What will it mean to be a citizen in the new South Africa. The ANC has maintained an official policy of non-racialism. And yet since colonial times there has been a powerful racial component in black nationalism and in the opposition to white rule. Halisi’s penetrating study examines the importance of black racial nationalism on political thought in South Africa with particular reference to its impact on rival conceptions of citizenship in the new state. Relying on history as well as the contributions of political theory, the author analyses the issues of dual citizenship, black consciousness, various forms of populism, racial proletarianization, and the interaction of these positions with various political persuasions and ideologies. As Richard Sklar points out in his enlightening Foreword, Halisi’s analysis of black republican thought may well have profoundly practical implications for the development of political identity in the new South Africa.
C.R.D. Halisi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California where he teaches courses on African Politics, African and African American Political Thought, Political Theory, and Comparative Politics. He has done extensive research in South Africa and has written several articles and chapters that focus on South Africa.