The Colour of Our Future: Does race matter in post-apartheid South Africa?

This book explores how political democracy, economic mobility (and lack thereof), cultural and demographic shifts have affected the making of racial identities in South Africa over the past two decades of freedom. To what extent do South Africans hold on to inherited racial identities; are they embracing newer identities; do they move back and forth without making clear-cut choices about one racial identity or the other? The binary division between colour consciousness and colour blindness does not capture the contradictions of multiple belonging and association that a freer society brings about. The contributors in this volume discuss how identity shifts or lack thereof play themselves out in institutions of government, the economy, civil society; and the extent to which public policy has facilitated or impeded the emergence of a more integrated, equitable society.