The first course focuses on the South African context to create an understanding of the origins and history of the apartheid system. This course deals with a variety of themes during lectures, readings and sources, and focuses on analyses of South Africa’s political development during the 20th century.
South Africa: From Apartheid to Democracy in a Global Perspective
Freestanding course
About the course
Through this course, the student will develop an understanding of the origins and history of the South African apartheid system and how it affected people within and beyond South Africa. It connects colonial-era South Africa with present-day postcolonial tensions, using a variety of sources and materials. Students will also develop their ability to analyse contemporary ideological conflicts and multiple ways of exercising political resistance, using South Africa and the anti-apartheid struggle as a case study.
Course content
This course focuses on the global anti-apartheid movement. It features case studies from the UK, Sweden and the German Democratic Republic (among others) to examine how the apartheid system affected people beyond South Africa’s borders. The creation of a global resistance movement is analysed using theoretical perspectives such as social movement theory.
Entry requirements and selection
Entry requirements
General entry requirements + English 6
Selection
Upper secondary grades 66%, Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT) 34%
Course literature
Beinart, William. 2001. Twentieth-century South Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapters 5-10, 114-285 (171 p)
Biko, Steve. 1987. I Write What I Like. London: Heinemann. (160 p.)
Cherry, Janet. 2007. “We were not afraid”: The Role of Women in the 1980s’ Township Uprising in the Eastern Cape. In Gasa, Nomboniso (ed.). They Remove Boulders and Cross Rivers: Women in South African History. Cape Town: HSRC Press, 281-313 (32 p)
Dubow, Saul. 2014. Apartheid 1948-1994. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1-2, 1-73 (72 p)
Gasa, Nomboniso. 2007. Feminisms, motherisms, patriarchies, and women’s voices in the 1950s. In Gasa, Nomboniso (ed.). Women in South African History: They Remove Boulders and Cross Rivers. Cape Town: HSRC Press, 207-232 (25 p)
Horwitz, Simonne. 2010. Black nurses’ strikes at Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, 1948-2007. In Dawson, Marcelle C. & Beinart, William (ed.). Popular Politics and Resistance Movements in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 207-226 (19 p)
Mager, Anne K. & Mulaudzi, Maanda. 2011. Popular responses to apartheid: 1948-c.1975. In Ross, Robert, Mager A.K & Nasson, Bill (ed.). The Cambridge History of South Africa Vol.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 369-408 (39 p)
Posel, Deborah. 2011. The Apartheid Project, 1948-1970. In Ross, Robert, Mager A.K & Nasson, Bill (ed.). The Cambridge History of South Africa Vol.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 319-368 (49 p)
Schalkwyk, David. 2014. Mandela, the emotions, and the lessons of prison. I Barnard, Rita (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Mandela. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 50-69 (19 p)
Swanson, Maynard W. 1995. The Sanitation Syndrome: Bubonic plague and urban native policy in the Cape Colony, 1900–09. In Beinart, William & Dubow, Saul (ed.). Segregation and Apartheid in Twentieth Century South Africa. London: Routledge, 25-42 (17 p)
300 pages of journal articles will be added to the course literature list at the start of the course.
Boehmer, Elleke. 2008. Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 51-81 (30 p)
Christiaens, Kim & Goddeeris, Idesbald. 2019. Solidarity or Anti-Apartheid? The Polish Opposition and South Africa, 1976–1989. In Konieczna Anna & Skinner, Rob (ed.). A Global History of Anti-Apartheid: Forward to Freedom in South Africa. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 291-315 (24 p)
Della Porta, Donatella & Diani, Mario. 2020. The Symbolic Dimension of Collective Action. In della Porta, Dontatella & Daini, Mario. Social Movements: An Introduction. 3rd edition. Bridgewater: John Wiley, 64-88 (24 p)
Nuttall, Sarah & Mbembe, Achille. 2014. Mandela’s mortality. In Barnard, Rita. The Cambridge Companion to Nelson Mandela. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 267-290 (23 p)
Reddy, Enuga. 2008. The United Nations and the Struggle for the Liberation of South Africa. In South African Democracy and Education Trust (SADET). The Road to Democracy in South Africa. Volume 3: International solidarity, Part I. Pretoria: UNISA Press, 41-140 (99 p)
Sellström, Tor. 2008. Sweden and the Nordic countries: Official solidarity and assistance from the West. In South African Democracy and Education Trust (SADET). The Road to Democracy in South Africa. Volume 3: International solidarity, Part I. Pretoria: UNISA Press, 421-532 (111 p)
Shubin, Vladimir & Traikova, Marina. 2008. There is no threat from the Eastern Bloc. In South African Democracy and Education Trust (SADET). The Road to Democracy in South Africa. Volume 3: International solidarity, Part 2. Pretoria: UNISA Press, 985-1066 (81 p)
250 pages of journal articles will be added to the course literature list at the start of the course.
