(vi) Comparative histories of race, class & culture: Southern Africa, 1850-2013

This Themes and Sources option explores how ideas of race, class and culture shaped the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century southern Africa. It covers a chronological period from the Cape Colony’s frontier wars in the 1850s to the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013. Offering an introduction to the history of southern Africa as well as to the global history of colonialism, the first half of the course uses historical case studies to examine themes such as colonial conquest and resistance, colonial violence and warfare, as well as race, gender and sexuality in colonial societies. Next, the course examines the making of Apartheid from the Afrikaner perspective, before moving on to study African struggles for liberation, independence and self-determination in various historical contexts. Our focus is predominantly on the history of South Africa, but Namibia and Zimbabwe offer comparative perspectives. We use a wide variety of primary sources, including letters and correspondence, newspaper sources, court records, official reports, and literature. For the later topics we consider political documents, propaganda sources, oral interviews, political writings, and autobiography.

The option is taught over Lent and Easter terms. Dr Ruth Watson is the convenor for Lent term and Professor Saul Dubow convenes the Easter term component.

Class Topics

1. The Eastern Cape frontier in nineteenth-century South Africa
2. The South African war
3. Race, imperialism and conquest in German Southwest Africa
4. The ‘black peril’ in colonial Southern Rhodesia and South Africa
5. The making of Apartheid and the 1948 election
6. Liberation struggles in southern Africa
7. Steve Biko and Black Consciousness
8. Nelson Mandela: Last great liberator of the twentieth century?
9. The Long Essay: Guidance on research and writing