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Examining four decades of American antiapartheid activism, Movement Matters analyzes the long-term impact of the American antiapartheid movement on American civil religion. Exploring issues of race, politics and culture, the book presents a fresh look at the importance of antiapartheid activism in America. Movement Matters examines three crucial conflicts that shaped this activism: the debate between those holding an integrationist vision of the civil rights movement and the advocates of a Pan-Africanist view (the Black Power movement); the tension between the antiracist credibility American leaders sought to project to the world, and the anticommunist thrust of American foreign policy which led to a tacit alliance with South Africa; and the dispute over whether non-violence of armed liberation provided the best strategy for ending apartheid. For students of American history, African history, politics and cultural studies, this is a valuable resource and an essential read.
List of contents
Introduction: Through the Glass Starkly: Americans Confront Apartheid 1. "For the Freedom Struggle is One:" The American Committee on Africa 2. Liberation in One Organization: The American Friends Service Committee 3. Black Power on Embassy Row: TransAfrica 4. Lost in the Stars: Apartheid and American Popular Culture 5. If They're Not Free, We're Not Free: Antiapartheid Activism and the Integration of American Civil Religion. Conclusion: Now Face to Face? Opposing Apartheid, Proposing Multiculturalism
About the author
David Hostetter is Director of Research and Programs at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University.
Summary
Examining four decades of American antiapartheid activism, Movement Matters analyzes the long-term impact of the American antiapartheid movement on American civil religion. Exploring issues of race, politics and culture, the book presents a fresh look at the importance of antiapartheid activism in America. Movement Matters examines three crucial conflicts that shaped this activism: the debate between those holding an integrationist vision of the civil rights movement and the advocates of a Pan-Africanist view (the Black Power movement); the tension between the antiracist credibility American leaders sought to project to the world, and the anticommunist thrust of American foreign policy which led to a tacit alliance with South Africa; and the dispute over whether non-violence of armed liberation provided the best strategy for ending apartheid. For students of American history, African history, politics and cultural studies, this is a valuable resource and an essential read.
Additional text
"The legwork that [Hostetter] does on the organizations behind antiapartheid activism... deepens our understanding of the national and transnational links that helped build one of the striking examples in our time of a global movement that brought about peaceful, transformative change."
- James H. Meriwether, California State University, Bakersfield, American Historical Review