Literature within the course module
South Africa During Apartheid
Beinart, William. 2001. Twentieth-century South Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapters 5-10, 114-285 (171 p)
Biko, Steve. 1987. I Write What I Like. London: Heinemann. (160 p.)
Cherry, Janet. 2007. “We were not afraid”: The Role of Women in the 1980s’ Township Uprising in the Eastern Cape. In Gasa, Nomboniso (ed.). They Remove Boulders and Cross Rivers: Women in South African History. Cape Town: HSRC Press, 281-313 (32 p)
Dubow, Saul. 2014. Apartheid 1948-1994. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1-2, 1-73 (72 p)
Gasa, Nomboniso. 2007. Feminisms, motherisms, patriarchies, and women’s voices in the 1950s. In Gasa, Nomboniso (ed.). Women in South African History: They Remove Boulders and Cross Rivers. Cape Town: HSRC Press, 207-232 (25 p)
Horwitz, Simonne. 2010. Black nurses’ strikes at Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, 1948-2007. In Dawson, Marcelle C. & Beinart, William (ed.). Popular Politics and Resistance Movements in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 207-226 (19 p)
Mager, Anne K. & Mulaudzi, Maanda. 2011. Popular responses to apartheid: 1948-c.1975. In Ross, Robert, Mager A.K & Nasson, Bill (ed.). The Cambridge History of South Africa Vol.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 369-408 (39 p)
Posel, Deborah. 2011. The Apartheid Project, 1948-1970. In Ross, Robert, Mager A.K & Nasson, Bill (ed.). The Cambridge History of South Africa Vol.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 319-368 (49 p)
Schalkwyk, David. 2014. Mandela, the emotions, and the lessons of prison. I Barnard, Rita (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Mandela. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 50-69 (19 p)
Swanson, Maynard W. 1995. The Sanitation Syndrome: Bubonic plague and urban native policy in the Cape Colony, 1900–09. In Beinart, William & Dubow, Saul (ed.). Segregation and Apartheid in Twentieth Century South Africa. London: Routledge, 25-42 (17 p)
300 pages of journal articles will be added to the course literature list at the start of the course.
The Global Anti-Apartheid Movement
Boehmer, Elleke. 2008. Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 51-81 (30 p)
Christiaens, Kim & Goddeeris, Idesbald. 2019. Solidarity or Anti-Apartheid? The Polish Opposition and South Africa, 1976–1989. In Konieczna Anna & Skinner, Rob (ed.). A Global History of Anti-Apartheid: Forward to Freedom in South Africa. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 291-315 (24 p)
Della Porta, Donatella & Diani, Mario. 2020. The Symbolic Dimension of Collective Action. In della Porta, Dontatella & Daini, Mario. Social Movements: An Introduction. 3rd edition. Bridgewater: John Wiley, 64-88 (24 p)
Nuttall, Sarah & Mbembe, Achille. 2014. Mandela’s mortality. In Barnard, Rita. The Cambridge Companion to Nelson Mandela. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 267-290 (23 p)
Reddy, Enuga. 2008. The United Nations and the Struggle for the Liberation of South Africa. In South African Democracy and Education Trust (SADET). The Road to Democracy in South Africa. Volume 3: International solidarity, Part I. Pretoria: UNISA Press, 41-140 (99 p)
Sellström, Tor. 2008. Sweden and the Nordic countries: Official solidarity and assistance from the West. In South African Democracy and Education Trust (SADET). The Road to Democracy in South Africa. Volume 3: International solidarity, Part I. Pretoria: UNISA Press, 421-532 (111 p)
Shubin, Vladimir & Traikova, Marina. 2008. There is no threat from the Eastern Bloc. In South African Democracy and Education Trust (SADET). The Road to Democracy in South Africa. Volume 3: International solidarity, Part 2. Pretoria: UNISA Press, 985-1066 (81 p)
250 pages of journal articles will be added to the course literature list at the start of the course.
Course evaluation
Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
