South Africa Books

The watercolor illustrations are the best part of this book--they really enhance the simple story of a boy and his mother and baby sister going to visit his grandmother.

My assessment begins with Gibson's claim that his study has made an important contribution to the operationalization of the concept of reconciliation. I find little to disagree with in this claim. Reconciliation is conceptualized as a multidimensional variable involving at least four aspects: interracial reconciliation, political tolerance, support for the principles of human rights, and legitimacy. Gibson does not dispute that these dimensions do not provide an exhaustive definition of reconciliation, but he maintains that that they are central to its meaning. This is especially true in the study of South African reconciliation, because three of the measures-interracial reconciliation, political tolerance, support for the rule of law-are enumerated as part of the objectives of the truth and reconciliation process in the statute creating the TRC, while one-legitimacy-is mentioned in the commission's final report. Further, Gibson contends that these elements are the building-blocks of democracy. At a minimum, democratic consolidation requires interracial accommodation, tolerance of political foes, support for both abstract and applied principles of the rule of law, and willingness to accept the legitimacy of major political institutions even when they produce unfavorable policy outcomes. In fact, Gibson views reconciliation as a mini-theory of the process of democratization, with the logic of the theory proceeding as follows: amnesty leads to truth, truth leads to reconciliation, and reconciliation leads to democratization. His focus, however, is on the correlation or causal linkage between truth and reconciliation, although he devotes a section of the volume to an examination of the effect of amnesty on reconciliation in South Africa.

In OVERCOMING INTOLERANCE IN SOUTH AFRICA, Jim Gibson and Amanda Gouws have writen what is, in at least one respect, a courageous book. It is courageous because it is in many ways pessimistic about the prospects for political tolerance (and therefore, they argue, for democratic consolidation) in post-apartheid South Africa. While not a particularly surprising view -- contemporary South Africa, riven by racial tension, political strife, economic instability, and an epidemic of HIV/AIDS, is by nearly all objective criteria a most unlikely candidate for a successful transition to stable democratic rule -- it is nonetheless a position at odds with nearly all policy makers and commentators, who generally offer much rosier predictions for South Africa's political future.

Thus, when Gibson and Gouws' book begins with a somewhat bleak forecast about the possibility of tolerance there, I expected it to be a set-up for a dramatic concluding turnabout. What I found instead was a creative, meticulous, and thoroughly honest depiction of the condition of mass political tolerance in South Africa, albeit one which paints a somewhat more dismal picture of the future than others might have it. Their theoretical approach is psychological, drawing most heavily on the work of Paul Sniderman, John Sullivan, and George Marcus, as well as on Gibson's own prior work in the U.S., South Africa, and Russia. In this view, democratic political tolerance (in essence, a willingness to allow one's political opponents to act within the confines of a democratic system) is closely linked to the notion of threat, both real and perceived, which in turn are often a function of social (i.e., group) identity. They evaluate these theories' expectations with data from a two-wave panel survey of South Africans, conducted during 1996 and 1997. The details of this survey are painstakingly outlined in an Appendix, and the survey itself could be the subject of its own review; suffice it to say that, in addition to the care with which the sample was chosen, the instrument benefits from the incorporation of a number of experimental and quasi-experimental components with which to disentangle the myriad influences that shape tolerance in South Africa.

A brief overview of South Africa's recent political history in Chapter 2 sets the stage for the book's theoretical and empirical core. Part II, encompassing Chapters 3 through 5, might best be summarized by a line found much later in the text: "(T)olerant South Africans are a lonely few" (p. 173). Through analysis of a series of questions and vignettes, Gibson and Gouws reveal that not only is intolerance commonplace, but also that it is "pluralistic," occuring across the whole range of racial groups in South African society, and that it is relatively unresponsive to the nature of the particular situation in question (so, for example, such factors as the endorsement of a demonstration by community leaders failed to have any effect on individuals' willingness to tolerate that demonstration). But while their conclusions are at times depressing for those who desire to see a stable, democratic South Africa, the authors themselves nonetheless maintain a tempered optimism about that country's future.

That they manage to do so largely a function of Part III of the book, which focuses on the prospects for attitude change and which is, for my money, the most compelling part of the book. Once again, though, Gibson and Gouws paint a picture of tolerance which is, at best, mixed. While intolerant attitudes are somewhat malleable, tolerant ones are even more so; consistent with work in other countries, it is far easier to convince South Africans to be intolerant than to tolerate. Similarly, Chapter 8's exploitation of the panel structure of the survey finds that, while tolerance remained relatively stable in the aggregate over their two surveys, at the individual level substantial racial differences exist in the direction and causes of changes in toleration. Thus, in many respects, positive shifts in tolerance among colored South Africans (who benefited from apartheid) mirror the negative shifts among whites. Similarly, the absence of well-developed democratic norms among black South Africans -- undoubtedly the result of years of powerlessness and disenfranchisement -- contrasts with the strength of democratic committments among South Africans of Asian descent, many of whom trace their roots to democratic India.

Many of the readers of this review will be most interested in Chapter 7, which details the authors' experiments with the interplay of political tolerance and judicial institutions, most notably South Africa's Constitutional Court. Here again, the verdict is, on balance, grim: while South Africans can, under some circumstances, be convinced to tolerate their political foes by a decision of the Court, those in the black majority are the least likely to do so. Conversely, however, the ability of the Court to engender intolerance is immense by comparison, leading to real concerns over the Court's potential to act as a countermajoritarian force.

