Theory, Change and Southern Africa

by P. Vale, L. Swatuk, B. Oden

Overview

As dramatic changes unfold throughout the world, and the new millennium begins, many in South Africa have begun to ask 'what next'? The scale and pace of change have led to a feeling of powerlessness. How to cope with 'globalization', 'regionalization', a depleting ozone layer, new diseases, rampant militarization, let alone unseen structures of influence and oppression like race, class and gender? While there is no shortage of theoretical models on offer many feel that they are inadequate for the case of Southern Africa. In this book, scholars of both international relations and Southern Africa present a wide variety of thoughts on the future of the reign and the place of theory in helping us to understand the bewildering array of events characterizing the late-modern, early twenty-first century world. This book marks a 'call to theory': if Southern Africans are to overcome the divisive legacy of the past, and to move toward a more prosperous and sustainable collective future, theory must be placed at the centre of everyday life. For it is our understanding of the world that shapes both it and us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333802762
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	06/26/2001
Series:	International Political Economy Series
Edition description:	2001
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.04(d)
Lexile:	1400L (what's this?)

About the Author

ANDRE DU PISANI Dean of Social Sciences, University of Namibia BJÖRN HETTNE Director of Peace and Development, Göteborg University, Sweden MERLE HOLDEN Professor, Department of Economics and Management Sciences, University of Natal, South Africa ANTHONY LEYSENS Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch MICHAEL NIEMANN Associate Professor, International Studies Programme, Trinity College HUSSEIN SOLOMON Research Manager, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes LISA THOMPSON Senior Lecturer, School of Government, University of the Western Cape BALEFI TSIE Associate Professor, Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University of Botswana

Table of Contents

List of Tables List of Acronyms Preface Notes on the Contributors 'IR Theory, I Presume': An introduction; L.A.Swatuk & P.Vale Dissenting Tale: Southern Africa's Search for Theory ; P.Vale Realism and Its Critics; H.Solomon Unstated Places: Rereading Southern Africa; M.Niemann Regional Cooperation for Security and Development in Africa; B.Hettne International Political Economy and Southern Africa; B.Tsie Is a Free Trade Agreement the Answer for Southern Africa? Insights from Development Economic Theory; M.Holden South African Benevolent Hegemony in Southern Africa: Impasse or Highway?; B.Oden New Sites of Governance: Regimes and the Future of Southern Africa; A .Pisani Critical Theory, Robert Cox, and Southern Africa; A.Leysens Feminist Theory and Security Studies in Southern Africa: Yet Another Faddish Trend?; L.Thompson Southern Africa Through Green Lenses; L.A.Swatuk Index

Editorial Reviews

' Theory, Change and Southern Africa's Future breaks with orthodox international relations by making a 'call to theory'...the editors argue in this intriguing book, theory must be placed at the centre of everyday life. For it is our understanding of the world, they suggest, that shapes both it and us .' - E.C. Webster, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

From the Publisher