The Politics of Ethnic Nationalism
Subtitle: Afrikaner Unity, the National Party, and the Radical Right in Stellenbosch, 1934-1948 (African Studies)
Publisher: Routledge
Published: November 29, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 303
ISBN-13: 9780415979863
Subjects: Political parties; Political Science; History - General History; Politics/International Relations; Republic of South Africa; Africa - South - Republic of South Africa; Africa - South - South Africa; Political Ideologies - Nationalism; Political Process - Political Parties; Political Science / General; History & Theory - General; 20th century; Afrikaners; Ethnic identity; History; Nationalism; Politics and government; South Africa; Stellenbosch
Description: The Politics of Ethnic Nationalism is the first significant local study of National Party and Afrikaner politics. By focusing on Stellenbosch as a university and a town, the book extends our understanding of the complex interaction between the GNP/HNP and various organisations of the radical right. The book illustrates, at a local level and using detailed materials, how identity was constructed through a process of excluding some (English, Jew, Coloured) and including others. In addition, it examines the ways in which Afrikaner nationalists of all shades of political opinion conceptualised their relationships with English-speaking South Africans, and the ways that the rhetoric of republicanism and anti-imperialism were employed by nationalists. The study exposes the complex and Byzantine nature of Afrikaner nationalist politics, revealing the multiplicity of identities and ideologies co-existing within Afrikanerdom, the cross-cutting allegiances and overlapping loyalties. It reveals further the extent to which branches of nationalist organisations were fragmented, and the extent to which even individuals could embrace contradictory ideologies.