SOUTH AFRICA, inventing the nation

354pp., map, paperback, London & New York, 2014

Alexander Johnston analyses of the problem of nationalism in post-apartheid South Africa, measures the contributions polity, religion and values, sport and the media have made to nation-building, and discusses an increasing concern for social cohesion given violent crime, corruption and citizen deviance and dissidence.

"Alexander Johnston has written a carefully thought-out and impeccable 'tour de force' of sober and sobering analysis. He diagnoses every aspect of the contemporary South African condition with a care and commitment to research and balance that makes other scholars feel ashamed. This is without doubt the best book on South Africa since it attained majority rule." Stephen Chan, Professor of World Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK

Alexander Johnston is a research associate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he was Professor of Political Science from 1994 to 2002. Subsequently he was Senior Associate at the Centre for Development and Enterprise in Johannesburg. He currently works as a political risk consultant.