Articles by Steve de Wijze

CFP: 1 December 2008

The journal Representation invites papers for a special issue on Democracy in South Africa, guest edited by Professor Laurence Piper (School of Politics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.)

South Africa’s transition from the racist oligarchy of apartheid to a non-racial, democratic state based on human rights is widely hailed as one of the ‘miracles’ of recent times. However, due to recent events real concerns have begun to emerge over the robustness of this fourteen year old democracy. These worries arise in part due to the vicious leadership contest within the ANC that has allegedly compromised the independence of key state institutions while presenting an uninspiring choice between an ‘authoritarian Africanist’ and an ‘opportunist populist’. The victorious candidate, Jacob Zuma, is presented respectively as a champion of the left, a trojan horse for Zulu nationalism, or a megalomaniacal populist. The real Zuma remains a mystery. What is more, there is little understanding of what his rise means for democracy in South Africa.

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From 2008 Representation will have new editors - Dr. Andrew Russell and Dr. Stephen de Wijze. Both work in Politics, at the University of Manchester.

Representation is a journal of longstanding repute. It has been publishing since 1960 and has a general interest in all matters relating to the theme of representative democracy. To this end it has established itself as a recognised journal of record and comment both in the UK and internationally. While building on its present strengths, the new editors wish to expand the journal’s remit and introduce normative concepts of democracy and representation, to consider more than parliamentary versions of representation and to broaden the geographic scope of the journal.

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