South Africa and Africa1995

The New Democratic South Africa led by the African National Congress is in the process of making fundamental choices. Will South Africa's future be one where the needs of the majority population are at last addressed? A future where its hegemonic relations with neighbouring states are restructured in an equitable direction? A future where South Africa stands up for its own interests and those of Africa? Or, alternatively, will the new leadership become distanced from its popular roots and pushed into a globalizing perspective which marginalizes its own immiserated classes and an immiserated continent? These are some of the inter-related questions which the contributors to this volume - South African, African and Western scholars and participants in the process - explore. In a context which portrays the current state of Africa's political economy and the legacy of apartheid within South Africa itself, the political, security and in particular economic dimensions of South Africa's present and possible future relations with the rest of the Continent are examined. This book's wealth of concrete information, cogent analysis and informed clarification of the choices available make it a valuable, policy-relevant contribution. It also marks the start of ACDESS's ambitious research programme on this theme.