THE VAAL UPRISING OF 1984 & THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IN SOUTH AFRICA

243pp., maps, paperback, Woodbridge, 2021

"A revealing contribution ... Rueedi takes the literature on the South African struggle in new directions by focusing on popular ideas and subjectivities: how people perceived their position and how they understood ' freedom' and a decent life in the city." William Beinart, University of Oxford

"The Vaal Uprising was a pivotal moment in South African history, marking the start of the 'township revolt' that led, just over five years later, to the release of Mandela and other jailed political leaders, the unbanning of the African National Congress and the negotiations that led to South Africa's transition to democracy. This first detailed study fills an important gap in scholarship on resistance to apartheid in South Africa." Jeremy Seekings, University of Cape Town 

Franziska Rueedi is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Department of History, University of Zürich.