Political Identity and Social Change

Jamie Frueh is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bridgewater College.

• Acknowledgments Foreword by Nicholas Onuf 1. INTRODUCTION 2. A THEORY OF POLITICAL IDENTITY ConstructivismIdentityIdentity Labels as Units of a Constructivist MethodConclusion 3. SOUTH AFRICA AND IDENTITY Apartheid and Its Historical ContextAnalysis of South African PoliticsThe Practicalities of Studying South African Identity 4. SOWETO 1976 Soweto, June 16, 1976—A StoryCompeting Discourses on SowetoThe Political Identity of SowetoConclusion: The Beginning of the End 5. CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM, 1983–1984 Reform, Resistance, RepressionCompeting Discourses on the ConstitutionConstitutional Reform and Political IdentityConclusion 6. POST-APARTHEID CRIME Crime in South AfricaThe Discourse on CrimeCrime and Political IdentityConclusion 7. IDENTITY AND THE TRANSITION: Conclusions for the Political Theory of Social Change The Argument for Constructivist Political IdentityThe Argument about South AfricaConclusions and Generalizations Notes Bibliography Index

"The strength of the book lies in its analysis and application of constructivist theory. In addition, the author has done valuable primary research through interviews that begin to comprehend the shared perspectives on crime in postapartheid South Africa." — African Studies Review"Political Identity and Social Change analyzes one of the most politically explosive issues of the twentieth century—South African apartheid—in new and interesting ways. It also makes innovative use of constructivism as a way of studying change and establishes important linkages between theoretical developments in comparative politics and international relations." — Randolph B. Persaud, author of Counter-Hegemony and Foreign Policy: The Dialectics of Marginalized and Global Forces in Jamaica