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In the early twenty-first century, it is now clear that religion is increasingly influential in the political realm in ways which call into question the principles and practices of secularism. The Iranian revolution of 1978-9 marked the decisive ‘reappearance’ of political religion in global politics, highlighting a major development which is the subject of this edited volume.

Addressing a highly salient and timely topic, this book examines the consequences of political interactions involving the state and religious actors in Christian, Muslim and Judaist contexts. Building on research, the basic premise of this text is that religious actors – including Islamist groups, the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches – pose various challenges for citizenship, democracy, and secularisation in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The key questions on which the book focuses are: Why, how, and when do religious actors seek to influence political outcomes in these regions?

Providing a survey of what is happening in relation to the interaction of religion and politics, both domestically and internationally, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, religion, European and Middle East studies.

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In the early decades of the 20th century, the South African government created state-owned corporations to develop a stable industrial base for white rule. These enterprises, which control electricity, steel, and the bulk of heavy industry, still exist today. This book examines the formation and evolution of these companies and the role they might now play in reshaping the country's battered economy and in better reflecting the changing realities of a new society. Nancy L. Clark describes how state corporations were developed in South Africa to off-set the economic dominance of the gold mining industry, to provide some autonomy from foreign producers, and to create jobs for Afrikaner workers. During their early operations in the 1920s and 1930s, however, in order to survive economically, the corporations had to depend on capital from the mining industry, forge marketing agreements with foreign manufacturers, and hire cheaper African workers in place of whites - workers who became increasing expensive to control and suppress.Through their struggles to balance the conflicting demands of the gold industry, the white political community, and the African workforce, the managers of the state corporations fashioned labour policies - the use of unskilled African labour and highly trained white technicians to oversee them - that were later borrowed by the architects of apartheid and that made the expansion of state-sanctioned racial discrimination economically feasible in the latter half of the 20th century. ... Read more

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A review of the first phase of South Africa's transition from White minority rule. The main topics dealt with are the central constitutional issues of federalism versus the unitary state, and the search for a new electoral system. The central importance of the ANC to the process of political change is reflected in a chapter which discusses the challenges facing the movement as it re-establishes itself in South Africa, and its progress in meeting those challenges in the first phase of transition. One chapter discusses contending views of the post-apartheid political economy and another, problems of nation-building and the accommodation of minorities. There are two contributions on the crucially important topic of local bargaining on the shape of the post-apartheid city. Such talks will be vitally important in deciding how (and where) people live, and whether deals struck at national level will be workable. That political change in South Africa has moved as far and as fast as it has, is due in large measure to the profound and rapid change which marked the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s elsewhere in the world.This international perspective is given its due weight in the book, with five chapters reflecting on, among other things, South Africa's "re-entry" into the international community, the ANC's foreign policy, and the changing place of South Africa in the perceptions of the West. ... Read more

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This volume explores the case for and the prospects of the development of world-regional social policies as integral elements of a pluralistic, equitable and effective system of global governance.

Focusing on transnational regionalism, this book examines the trajectory and crossing over of the three strands of scholarly analysis within the past decade which have given rise to this volume: the perceived negative impact of neo-liberal globalisation upon national social policy; the need for but the difficulty of securing reforms in the institutions of global social governance; and the increasing salience of the world-regional level of governance in handling cross-border issues.

The authors develop an intellectual and research agenda that will also inform the political development of an international programme concerned with the social policy dimensions of regional governance. Combining the perspectives and collective expertise of a team of international scholars and activists, the book features:

• Theoretical and policy cases for a focus on regionalism and social policy  
• A mapping and analysis of social policy dimensions of regional integration processes and formations in four continents  
• An assessment of the regional dimensions of global agencies, in particular of the UN (ILO, WHO, UNESCO, UNDP) including the approach to regional social policy of the UN Regional Economic Commissions and Development Banks  
• An articulation of a multi-levelled conceptualisation of global social governance within which regional associations of countries plays a significant part.

The book will be of interest to students and scholars of social policy, development studies, international relations and political science, especially those focused on the public policy dimensions of globalisation, regionalisation and international development.

