The unresolved National Question in South Africa : left thought under apartheid and beyond / edited by Edward Webster and Karin Pampallis. - Johannesburg, South Africa : Wits University Press, (c)2017. - 1 online resource

Includes bibliographies and index.

Preface / Introduction : revisiting the national question / part one. Key foundational traditions -- 1. Decentring the question of race : critical reflections on colonialism of a special type / 2. The African National Congress : social democratic thinking and the good society, 1940-1962 / 3. Oliver Tambo and the national question / 4. The unity movement and the national question / 5. The Africanist turn in South African national question discourses / part two. Continuity and rupture -- 6. Vicissitudes of the national question : Afrikaner style / 7. Neville Alexander and the national question / 8. The Marxist workers' tendency of the African National Congress / 9. The national question confronts the ethnic question / 10. Variations on a Zulu theme / 11. Black consciousness as nationalism of a special type / 12. Postponing the national question : feminism and the women's movement / 13. Workerists and the national question / 14. Red, black and gold : FOSATU, South African 'workerism', syndicalism and the nation / 15. National democratic revolution meets constitutional democracy / Edward Webster and Karin Pampallis -- Edward Webster and John Mawbey -- Jeremy Cronin and Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo -- Robert van Niekerk -- Luli Callinicos -- Basil Brown, Mallet Pumelele Giyose, Hamilton Petersen, Charles Thomas and Allan Zinn -- Siphamandla Zondi -- T. Dunbar Moodie -- Enver Motala and Salim Vally -- Martin Legassick -- Gerhard Mar�e -- Ari Sitas -- Xolela Mangcu -- Shireen Hassim -- Alec Erwin -- Sian Byrne, Nicole Ulrich and Lucien van der Walt -- Daryl Glaser.

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 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. Contributors have defined the question as they believe appropriate, which has resulted in a rich tapestry of interweaving perceptions about the unresolved National Question. 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. By revisiting these debates, the volume will become a catalyst for an enriched debate on our identity and our future.



9781776140237


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


Electronic Books.

DT1945 / .U574 2017