Rethinking Reconciliation Evidence from South Africa

by Foster, Don; Govender, Rajen; Lefko-Everett, Kate

• ISBN13: 9780796925541
• ISBN10: 0796925542
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-01-01
• Publisher: HSRC Press

Summary

South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 heralded the end of more than forty years of apartheid. The Government of National Unity started the process of bringing together this deeply divided society principally through the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). However, interest in – and responsibility for - the reconciliation project first embodied through the TRC appears to have diminished over more than two decades of democracy. The narrow mandate of the Commission itself has been retrospectively criticized, and at face value it would seem that deep divisions persist. This edited volume uses a decade of public opinion survey data to answer these key questions about the extent of progress in South African reconciliation.

Author Biography

Don Foster is Professor of Psychology at UCT, and an internationally established expert in this field. He has published widely, including through the HSRC Press, with titles including: Detention and torture in South Africa; Perspectives on metal handicap in South Africa; Social psychology in South Africa; Towards peaceful protest in South Africa; and Mental health policy issues for South Africa. Rajen Govender is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR). He previously served Professor of Economics at Tshwane University of Technology. He has taught at various universities in South Africa and the USA over the past 25 years, and since 1995 founded and managed a successful research consultancy. Kate Lefko-Everett is an independent social science researcher and a Senior Associate at the IJR. She previously was employed by the IJR as senior project leader for the SARB (2009 – 2013), and conceptualized the edited volume during that time.