Hard Right The New White Power in South Africa

9781850438182

1850438188

What are the roots, policies and strategies of the small but potent far-right movement in the turbulent field of South African politics? Does this disruptive element in South Africa's struggle to establish a multi-racial democracy have any real power? Afrikaner ethno-nationalism is the driving force of the rightwing and the author examines the concept of an Afrikaner "fatherland" to guarantee ethnic homogeneity and protection from domination by other ethnic groups. The right wing traces its origins from militant Afrikaner nationalism in the 1930s, the fascist Afrikaner movement of the 1940s and the apartheid policies after 1948. The author examines the danger of all-out civil war, the role of the extremist groups like the Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), the relations with the Inkatha Freedom Party and the possibility of a white homeland as South Africa moves along the difficult and bloody path to democracy in the 1990s.