Racial redress & citizenship in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa's democratic experiment is confronted with a central political dilemma: how to advance redress and address historical injustices while building a single national identity. This issue lies at the heart of many heated debates over issues such as economic policy, affirmative action, and skills shortages. Government has opted for racially defined redress while many of its critics recommend class as a more appropriate organising principle. The contributors to this volume challenge both perspectives. Both scholars and activists, and from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, the authors explore the issues within four broad themes: the economy, education, sport and the civil service. Addressing the scholarly community, civil society and government, each of the authors brings their own unique perspectives to this question which is so crucial to the future of South Africa.