A History of the Present

Description

Through the long 20th century, Indian South Africans lived under the whip of settler colonialism and white minority rule, which saw the passing of a slew of legislation that circumscribed their freedom of movement, threatened repatriation, and denied them citizenship, all the while herding them into racially segregated townships. This volume chronicles the broad outlines of this history. Taking the story into the present, it provides an analysis of how Indian South Africans have responded to changes wrought by the remarkable collapse of apartheid and the holding of the first democratic elections in 1994.

Drawing upon archival records, in-depth interviews, and ethnography, this study examines the ways in which Indian South Africans define themselves and the world around them, and how they are defined by others. It tells of the incredible journey of Indian South Africans, many of whom are fourth and fifth generation, towards being recognized as citizens in the land of their birth and how, while often attracted by and seeking to explore their roots in India, they continue to dig deeper roots in African soil.

About the Author

Ashwin Desai holds a doctorate from Michigan University and is professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg. His research interests include sports, political economy, and social policy. His latest work on the close relationship between politics and cricket in South Africa, Reverse Sweep: The Story of Cricket in Post-Apartheid South Africa, was published in 2017.

Goolam Vahed did his undergraduate degree at the University of Durban-Westville and PhD at Indiana University, Bloomington. He teaches in the Department of History at the University of KwaZulu Natal and has written on various aspects of the history of Indians in South Africa and on cricket. His most recent work is Chota Motala: A Biography of Political Activism in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands (2018).

Table of contents

Acknowledgements

1. Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
2. The Natal Indian Congress and the Transition to a Non-racial Democracy: 'To Be or Not to Be'?
3. Waiting for Change
4. The Hopscotch of Life
5. Hashim Amla: Beyond Boundaries
6. Between the Twice-Born and the Born Again
7. Hindus and Muslims: The Many Threads of Change and Continuity
8. Place, Memory, and Nostalgia
9. Modi Meets Mohandas
10. Classrooms of Mobility
11. The 'Tyranny of Numbers': The Bittersweet Fruit of Change
12. Capital Accumulation in New Times
13. Political Connection, Crassness, and Capital Wars
14. After the Rainbow, Dark Clouds?

Bibliography

Index

About the Authors