Modern South Africa in World History: Beyond Imperialism

by Rob Skinner

Overview

This book assesses South African history within imperial and global networks of power, trade and communication. South African modernity is understood in terms of the interplay between internal and external forces. Key historical themes, including the emergence of an industrialised economy, the development of systematic racial discrimination and popular resistance against racial power, and the influence of national and ethnic identities on political and social organisation, are set out in relation to imperial and global influences. This book is central to our understanding of South Africa in the context of world history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441164766
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	05/04/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Rob Skinner is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Bristol, UK, and has written widely on the history of the anti-apartheid and international solidarity movement. He is the author of The Foundations of Anti-Apartheid (2010).

Table of Contents

List of Maps
1. Introduction
2. The World of Colonialism
3. Minerals and Modernity
4. Race and Segregation
5. Empire, Nation and War
6. Apartheid and Cold War
7. Liberation Struggles
8. Globalisation and the New South Africa
Chronology
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

Rob Skinner’s Modern South Africa in World History is a valuable addition to the field. It enhances our understanding of South Africa, especially since the mid-nineteenth century, by viewing it through the lens of transnational and comparative history … [It] is the product of thorough research, is a pleasure to read, and it will be especially helpful for students who wish to understand the country through its interactions with the world.” - The International Jourbanal of African Historical Studies

“Skinner (Univ. of Bristol, UK) tries to take the second half of his title—“in world history”—seriously, especially in the first half of this useful, very short synopsis of South Africa from the 19th century to about 2014. In that earlier part of his book, he situates South Africa within global commerce and global human movements, even when the internal history of South Africa might have been more formative. But as he moves his narrative into the segregationist and apartheid 20th century, the real South African story emerges. Skinner sketches as fully as his space allows the contours of emerging Afrikaner populism and racism and, in time, the rise of African nationalism. The clash between these two indigenous, post imperial impulses and the final triumph of the African National Congress led by Nelson Mandela might have been discussed in greater depth, but Skinner’s narrative is nevertheless reasonably authoritative. More might have been said about the critical role of the United Democratic Front within the mobilized townships and about the forces that finally propelled Afrikanerdom to retreat. Skinner is weakest on the very modern period. Corruption, so decisive since 2001, is absent, even from the index. Summing Up: Recommended. Most levels/libraries.” - CHOICE

From the Publisher