Systemic Racism in South Africa

This book takes a critical macro-level political sociological perspective to understanding South African politics and society. Applying systemic racism theory to South Africa, the author argues that South African society through its exclusionary social mechanisms has assumed a systemically racist form that deeply compromises questions of truth and justice. Constitutive of, and embedded in, the structure of South African society, racism has a reach and a durability that runs deep through the successive stages of segregationism, apartheid, and liberal democracy.

Showing the limits of the rule of law in a racist society, the author offers a theoretically-informed interpretation as to why the national liberation struggle has fallen short of its promise to deliver a “better life for all,” and as to why truth and justice remain so deeply compromised in South Africa today. The arguments advanced are supported by over thirty semi-structured interviews conducted by the author with high-profile South African politicians, jurists, and intellectuals; as well as by using Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing transcripts – both public and “top-secret.”

This thought-provoking book is driven by the imperative to offer a compelling and sustained argument for taking a systemic racism approach to interpreting South Africa for scholars and students of sociology, political science, race and ethnic studies, law, and South African history.