Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa

James L. Gibson is Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government at Washington University in St. Louis. He has published four books and numerous articles on mass behavior and democratization in the United States, Europe, and Africa. He has recently held visiting research and teaching positions at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa), the Institute for Social Justice and Reconciliation (South Africa), and the Russell Sage Foundation. Amanda Gouws is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Stellenbosch. She has been involved in numerous survey research projects in South Africa and has published academic articles on political tolerance, the electoral system, and gender politics in South Africa.

• List of tables and figures; Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Political tolerance in the New South Africa; 2. The South African context; Part II. South African Intolerance as It Is: 3. The nature of political intolerance in South Africa; 4. Social identities, threat perceptions and political intolerance; 5. Making tolerance judgements: the effect of context, local and national; Part III. South African Intolerance as It Might Be: 6. The persuasibility of tolerance and intolerance; 7. The law and legal institutions as agents of persuasion; 8. Becoming tolerant? Short-term changes in South African political culture; 9. Conclusions: experimenting with tolerance in the New South Africa; Appendix: research design and methodology; References; Index.

'The irony of politics is that people may behave in an intolerant manner at a certain level, while being tolerant at another. Despite these complexities, the book successfully raises deep questions surrounding one of the prime qualities required of democratic culture. It ventures into new terrain in the context of South Africa, and it is bound to influence the mode of enquiry into this subject. It is a stimulating and thoughtful projection of how the post-apartheid South Africa looks and how it ought to be.' Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies