The unresolved National Question : left thought under apartheid / edited by Edward Webster and Karin Pampallis.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Webster, Edward, 1942-2024, editor.

Pampallis, Karin, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science.

Nationalism--South Africa.

Nationalism.

Right and left (Political science)--South Africa.

Right and left (Political science).

Apartheid--South Africa.

Apartheid.

South Africa--Politics and government--1948-1994.

South Africa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 310 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Johannesburg : Wits University Press, 2017.

Summary:

The re-emergence of debates on the decolonisation of knowledge has revived interest in the National Question, which began over a century ago and remains unresolved. Tensions that were suppressed and hidden in the past are now being openly debated. Despite this, the goal of one united nation living prosperously under a constitutional democracy remains elusive. This edited volume examines the way in which various strands of left thought have addressed the National Question, especially during the apartheid years, and goes on to discuss its relevance for South Africa today and in the future. Instead of imposing a particular understanding of the National Question, the editors identified a number of political traditions and allowed contributors the freedom to define the question as they believed appropriate - in other words, to explain what they thought was the Unresolved National Question. This has resulted in a rich tapestry of interweaving perceptions. The volume is structured in two parts. The first examines four foundational traditions: Marxism-Leninism (the Colonialism of a Special Type thesis); the Congress tradition; the Trotskyist tradition; and Africanism. The second part explores the various shifts in the debate from the 1960s onwards, and includes chapters on Afrikaner nationalism, ethnic issues, black consciousness, feminism, workerism and constitutionalism. The editors hope that by revisiting the debates not popularly known among the scholarly mainstream, this volume will become a catalyst for an enriched debate on our identity and our future.

Contents:

Revisiting the National Question

Decentring the question of race : critical reflections on colonialism of a special type

The African National Congress : social democratic thinking and the good society, 1940-1962

Oliver Tambo and the National Question

The unity movement and the National Question

The Africanist turn in South African National Question discourses

Vicissitudes of the National Question : Afrikaner style

Neville Alexander and the National Question

The Marxist workers' tendency of the African National Congress

The National Question confronts the ethnic question

Variations on a Zulu theme

Black consciousness as nationalism of a special type

Postponing National Question feminism and the women's movement

Workerists and the National Question

Red, black and gold : FOSATU, South African 'workerism', syndicalism and the nation

National democratic revolution meets constitutional democracy.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 May 2018).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-77614-023-0

OCLC:

993756284