For years before his release from prison in 1990, Nelson Mandela walked invisibly, accompanied by a prison guard, through the streets and suburbs of Cape Town, through shopping centres and cafes, and out further afield to Stellenbosch and the edges of the Great Karoo desert. Secret talks on transition from white rule had been underway since 1985 and officials needed him to become reacquainted with a country that had changed dramatically during his 26-year imprisonment. The period since Mandela's release has been an extraordinary one for South Africa. This book penetrates conventional narratives to reveal the ambiguities and contradictions beneath the surface. Notwithstanding the cliches - land of contrasts, rainbow nation, crime capital of the world, miracle - South Africa reveals the fault lines, challenges and characteristics of a postcolonial, postmodern, globalized world.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Senzeni Na? What Have We Done? An IntroductionChapter 2: Black and White: A Brief HistoryChapter 3: "A Small Miracle:" Negotiation and Political Transition (1985-1994)Chapter 4: The Truths of the Past: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1994-1998)Chapter 5: Sharing the World Unequally: The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) StrategyChapter 6: Old Wounds: The Social and Political Challenges of HIV/AIDSChapter 7: Harm's Consequence: Crime and Poverty in the New South AfricaChapter 8: The Beloved Land: Contested Political and Physical LandscapesChapter 9: Telling Another Story: A ConclusionNotesSuggestions for Further ReadingIndex
Author Biography
Helena Pohlandt-McCormick is Assistant Professor of African history at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. She was born in Germany and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her new research focuses on the exile experience in South Africa (1960-present). Her book "I Saw a Nightmare ..."Doing Violence to Memory: The Soweto Uprising, June 16, 1976 was published in 2006.
