Morning in South Africa
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- USD 36.99
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- USD 36.99
Descripción editorial
This incisive, deeply informed book introduces post-apartheid South Africa to an international audience. South Africa has a history of racism and white supremacy. This crushing historical burden continues to resonate today. Under President Jacob Zuma, South Africa is treading water. Nevertheless, despite calls to undermine the 1994 political settlement characterized by human rights guarantees and the rule of law, distinguished diplomat John Campbell argues that the country’s future is bright and that its democratic institutions will weather its current lackluster governance.
The book opens with an overview to orient readers to South Africa’s historical inheritance. A look back at the presidential inaugurations of Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma and Mandela’s funeral illustrates some of the ways South Africa has indeed changed since 1994. Reviewing current demographic trends, Campbell highlights the persistent consequences of apartheid. He goes on to consider education, health, and current political developments, including land reform, with an eye on how South Africa’s democracy is responding to associated thorny challenges. The book ends with an assessment of why prospects are currently poor for closer South African ties with the West. Campbell concludes, though, that South Africa’s democracy has been surprisingly adaptable, and that despite intractable problems, the black majority are no longer strangers in their own country.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Foreign policy professional Campbell uses the idea of morning, somewhat uncertainly, to describe post-apartheid South Africa's progress since 1994. The country's history from settlement by Europeans in 1652 to the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013 occupies a significant portion of the book. However, this section probably should have been even longer, as some of the details and statements in it come across as vague or incomplete. Valuable comparisons are made between Jim Crow in the U.S. and apartheid, but Campbell doesn't fully convey the violence of either. When discussing the present day, Campbell describes a South Africa that is on the cusp of political and economic transformation, whether for good or ill, but sees no immediate likelihood of the country going over that brink. Campbell makes a point of mentioning that he was in South Africa in 1994, but this doesn't prove significant to his arguments. He doesn't shy away from the failings of the deal made to end apartheid, including the fact that whites are still, economically, the dominant race in the country, and the failings of the Mandela and Mbeki administrations to adequately address the HIV/AIDS crisis. Nonetheless, Campbell ends the book on an optimistic note, acknowledging that South Africa's young democracy has many opportunities to grow and improve.
