialised aspects, revealing conspicuous consumption as a layered set of practices, textures and relations. The authors resist the trap of easy moralisation, pointing to more complex ethical and political registers of analysis and judgement. This volume shows how central and revealing conspicuous consumption can be to fathoming the history of Africa’s projects of modernity, and their global lineages and legacies. In its grounded, up-close case studies, it is likely to feed into current public debates on the nature and future of African societies – South African society in particular.

A sweeping story with intimate roots, Darker Shade of Pale traces a little-known chapter in the history of global migration: the journey of Jewish families from the Russian Empire’s Pale of Settlement to the far-flung colony of South Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. Written by acclaimed South African sociologist Deborah Posel, this deeply personal yet broadly resonant narrative blends family memoir with incisive historical analysis.At its heart is Posel’s grandfather, Maurice Posel, whose story of struggle and ambivalence she pieces together from family lore, feint archival traces and the lives of others. In turn, Maurice’s seemingly insignificant life becomes a prism through which Posel considers afresh ‘the greatest migration in human history’, as historians call it. Maurice’s journey – and, importantly, those of the educated, working women Posel follows – reveals the unspoken, often painful costs of uprooting: what had to be abandoned, what was endured, and what could never be fully left behind.From the shtetl’s rigid traditions to the racial hierarchies of the British Empire, Posel explores how Jewish migrants navigated social orders. She examines how identities shifted and how success was both a goal and a burden – particularly for those who didn’t achieve it. Along the way, Darker Shade of Pale sheds new light on the complicated role of Jews in colonial South Africa, their uneasy positioning within whiteness, and their unexpected interactions with Black communities.Lyrical, probing and unflinching, Darker Shade of Pale is essential reading for anyone interested in migration, identity, and the hidden layers of history and their continued tremors. It’s a powerful reminder that the migrant story is never simple and always singular.Perfect for readers of Isabel Wilkerson, Adam Hochschild, and Daniel Mendelsohn.

A sweeping story with intimate roots, Darker Shade of Pale traces a little-known chapter in the history of global migration: the journey of Jewish families from the Russian Empire's Pale of Settlement to the far-flung colony of South Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. Written by acclaimed South African sociologist Deborah Posel, this deeply personal yet broadly resonant narrative blends family memoir with incisive historical analysis.At its heart is Posel's grandfather, Maurice Posel, whose story of struggle and ambivalence she pieces together from family lore, feint archival traces and the lives of others. In turn, Maurice's seemingly insignificant life becomes a prism through which Posel considers afresh 'the greatest migration in human history', as historians call it. Maurice's journey – and, importantly, those of the educated, working women Posel follows – reveals theunspoken, often painful costs of uprooting: what had to be abandoned, what was endured, and what could never be fully left behind.From the shtetl's rigid traditions to the racial hierarchies of the British Empire, Posel explores how Jewish migrants navigated social orders. She examines how identities shifted and how success was both a goal and a burden – particularly for those who didn't achieve it. Along the way, Darker Shade of Pale sheds new light on the complicated role of Jews in colonial South Africa, their uneasy positioning within whiteness, and their unexpected interactions with Black communities.Lyrical, probing and unflinching, Darker Shade of Pale is essential reading for anyone interested in migration, identity, and the hidden layers of history and their continued tremors. It's a powerful reminder that the migrant story is never simple and always singular.Perfect for readers of Isabel Wilkerson, Adam Hochschild, and Daniel Mendelsohn.

A sweeping story with intimate roots, Darker Shade of Pale traces a little-known chapter in the history of global migration: the journey of families at the turn of the twentieth century from the Jewish territories of the Russian Empire, called The Pale of Settlement, to the far-flung British colony of South Africa. At the heart of this book by acclaimed South African sociologist, Deborah Posel, is the story of her grandfather, Maurice Posel. An ordinary man whose struggles and disappointments mirror those of countless others, this book challenges the common narrative of Jewish immigrant success in South Africa. Darker Shade of Pale brings into focus the traumas of dislocation along with the pressures to succeed and the shame of failure. Through one man's unfulfilled hopes, we discover what was given and what was taken as immigrants sought to build new lives in a strange land. From the shtetl's rigid traditions to the racial hierarchies of the British Empire, Posel explores how migrants navigated social orders. She reveals how Jewish preoccupations with status and success travelled from shtetl to colony, and the psychological costs incurred; the ironies of this journeying for literate, working women from the shtetl; the version of whiteness that South Africa assigned to Jews from Eastern Europe and the various ways in which they interacted with Black people; the unexpected economic routes they chose as well as the prejudicial punches that Jewish immigrants had to take - from both the British and the already-assimilated English-speaking Jewish community in South Africa. Lyrical, probing and unflinching, Darker Shade of Pale is a powerful reminder that the migrant's story is never simple and always singular.