2010 & 2011. Soft covers, 476 & 398 pages. Very good condition. Over 1kg.
The publication of the New South African Review (first volume) produced from the department of sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand, represents the launch of an exciting new annual series of studies in South African politics, economics, and society. Drawing together original contributions, Volume 1 2010 will range widely over South Africa’s location in the global economic crisis, the mounting environmental challenges facing the country, and the extent of poverty and unemployment through to the state of Zuma’s ANC, land reform, and other critical issues confronting South African society: crime, child trafficking, HIV-Aids, indigent management, the justice system, and so on. Controversial, challenging and critical, the collection is framed by the question of whether South Africa can shift from a present path heralding long-term decline to a more optimistic future of global competitiveness and sustainable development. A vital read for all those wishing to keep track of present policies, trends, and outcomes in South African political economy.
Contributors to the volume include: Devan Pillay, Mark Swilling, Mike Muller on the environmental crisis; Neva Magketla, Seeraj Mohammed, Sam Kariuki, Doreen Atkinson, and Scarlett Cornellison on the economy; Anthony Butler, Maxi Schoeman, Liel Loots and Kammila Naidoo on politics; Colin Hoag, Prishani Naidoo, Jeremy Gordin and Louis Reynolds on state policy; Zosa de Sas Kropiwnicki, Hein Marais, Peter Vale, Loren Landau, Tara Poler, Aurelia Wa Kabwe Segatti, Terry Ann Selikow, and Graham Gibbon on society and crisis; Roger Southall on development or decline.
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The second volume of the New South African Review NSAR) continues a tradition of debate and critical, analytical scholarship about contemporary South Africa. Drawing on authors from academia and beyond, it aims to be informative, discursive and provocative.
In this volume, the New Growth Path (NGP) adopted by the South African government in 2010 provides the basis for a debate about whether ‘decent work’ is the best possible solution to South Africa’s problems of low economic growth and high unemployment. Rising inequality is explored against the backdrop of the failings of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). The NGP’s proposals for ‘greening the economy’ are discussed, with emphasis on the creation of ‘green jobs’ and biofuels.
The volume also includes investigations into the crisis of acid mine drainage on the Witwatersrand, and other persistent environmental challenges. Possibilities for participatory forms of government are surveyed, and civil society activism is explored in relation to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and environmental campaigns.
The crisis in child care in public hospitals, the difficulties that characterise attempts at building relationships between the police and a township community, and the problems related to the absence of legislation to govern the powers of traditional authorities over land allocation (through the experience of the Eastern Cape) are also featured.
Asking whether the NGP reflects a set of new policies or an attempt to re-dress old (com)promises in new clothes, this volume brings together different voices in debate about possibilities for alternatives to neo-liberal and capitalist development in South Africa.
About the authors
John Daniel is from the School of International Training (Durban); Prishani Naidoo, Devan Pillay and Roger Southall are lecturers in the Department of Sociology, at Wits.
