The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)

2001  Large

The Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa: The Unfinished Business of Democratic Consolidation.
The essays in this volume examine a developing political contradiction in Southern Africa represented by the fact that movements which spearheaded mass popular struggles for liberation from colonial rule have in power developed into authoritarian, undemocratic and increasingly corrupt ruling regimes. By contrast, countries like Botswana and Lesotho which achieved independence by negotiation and without mass mobilisation have developed into mature multi-party democracies.

With essays on Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana and two which consider the possible road ahead for South Africa, the contributors examine such key questions as:

Why it is that post-liberation politics, rather than leading to participatory democracy, has produced instead political oppression and decay?

Are the politics of liberation movements inherently undemocratic or is the current tendency to authoritarianism in southern Africa an outcome of other incidental factors and forces?

Is the model of liberation democracy adopted by post-liberation societies inherently elitist, lending itself to the suppression or containment of popular opinions and aspirations?

Do the politics of liberation in Southern Africa have any continuing relevance and have not some of its leaders like Presidents Mugabe and Nujoma overstayed their welcome?


Edited by Henning Melber, a Namibian, former SWAPO member and currently a Research Director of the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden, other contributors include Ken Good and Francis Nyamnjoh on Botswana, Amin Kamete on Zimbabwe, Roger Southall on Lesotho and Martin Legassick and Raymond Suttner on South Africa.

A co-publication with the Nordic Africa Insititute, Sweden

Open Access

Product information

Format : 148mm x 210mm
Pages : 256
ISBN 10 : 0-7969-2025-7
ISBN 13 : 978-07969-2025-6
Publish Year : 2003
Rights : Africa Rights Only

List of tables

List of figures

Acronyms

Contributors

Introduction
Henning Melber



1. Democracy and the Control of Elites
Kenneth Good

2. Liberation and Opposition in Zimbabwe
Suzanne Dansereau

3. In Defence of National Sovereignty?
Urban Governance and Democracy in Zimbabwe
Amin Kamete

4. As Good as It Gets?
Botswanas Democratic Development
Ian Taylor

5.Chieftaincy and the Negotiation of Might and Right in Botswana Democracy
Francis B. Nyamnjoh

6.Between Competing Paradigms: Post-Colonial Legitimacy in Lesotho
Roger Southall

7.From Controlled Change to Changed Control: The Case of Namibia
Henning Melber

8. Armed Struggle in South Africa: Consequences of a Strategy Debate
Martin Legassick

9. Culture(s) of the African National Congress of South Africa: Imprint of Exile Experiences
Raymond Suttner

10. Liberal or Liberation Framework? The Contradictions of ANC Rule in South Afric
Krista Johnson

Contributors

Index

Dr Henning Melber headed the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in Windhoek and was a member of the Presidents Economic Advisory Council from 1992 to 2000. Previously the Research Director at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden, he is currently the Executive Director of the Dag Hammarskjold foundation.

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