RCI: Contemporary South Africa and the Political Economy of Regional Development

Описание: Speakers: Ernst Drewes, North-West University, South Africa
Eric Makoni, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Patrick Bond, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Discussant: Isaac Khambule, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Moderator: Methembe Mdlalose, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Book Launch: Contemporary South Africa and the Political Economy of Regional Development

South Africa’s struggle in balancing its domestic needs while playing a dynamic developmental role in the African region and global context exposes a complex web of relations shaped by its geostrategic location on the continent, and the world, and the staggering legacies of colonialism and apartheid. As such, understanding the complexities of the global economy and of South Africa’s place in it, is of great importance. This book builds upon an existing body of literature which has demonstrated that while the post-apartheid South African state has recast its nation building goals – with advances having been made notably in the area of a stellar post-apartheid constitution, policy directives, and democratic political integration – economic integration and policy implementation presents a projection of captured interests, where big business concerns are entrenched in the post-apartheid state’s apparent neo-liberal turn.

The main focus of the book is to contextualise issues relating to three main trends in global discourses on development, which are significant for South Africa, and indeed, for the study of the political economy of regional development in the country from the prism of South Africa as a global capitalist state. These trends include the impact of globalisation, regionalisation, and the marginalisation of South Africa and indeed the African continent in the global economy, thus unpacking the possible role that South Africa might play in regional development.