Of course, there are things about the book with which one can quibble. For example, throughout the book, the reader is barraged with tables of analyses, a necessary inclusion in this heavily empirical work but also a decidedly mixed blessing from a stylistic perspective. At the same time, the book contains remarkably few figures; a judicious use of graphical presentations might have ameliorated a bit of the inundation one feels in some of the later chapters. But while the tables can at times be bewildering, the book's saving grace is the text which accompanies them; in the hands of less gifted writers, much of the analyses therein would have been transformed from a careful exploration of a fascinating and important question into a powerful sleep aid. And while in its current form OVERCOMING INTOLERANCE may not satisfy some readers' desire for tales from places far away, its solid theoretical grounding, creative use of experimental designs in a survey context, and forthright (if a bit gloomy) conclusions are a model for research on such a simultaneously slippery and significant subject. And despite the authors generally acherontic outlook, the authors remain guardedly upbeat about the prospects for a tolerant, multiracial, democratic South Africa. One can but hope that their optimism is both warranted and realized.

This is a remarkable text, a translation of the memoirs of a Zulu woman who lived at the court of king Cetshwayo in the mid-19th century, then converted to Christianity after the royal household was dispersed in the war of 1879. As an account of the life of youth in the court of a chief, it makes a nice compliment to the early chapters of Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. Highly recommended for teaching, and for anyone with an interest in a personal experience of growing up in rural Africa in a time of rapid and dramatic social change.

Julie's prized position in South African high society is threatened when her husband, a serial adulterer, receives a visit from an ex-wife who is coming to visit Nelson Mandela. With People Like Ourselves, Pamela Jooste presents a stunning survey of modern African society in South Africa and the concerns of a family shaken by scandal and change.

This is an incredible book that beats the pants off of so much of what is considered good writing. Compelling, funny, you can't put it down. There is something here for everyone.

This gripping and disturbing book is quite simply a study in perversity - not to be missed, and truly unforgettable!

Description from the book dust jacket:

Imagine that you are listening to someone tell you everything. Imagine that this person, a woman of a certain station - wellborn, monied, traveled, wearied with her labors to discover the aptest habitation for her troublesome health - may have killed someone, may have murdered someone, a schoolmate, long ago. Imagine that this woman is the kind of woman who would attach no particular importance to the business of killing someone. Imagine that she is the kind of woman who would attach no particular importance to whatever her commerce might have been with the life and death of another person. Imagine that the woman you are listening to would attach immensely more importance to the character of the light that reveals you to her than she would to the fact that it is a human being - you! - whom the light reveals to her. Imagine a person like this and you will have imagined the chillingly familiar central figure in Sheila Kohler's uniquely disturbing literary debut, a psychosexual striptease that accomplishes its exquisitely macabre theater sentence by icy sentence.

This is a Great Play book. For as much amount of money it is it is worth it. It had lots of good plays. Most of the characters are storytellers and Animals. Well Read this one. If you don't you will be missing!

This powerful book presents the results of three year studies in six countries: South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Senegal and Zambia. It focuses on the attrition among political leaders, depletion of skills and experience in electoral politics, constraints on participation in the electoral process by citizens, and other consequences arising from the AIDS.

Although the summary chapters have value, I found the country by country analysis most interesting. For each country the book provides an unusual insight into their political and cultural institutions.

Malawi's situation is fraught in many respects, particularly the controversies around the voter registers and the legitimacy of leadership.

Namibia faces the challenge of combating HIV/AIDS as a young nation consolidating its democratic institutions.

The AIDS debate in South Africa is almost impossible for an outsider to understand, given its fervor, the debates over electoral reforms and the impact of AIDS amongst registered voters in each of the nine provinces.

Tanzania is cursed with two governments that form a single union: Tanganyika and Zanzibar as the United Republic of Tanzania. Fighting AIDS is complicated by the disparities in infection between the largely Islamic island and the mainland. As in South Africa, it is very difficult for an outsider to understand the bipartisan political partnership in Parliament formed to fight AIDS.

In Zambia there are heated debates on compulsory testing for leaders even though there is evidence of high attrition among parliamentarians from undisclosed illnesses and the impact this might have on the country's political future.

The chapter on Senegal challenges the very concept of democratic governance with a fascinating review of cultural and historic issues.

Idasa is "an independent public interest organisation committed to promoting sustainable democracy based on active citizenship, democratic institutions, and social justice." It enjoys an excellent reputation for its integrity and objectivity in seeking these objectives. As a general reader and an occasional traveler to Africa, I found this a very useful view of Africa.

Robert C. Ross, 2008

I used this book as basis for my LLB dissertation at the National University of Lesotho(1981-82)- Topic - THE LAW AS AN INSTRUMENT OF THE DOMINANT CLASS. It was the first well researched book, I had read , written by a South African about what I call, the real history of South Africa . It is an objective account of the history of South Africa. I have not seen it on the book shelves or stores.The interesting feature is that ,information which was deliberately hidden from local readers,researchers and authors at that time, can now be brought to the fore to dispute various historical myths propagated by European Historians , that the colonisation of South Africa, and indeed of Africa, was about bringing the word of God or civilisation to this part of the world. It further exposes the fallacy that Europeans were not ,and are still not racist.Explorers like Jan Van Riebeck, who allegedly landed in the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, is recorded referring to Africans as "kaffirs" when reporting to his colonial masters about his escapades. I would recommend that this book be re-published and popularised in South Africa so that our young readers and historians could have a much more better understanding of the history of their country and be able deal with racism as we know it South Africa. It is a book that could be useful to all historians in South Africa when rewriting the history of our beloved motherland - It is a book that will give South Africans a better perspective of the Political History of the economy of the country.