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Because of its wide coverage and acute analysis of issues, institutions, and interest groups, State Politics in Zimbabwe provides the best single source for understanding the politics of post-independence Zimbabwe. Jeffrey Herbst avoids the grand generalizations that characterize so much theorizing about African politics. Instead, and despite the tendency to depict African politics in a deinstitutionalized setting, he poses a series of questions of interest to political scientists and policy makers which focus on state institutions and yield testable propositions about state autonomy and allocation processes: Under what circumstances are interest groups able to influence government decisions to allocate resources? When are institutions or leaders relatively immune to popular pressures? What factors determine which part of the state will prevail in allocation decisions? How do the structure and relative influence of state institutions affect allocation?These general questions are addressed through seven specific case studies of decision-making in Zimbabwe which focus on: 1) the new black government's efforts to resettle black farmers on formerly white-owned land; 2) who received that land ; 3) the setting of agricultural producer prices; 4) foreign investment policy; 5) the confrontation between the government and large mining transnationals; 6) the allocation of health care resources; and 7) the setting of wage levels.Material from the case studies informs broader analyses of the politics of racial accommodation, the interplay of ideology and pragmatism, the role of the ruling party, and the leadership of Robert Mugabe. ... Read more

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This book is a reference work aimed at the student, lecturer and practitioner in the fields of governance, politics and policy. The whole process, from effective governance and party politics to policy making and implementation, is deceased. The role of South African within the global arena also receives attention. The international political process is explained and the parallelism of South African in relation to other states is examined ... Read more

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After nearly three decades of post-colonial independence in Africa, the shortcomings of the centralist strategy of nation building and economic development have become evident. Development has stagnated, rural welfare has declined, ethnic conflicts have intensified, civil wars abound and many civilian regimes have fallen to military despotisms or rule as narrow oligarchies. This book seeks to explains why the centralized African state has failed. Contributors relate contemporary African history to theories of organizational behaviour, collective action, constitutional choice, public administration and institutional analysis, arguing that the centralist paradigm is fundamentally flawed in its theories of the basis of social order, the sources of political unity and the origins of economic development. The contributors discuss the breakdown of social processes and structures indirectly caused by the policies of the centralized state and examine the constitutional principles that might provide a basis for more effective national government throughout the African continent. ... Read more

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In this valuable book, The State of the People, the authors ask a pertinent question - did the transition to democracy improve the state of the South African people? It is the sheer scale of the transition in South Africa that provides a unique opportunity to investigate processes of transition and it was decided that a longitudinal and multi-disciplinary study be launched, to register the changes in political opinion, attitude and behaviour of South Africans during the period 1994 to 2000. The research brought together the collective efforts and skills of the experienced - a knowledgeable research team from the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch, Natal, Western Cape and the Free University, Amsterdam, and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) - and more than 50 South African and Dutch students, who all gained new insights and valuable experience in the course thereof. ... Read more

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The Clinton years saw unprecedented high-level engagement in Africa. Though important results were achieved in some areas, the administration encountered substantial obstacles. This volume examines evolving challenges in Africa, assesses U.S.-Africa policy in the Clinton years, and offers pragmatic recommendations to the new administration. ... Read more

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"This volume is indispensable to anyone who wants to understand current trends in Islam in Africa." -- MESA Bulletin

"A must read for anyone interested in Muslim identity and social change in sub-Saharan Africa." -- Religious Studies Review

"The Brenner volume... develops a broader range of issues... [on] African Muslim communities than any existing study." -- John Hanson

These essays constitute a timely exploration of the dynamism of Islam as a force for shaping identity and for social and political change across Africa today.

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Ras Alula was one of the big men or Telek Saw who played aprominent role in the making of modern Ethiopia. He was famous enoughto be lamented by a British historian as, "the greatest leader thatabyssinia has produced since the death of the emperor Theodore in1868." As remembered by the Ethiopians and reflected in theirliterature, "The famous and brave Ras Alula." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is unique, interesting and well documented book
I read with great interest Haggai's latest book: "Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa: A Political Biography: Ethiopia & Eritrea 1875-1897"

As most people agree this is unique, interesting and well documented book. Only I wish, for historical reason, the title was different. For instance Abyssinia rather than "Eritrea & Ethiopia" because these names were given by colonial powers that divided and ruled the country with disastrous consequence that we all know.

He should be applauded for his effort and great interest in Abyssinian unique history.

Deborah Jessie
Paris, France ... Read more

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There is a surprising resurgence of traditional authority, custom and culture in post-apartheid South Africa, as part of a conscious African renaissance. Yet customary law studies highlight the artificial origins of these 'traditional' institutions. This book poses three questions: what is the relation between the changing legal and socio-political position of traditional authority and customary law in the new South Africa? Why are they changing in this way? and, what does this teach us about the interrelation between laws, politics and culture in the post-modern world? BARBARA OOMEN is Assistant Professor of Law & Development in the University of Amsterdam North America: Palgrave; South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press ... Read more

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great but...
This is a major work in the ethnography of post-apartheid South Africa, and in political and legal anthropology, combining multi-sited rural fieldwork with analysis of national politics, providing one of the few detailed empirical studies of rural peoples' complex attitudes towards traditional authorities, and offering great insights into the persistence and resurgence of traditional authorities in contemporary SA.

Unfortunately it is absurdly priced.I would love to use it in a political anthro. course, but could never imagine asking my students to shell out for it.Hopefully the UKZN Press edition is cheaper in South Africa than it is here. ... Read more