Urbanisation; Demography; Language; Education; Negotiation.

Development has remained elusive in Africa. Through theoretical contributions and case studies focusing on Southern Africa’s former white settler states, South Africa and Zimbabwe, this volume responds to the current need to rethink (and unthink) development in the region. The authors explore how Africa can adapt Western development models suited to its political, economic, social and cultural circumstances, while rejecting development practices and discourses based on exploitative capitalist and colonial tendencies. Beyond the legacies of colonialism, the volume also explores other factors impacting development, including regional politics, corruption, poor policies on empowerment and indigenization, and socio-economic and cultural barriers.

South Africa is a society that, sadly, has been divided against itself even at the best of times. Beginning with the initial advent of colonialism on the southern tip of the African continent, through to the later spawning of apartheid as well as in its nascent democracy, divisions have continually been manifest in varying form and content, along racial, ethnic, class, religious, language, political or other socio-economic and cultural lines. Unlike most societies, South Africa is a natural laboratory for psycho-social research yet it has been foreign researchers who have conducted most of the behavioural studies on the human condition in the country. South African psychologists seem to have steered clear of involvement in researching any major policy impact, especially in recent times when the re-shaping of South African society has been at its height. Each of the authors in this book is South African and, appropriately, has lived through the transition in South Africa and has attempted to understand the changes at both professional and personal levels. The contributors were each asked to write a chapter that would explore the South African socio-political terrain from within their fields of expertise and so help others navigate the uncharted future with less trepidation.'

This text generates discussion and interest in a country that is rich in both material and cultural resources. It provides a well-rounded look at South Africa from diverse perspectives, and places South Africans at the center of their history.