Interdisciplinary research monograph comprising eleven essays on the relationship between political problems, social change and economic growth, with particular reference to South Africa R - examines social structures, separatism among the indigenous peoples, the economic implications of racial segregation, labour relations, political theory, etc., includes sociological studies of the plural societys of Sri Lanka and Malaysia, and contains a chapter analysing political and social change in Chile. References and statistical tables.

Drawing on the rich structural and political understandings of radical South African intellectuals, this book explains why the South African government has been unable to breach the boundaries of change erected by the privileged classes. It reveals why it has adopted conservative economic policies, and why the country's popular movement has failed to press home more radical opinions. Hein Marais compellingly probes the hidden dynamics of South Africa's transition, arguing that the democratic breakthrough was much less open-ended than generally believed.