TY - BOOK AU - Butler,Anthony TI - Contemporary South Africa T2 - Contemporary states and societies SN - 9780333715192 (pbk.) AV - 545 DT 1975 B985c 2004 U1 - 968 PY - 2004/// CY - Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, NY PB - Palgrave Macmillan KW - South Africa KW - Politics and government KW - 1994- KW - Sudáfrica KW - Política y gobierno KW - Economic conditions KW - 1991- KW - Condiciones económicas KW - Social conditions KW - Condiciones sociales KW - Race relations KW - 21st century KW - Relaciones raciales KW - Siglo XXI N1 - Includes bibliographical references and index; Historical context A rainbow nation The South African economy Social structure and social policy Government Political life Culture, ideas, and issues South Africa and the world South Africa in the twenty-first century N2 - "Contemporary South Africa is a wide-ranging and thought-provoking introduction to the social, political, cultural and economic life of contemporary South Africa and its changing role in the world -- all set in the context of its history and character as a 'rainbow nation'. Under President Nelson Mandela, South Africans put behind them the political oppression and comprehensive racial segregation of apartheid. Predictions that civil war and racial conflict would ensue have proven unfounded. South Africa has instead undergone a remarkable social and political renewal, while the economy and system of government have weathered a decade of international turmoil. The country is for the first time playing a constructive role in the troubled African continent. Twenty first century South Africa, however, faces a host of social and economic challenges: unemployment, crime and violence, and an HIV/AIDS epidemic that threatens social cohesion. An electorally unassailable African National Congress, ambivalent about political pluralism and an open society, leaves even the future of South Africa's hard-won democracy uncertain. Book jacket."--Jacket ER -