National Identity and Democracy in Africa

Out of History brings together exciting and innovative work in History and the Humanities. Drawing upon papers which have been presented at the South African Contemporary History and Humanities Seminar at the University of the Western Cape, the book reflects upon how this space fashioned new histories of the South African past over the last twenty years. Written by leading scholars in fields of visual history, public history, heritage, linguistics, oral history and postcolonial studies, the contributions address critical questions about the production of academic knowledge and the status of the Humanities in the post-apartheid present.

This publication is the first detailed critique of knowledge-based development aid and what it means in both theory and practice. The study examines four of the most influential international development agencies including the World Bank. It is essential reading for development specialists and of interest to comparative educationalists.

This occasional paper discusses the key outcomes from the on-going debate on a South African common heritage. The political transition of 1994 foregrounded the debate about who we are and what sites, memories or artefacts actually constitute our common heritage as South Africans.

Is authoritarianism built into liberation structures? Is it inherited from colonial systems? Is liberal democracy inherently elitist? This ground-breaking collection of Essays on Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa opens a long-awaited debate on these and other related issues.