South Africa Pushed to the Limit: The Political Economy of Change - Softcover

Marais, Hein

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848138598 ISBN 13: 9781848138599

Publisher: Zed Books, 2011

Synopsis

Since 1994, the democratic government in South Africa has worked hard at improving the lives of the black majority, yet half the population still lives in poverty, jobs are scarce, and the country is more unequal than ever. For millions, the color of a person's skin still decides their destiny. In its wide-ranging, in-depth and provocative analysis, South Africa Pushed to the Limit shows that although the legacies of apartheid and colonialism weigh heavy, many of the strategic choices made since 1994 have compounded those handicaps. The economy remains dominated by a handful of large conglomerates that are now entwined in the circuitry of the global economy. The government, meanwhile, has squandered its leverage over their decisions in a series of miscalculations and errors. The social costs have been punishing.  Marais explains why those choices were made, where they went awry, and why South Africa's vaunted formations of the left failed to prevent or alter them.Shedding light on a variety of South Africa's most pressing issues -- from the real reasons behind President Jacob Zuma's rise and the purging of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki to a devastating critique of the country's continuing AIDS crisis -- South Africa Pushed to the Limit provides a unique, benchmark analysis of the long journey beyond apartheid.

About this title

About the Author:

Hein Marais is writer and journalist and former deputy editor of Work in Progress magazine, South Africa, and former chief writer for the Joint UN Programme on AIDS.

Review:

'An extraordinary achievement. This is, by a considerable margin, the best book yet on the political economy of South Africa. Marais combines an unrivalled knowledge of the literature with a prose style that is accessible, moving and witty.' John Sender, Emeritus Professor of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 'A classic. I doubt whether anyone can match Marais' grasp of where South Africa is at today.' Bill Freund, Professor of Economic History, University of KwaZulu-Natal and author of 'The Making of Contemporary Africa' 'Combining powerful analysis with a wealth of documentation, this book provides by far the best overview of political, economic and social change in post-apartheid South Africa. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand one of the great social experiments of our time.' Gillian Hart, Professor of Geography and Chair of Development Studies at the University of California at Berkeley and author of 'Disabling Globalization: Places of power in post-apartheid South Africa'

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1848138598
• ISBN 13: 9781848138599
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576