A History of the Present: A Biography of Indian South Africans, 1990-2019

by Ashwin Desai, Goolam Vahed

Overview

A History of the Present is the first book-length overview of Indian South Africans in the quarter century following the end of apartheid. Based on oral interviews and archival research it threads a narrative of the lives of Indian South Africans that ranges from the working class men and women to the heady heights of the newly minted billionaires; the changes wrought in the fields of religion and gender; opportunities offered on the sporting fields; the search for roots producing local histories that tell of nostalgia, longing and identity; and the links with India and a myriad of transnational organisations. Indians in South Africa appear to be always caught in an infernal contradiction; too traditional, too insular, never fitting in, while also too modern, too mobile. Can we speak of an Indian 'diaspora' in relation to a people divided by migratory experiences, region, religion, language, ethnicity, caste, and economic status? While focusing on Indian South Africans, this study makes critical interventions into several charged political discussions in post-apartheid South Africa, especially the debate over race and identity, while also engaging in discussions of wider intellectual interest, including diaspora, nation, citizenship and race.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199498017
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/05/2020
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 5.80(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Ashwin Desai, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg,Goolam Vahed, Professor, Department of History, University of KwaZulu Natal

Ashwin Desai is Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg.

Goolam Vahed is Professor, Department of History, University of KwaZulu Natal.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS1. Between Yesterday and Tomorrow2. The NIC and the Transition to a Non-racial Democracy: 'To Be or not To Be'? 3. Waiting for change4. The Hopscotch of Life5. Hashim Amla: Beyond Boundaries6. Between the twice born and the born again7. Hindus and Muslims: The Many Threads of Change and Continuity8. Place, Memory, Nostalgia9. Modi meets Mohandas10. Classrooms of Mobility11. The 'Tyranny of Numbers' and the Bitter-sweet Fruit of Change12. Capital Accumulation in New Times13. Political Connections, Crassness and Capital Wars14. After the Rainbow, Dark Clouds?BibliographyIndexAbout the Author