From National Liberation to Democratic Renaissance in Southern Africa

Today, much research is being devoted to the key actors and factors of the southern African liberation project: the dynamism of post-liberation statecraft; the pursuit of truth and reconciliation; affirmative action and black economic empowerment; post-liberation identities and xenophobia; the problems and prospects of democratic renewal; post- liberation economics from the point of view of national liberation projects; regionalism, regional initiatives such as NEPAD; the region’s relationship with the rest of the continent; and diaspora linkages.

Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of scholars, this collection of essays intends to enrich and move our understanding of southern African societies, and to contribute to the policies and scholarship of the region, in a pan-African context. The authors aim to vigorously re-examine the complex processes of national liberation and the challenges of post-liberation identity politics, democratisation and social transformation. They further engage with political and cultural economies, in order to challenge and deconstruct dominant discourses in southern African studies and historiography. Taken collectively, the chapters constitute critical reflections on the southern African component of the pan-African ideal, the ongoing quest for a democratic renaissance and greater regional cooperation and integration.