The Politics of Evil

Magic, State Power and the Political Imagination in South Africa
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-521-10482-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, Italienisch, Band 103, 316 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 515 g

Reihe: African Studies

In The Politics of Evil, Clifton Crais provides a unique interpretation of South African history and a fresh approach to the study of power, culture and resistance in the modern world. Encompassing all of South Africa's history in his analysis, Crais examines the formation of an authoritarian political order and the complex ways people understood and resisted the colonial state. He explores state formation as a cultural and political process as well as a moral problem and he looks at indigenous concepts of power, authority and evil, analysing how they shaped cross-cultural encounters and the making of a colonial order. Apartheid represented one of the great evils of the twentieth century. This book reveals how the victims of apartheid understood the triumph of this evil in their lives as they elaborated rich and at times violent visions of a just world. Professor Crais concludes by looking at political transition, the challenges to creating a durable democracy and the persistence of evil in South Africa.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Crais, Clifton

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Politische Ethnologie, Recht, Organisation, Identität

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; Part I. Cultures of Conquest: 1. The death of hope; 2. Ethnographies of state; 3. Rationalities and rule; Part II. States of Emergency: 4. Prophecies of nation; 5. Government acts; 6. Conflict in Qumbu; 7. The men of the mountain; 8. Flights of the lightning bird; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Crais, Clifton
CLIFTON CRAIS is Professor of History at Kenyon College, Ohio. He is the author of White Supremacy and Black Resistance in Pre-Industrial South Africa (CUP), co-editor with Nigel Worden of Breaking the Chains, and editor of and contributor to The Culture of Power in Southern Africa. He is also the author of the forthcoming book on the history of poverty: A Century of Sadness: Power and Poverty in South Africa.