Description
Book SynopsisOn 8 January 2012 the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, the oldest African nationalist organisation on the continent, celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. This historic event has generated significant public debate within both the ANC and South African society at large. There is no better time to critically reflect on the ANC’s historical trajectory and struggle against colonialism and apartheid than in its centennial year.
One Hundred Years of the ANC is a collection of new work by renowned South African and international scholars. Covering a broad chronological and geographical spectrum and using a diverse range of sources, the contributors build upon but also extend the historiography of the ANC by tapping into marginal spaces in ANC history.
By moving away from the celebratory mode that has characterised much of the contemporary discussions on the centenary, the contributors suggest that the relationship between the histories of earlier struggles and the present needs to be rethought in more complex terms. Collectively, the book chapters challenge hegemonic narratives that have become an established part of South Africa’s national discourse since 1994. By opening up debate around controversial or obscured aspects of the ANC’s century-long history, One hundred years of the ANC sets out an agenda for future research.
The book is directed at a wide readership with an interest in understanding the historical roots of South Africa’s current politics will find this volume informative.
Table of ContentsReligion and Resistance in Natal, 1900-1910. Christianity and African Nationalism in South Africa in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. Between Liberation Histories and Academic Histories. Imagining the Patriotic Worker: The Idea of 'Decent Work' in the ANC's Political Discourse. Popular Movements Contentious Spaces and the ANC, 1943-1956. Unravelling the 1947 'Doctor's Pact': Non-European Unity and the Production of a Nationalist History. The Politics of Language and the reporting of Chief Albert Luthuli's funeral 30 July 1967. Robben Island University Revisited Crain Soudien. Shishita: A Crisis in the ANC in Exile in Zambia, 1980-1981. Comrade Mzwai Vladimir Shubin. Revisiting Sekhukhuneland: Trajectories of Former UDF Activists in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Regeneration of ANC Political Power, from the 1994 Electoral Victory to the 2012 Centenary. The ANC: Party Vanguard of the Black Middle Class?. Globalisation, Recolonisation and the Paradox of Liberation in Southern Africa.
