political history

History making and present day politics : the meaning of collective memory in South Africa

Medarbetare:	Stolten, Hans Erik J.
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	history, political history, political development, Social change, Nation-building, Post-apartheid, historiography, South Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap

In this collection, some of South Africa's most distinguished historians and social scientists present their views on the importance of history and heritage for the transformation of the South African society. Although popular use of history helped remove apartheid, the study of history lost status during the transition process. Some of the reasons for this, like the nature of the negotiated revolution, social demobilisation, and individualisation, are analysed in this book. The combination of scholarly work with an active role in changing society has been a central concern in South African history writing. This book warns against the danger of history being caught between reconciliation, commercialisation, and political correctness. Some of the articles critically examine the role of historians in ideological debates on gender, African agency, Afrikaner anti-communism, early South African socialism, and the role of the business world during late apartheid. Other contributions explore continuing controversies on the politics of public history in post-apartheid South Africa, describe the implementation of new policies for history education, or investigate the use of applied history in the land restitution process and in the TRC. The authors also examine a range of new government and private initiatives in the practical use of history, including the establishment of new historical entertainment parks and the conversion of museums and heritage sites. For readers interested in nation building processes and identity politics, this book provides valuable insight.

Somalia : a nation without a state

Medarbetare:	Booth, Charlotte | Norberg, Carin
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	Somalia, Nation-building, Civil war, conflicts, Democratization, Foreign intervention, Peacekeeping, Political crisis, political history, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning

Report from four public seminars on the conflict in Somalia, held during October and November 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden with Nuruddin Farah, Somali Novelist, Roland Marchal, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre d’Études et de Recherches Internationales, Paris, Asha Hagi, member of the Somalia Transitional Federal Parliament and civil society activist, Jens Odlander, Swedish Ambassador for the Somali Peace Process, Shane Quinn, Programme officer at the Life and Peace Institute, Sweden, and Sahra Bargadle and Hayan Ismail from the swedish-somali Diaspora. Marika Fahlén, Special Advisor for the Horn of Africa at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs acted as moderator for the panel discussion.The seminars were jointly organized by the Life and Peace Institute, The Nordic Africa Institute and ABF Stockholm.

The ANC underground in South Africa

Upphovsperson:	Suttner, Raymond
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Auckland Park, South Africa : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet and Jacana Media
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	African National Congress, South African Communist Party, politics, political participation, political history, political parties, national liberation movements, anti-apartheid movements, anti-apartheid activists, South Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap

It is commonly held that the ANC -after its banning in 1960 and the imprisonment of its leaders - largely disappeared off the face of South Africa until public support for it revived in the wake of the Soweto uprising of 1976. This book takes issue with that view. Drawing  on substantial oral testimony, Raymond Suttner develops a convincing case that internally based activist, sometimes working independently of the ANC in exile and sometimes in combination, were able to reconstitute networks within South Africa after the organisation's banning. He discusses the broad features of their secret  underground work, the impact it had on their personal lives, and the opportunities that were presented for both bravery and abuse. One of the distinctive features of his approach is its treatment of such illegal activity through a gendered lens. Suttner concludes by exploring the dominant position which the ANC had established by the 1970s (partly through underground activity), enabling it to become the prime political beneficiary of the Soweto uprising and ultimately creating the conditions for a negotiated settlement in South Africa. CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction The early underground: From the M-Plan to Rivonia The reconstitution of the SACP asan underground organisation The ANC underground betweeen Rivonia and 1976 The character of underground work Gendering the underground Revolutionary morality and the suppression of the personal The re-establishment of ANC hegemony after 1976 List of interviews Notes Index