Mandela's Kinsmen

Nationalist Elites and Apartheid's First Bantustan

Nonfiction, History, Africa, South Africa, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Leadership
Cover of the book Mandela's Kinsmen by Timothy Gibbs, Boydell & Brewer
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Timothy Gibbs ISBN: 9781782042884
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Publication: March 20, 2014
Imprint: James Currey Language: English
Author: Timothy Gibbs
ISBN: 9781782042884
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Publication: March 20, 2014
Imprint: James Currey
Language: English

Mandela's Kinsmen is the first study of the fraught relationships between the ANC leadership and their relatives who ruled apartheid's foremost "tribal" Bantustan, the Transkei. In the early 20th century, the chieftaincies had often been well-springs of political leadership. In the Transkei, political leaders, such as Mandela, used regionally rooted clan, schooling and professional connections to vault to leadership; they crafted expansive nationalisms woven from these "kin" identities. But from 1963 the apartheid government turned South Africa's chieftaincies into self-governing, tribal Bantustans in order to shatter African nationalism. While historians often suggest that apartheid changed everything - African elites being eclipsed by an era of mass township and trade union protest, and the chieftaincies co-opted by the apartheid government - there is another side to this story. Drawing on newly discovered accounts and archives, Gibbs reassesses the Bantustans and the changing politics of chieftaincy, showing how local dissent within Transkei connected to wider political movements and ideologies. Emphasizing the importance of elite politics, he describes how the ANC-in-exile attempted to re-enter South Africa through the Bantustans drawing on kin networks. This failed in KwaZulu, but Transkei provided vital support after a coup in 1987, and the alliances forged were important during the apartheid endgame. Finally, in counterpoint to Africanist debates that focus on how South African insurgencies narrowed nationalist thought and practice, he maintains ANC leaders calmed South Africa's conflicts of the early 1990s by espousing an inclusive nationalism that incorporated local identities, and that "Mandela's kinsmen" still play a key role in state politics today. Timothy Gibbs is a Lecturer in African History, University College London. Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland & Botswana): Jacana

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Mandela's Kinsmen is the first study of the fraught relationships between the ANC leadership and their relatives who ruled apartheid's foremost "tribal" Bantustan, the Transkei. In the early 20th century, the chieftaincies had often been well-springs of political leadership. In the Transkei, political leaders, such as Mandela, used regionally rooted clan, schooling and professional connections to vault to leadership; they crafted expansive nationalisms woven from these "kin" identities. But from 1963 the apartheid government turned South Africa's chieftaincies into self-governing, tribal Bantustans in order to shatter African nationalism. While historians often suggest that apartheid changed everything - African elites being eclipsed by an era of mass township and trade union protest, and the chieftaincies co-opted by the apartheid government - there is another side to this story. Drawing on newly discovered accounts and archives, Gibbs reassesses the Bantustans and the changing politics of chieftaincy, showing how local dissent within Transkei connected to wider political movements and ideologies. Emphasizing the importance of elite politics, he describes how the ANC-in-exile attempted to re-enter South Africa through the Bantustans drawing on kin networks. This failed in KwaZulu, but Transkei provided vital support after a coup in 1987, and the alliances forged were important during the apartheid endgame. Finally, in counterpoint to Africanist debates that focus on how South African insurgencies narrowed nationalist thought and practice, he maintains ANC leaders calmed South Africa's conflicts of the early 1990s by espousing an inclusive nationalism that incorporated local identities, and that "Mandela's kinsmen" still play a key role in state politics today. Timothy Gibbs is a Lecturer in African History, University College London. Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland & Botswana): Jacana

More books from Boydell & Brewer

Cover of the book Voices of Ghana by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Afro-Cuban Diasporas in the Atlantic World by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book A Companion to the Works of Hermann Hesse by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book The Battle for Palestine 1917 by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Approaching African History by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Star Turns and Cameo Appearances by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Must Close Saturday by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Melville's Mirrors by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Marching to the Canon by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Sources and Methods in African History by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book The Development State by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book The Benedictines in the Middle Ages by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book The Erotic in the Literature of Medieval Britain by Timothy Gibbs
Cover of the book Geoheritage and Geotourism by Timothy Gibbs
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy