The political changes in South Africa have led to the country being viewed as a standard bearer for democracy within the African continent, and a beacon for democratic reform globally.; In this book, Heather Deegan looks at political reform in South Africa within a broad framework of global patterns of democratization. Her account is rooted in modern literature on democracy and democratization, and it is illuminated by interviews carried out at local and national level among members of the ANC, the Inkartha Freedom Party, the National Party, various women's organizations, labour and economic groups, traditional ethnic organizations, township representatives and religious groups.

Development and Democracy confirms the robust relationship between levels of economic development and democracy, but suggests that globalization is a key variable in determining the tenuous nature of this relationship in the periphery of the world economy. It raises new questions about the role of social classes in democratization, and points to the importance of including the nature of the state as a factor in the study of democratization. A further important finding is that countries with mixed legal systems correlate less positively with democracy than do countries with more homogenous legal systems. Moreover, Development and Democracy shows conclusively that the way researchers design their studies has a major impact on their findings.

Despite several idealistic efforts towards a united Africa, the term remains a hypothetical concept symbolizing a desired federal state on the continent. While globalization and interconnectedness have brought prosperity in some parts of the world, Africa has not generally benefited from global decisions. These decisions, policies, and practices have tended to be wholly influenced by the rich and powerful countries and their transnational agencies and corporations in pursuit of their national interests. Faced with such enormous external economic and political forces, the divided and powerless African states have been unable to bargain for lucrative economic deals or pursue national interests for the benefit of their people, hence the need to examine what exists in varied fields and the emerging trends for the future. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Future of Africa and Policy Development addresses critical issues and challenges in Africa and seeks to examine and understand the future trends in Africa through a deconstructive interrogation of present trends. Covering a wide range of topics such as sustainability, equality, and democracy, it is ideal for researchers, academicians, students, economists, policymakers, political parties, trade unions, and NGOs.

Africa has undergone significant political, economic, and social change since the first edition of this book was published in early 1988. Now revised and updated throughout, this new edition includes current economic, social, and political data, as well as entirely new sections on the dismantling of apartheid, civil society, democratization and multiparty politics, economic reform and structural adjustment, and the prospects for African development in the twenty-first century. Review comments on the first edition: 'Required reading for any course on politics and society of the African continent' West Africa. 'The best available textbook on the subject ... this volume stands unchallenged in its comprehensiveness and sophistication.' - Choice

This collection of essays presents 15 case studies of African countries whose recent past has been shaped by conflict. It examines the historical roots of violence and the potential for reconciliation and justice.

In a world where genocide, hunger, poverty, war, and disease persist and where richer nations often fail to act to address these problems or act too late, a prerequisite to achieving even modest social justice goals is to clarify the meaning of competing discourses on the concept. Throughout history, calls for social justice have been used to rationalize the status quo, promote modest reforms, and justify revolutionary, even violent action. Ironically, as the prominence of the concept has risen, the meaning of social justice has become increasingly obscured. This authoritative volume explores different perspectives on social justice and what its attainment would involve. It addresses key issues, such as resolving fundamental questions about human nature and social relationships; the distribution of resources, power, status, rights, access, and opportunities; and the means by which decisions regarding this distribution are made. Illustrating the complexity of the topic, it presents a range of international, historical, and theoretical perspectives, and discusses the dilemmas inherent in implementing social justice concepts in policy and practice. Covering more than abstract definitions of social justice, it also includes multiple examples of how social justice might be achieved at the interpersonal, organizational, community, and societal levels. With contributions from leading scholars around the globe, Reisch has put together a magisterial and multi-faceted overview of social justice. It is an essential reference work for all scholars with an interest in social justice from a wide range of disciplines, including social work, public policy, public health, law, criminology, sociology, and education.

The political changes in South Africa have led to the country being viewed as a standard bearer for democracy within the African continent, and a beacon for democratic reform globally.; In this book, Heather Deegan looks at political reform in South Africa within a broad framework of global patterns of democratization. Her account is rooted in modern literature on democracy and democratization, and it is illuminated by interviews carried out at local and national level among members of the ANC, the Inkartha Freedom Party, the National Party, various women's organizations, labour and economic groups, traditional ethnic organizations, township representatives and religious groups.

'SA is one of the few regions of the world where humans have lived continuously for nearly two million years' - the New History of South Africa offers an account of all these people.-The Weekender

A wide-ranging analysis of the contemporary politics of South Africa, this text looks at the process of democratization and political reform within a broad framework of global patterns of democratization.