The new South Africa and the socialist vision

Focusing specifically on the interplay and interaction between nationalist-oriented ideas and the ideology of Marxism, Thomas Ranuga examines and reinterprets the ideological perspectives and positions of national liberation organizations in South Africa and, ultimately, the potential impact of those perspectives and positions on post-apartheid South Africa. The analysis centers on the black liberation organizations: the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress, the Unity Movement, the Black Consciousness Movement, and the Workers Organization for Socialist Action. The ideologies analyzed range from reformist to radical, from conservative to progressive, from Right to Left. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between Marxism and black nationalism in view of the historical role of these ideologies in the liberation struggle and the reciprocal relationship between race and class in South Africa. The ideological relationship between Marxism and nationalism is a subject of great interest in the history of revolutionary and socialist thought. This relationship is an intricate and challenging one, particularly in national liberation organizations committed to the task of evolving a dynamic and revolutionary ideology that can be effectively utilized in the struggle against the forces of oppression and exploitation. Ranuga uses this exploration to ask whether, in fact, entities of the liberation movement in South Africa have the ideological grounding or the inclination to mount a serious challenge to the historical injustices and ravages of racial capitalism in the country.