The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of Apartheid

(Hardback)

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Description

In this accessible narrative, Louw effectively tells the story of 20th-century South Africa by examining three political periods: British Hegemony (1900-1948), the Afrikaner Nationalist Period (1948-1993), and the post-1994 Black Nationalist Period. He argues that apartheid was premised upon the notion of "political partition" and not "white supremacy." Apartheid was a political strategy, constructed by the ethnic minority in order to retain political power. However, the partition plan failed, causing an era of conflict. With apartheid now formally over, Louw presents a comprehensive overview of this important 20th-century phenomenon. Topics covered include: The roots and causes of apartheid; What was apartheid The struggle against apartheid; Why did Afrikaner Nationalists negotiate their own demise in the 1990s The impact of apartheid in contemporary South Africa.

Reviews

"If I had to recommend a single book to anyone interested in learning about the origins and effects of South Africa's apartheid system, it would be this one by Eric Louw. He has given one of the most succinct accounts I have ever read.....Louw lays out in great detail the theory of apartheid, arguing that "at heat, apartheid was a radical survival plan," but he then shows how that theory changed with events. His historical account of apartheid is both comprehensive and readable, while his chronology of the building of apartheid provides an excellent teaching and learning tool....[o]ne cannot but praise the overall use of this fine work."-African Studies Review
If I had to recommend a single book to anyone interested in learning about the origins and effects of South Africa's apartheid system, it would be this one by Eric Louw. He has given one of the most succinct accounts I have ever read.....Louw lays out in great detail the theory of apartheid, arguing that "at heat, apartheid was a radical survival plan," but he then shows how that theory changed with events. His historical account of apartheid is both comprehensive and readable, while his chronology of the building of apartheid provides an excellent teaching and learning tool....[o]ne cannot but praise the overall use of this fine work.-African Studies Review
The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of Apartheid is an ambitious discussion of the much-contested history of twentieth-century South Africa, written with the express purpose of making that history accessible to non-specialists.-African History
This is a useful, often perceptive summary of the foundations of apartheid, the laws and practices that constituted apartheid after 1950, and the working out and then undoing of apartheid in the 1980s....Upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
"The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of Apartheid is an ambitious discussion of the much-contested history of twentieth-century South Africa, written with the express purpose of making that history accessible to non-specialists."-African History
"This is a useful, often perceptive summary of the foundations of apartheid, the laws and practices that constituted apartheid after 1950, and the working out and then undoing of apartheid in the 1980s....Upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice

Author Bio

P. Eric Louw is Director of Communication Programs at the University of Queensland. During the 1980s, Louw was a United Democratic Front anti-apartheid activist.