History Making and Present Day Politics - Stolten's African Studies ...

h i s t o r y m a k i n g a n d p r e s e n t d a y p o l i t i c s
Could it be that the disappearance of a concrete socialist developmental
model, however incomplete, has made the radical intellectuals less radical
and their ideology less conspicuous? 67 It seems that the places and forums
where the more fundamental questions are left open and the debate has been
focused on narrow historical problems, and pedagogical and practical solutions,
are – unfortunately, as I see it – also the places where some kind
of research debate has developed despite the less prominent role the history
profession now plays. 68 Even where “values in education” are in the centre of
discussions, the genuine ideological debate is often marginalised. 69 In some
parts of the world, clashes over what, on the surface, appear to be religious
and cultural issues have produced a backlash against rational social movements
theory in public and expert discussions, but so far South African academics
have largely avoided that development.
However, the present situation holds both contradictions and possibilities.
There is evidence that undogmatic, post-structuralist historians are increasing
their influence at the English-speaking universities in some kind of
symbiosis with open-minded liberals and it can perhaps be argued that the
practical influence of former radicals is actually greater now than in their
celebrated heyday of the 1970s and ’80s. 70 A parallel development can also be
traced, however: a mounting liberal self-confidence increasing from a modest
level in the late apartheid era, where some liberals adopted an almost socialist
rhetoric. 71 Now, we are approaching an almost reversed situation where
many post-radical intellectuals have apparently forgotten Marxist notions
altogether. Concurrent with the consolidation of South Africa’s democracy,
of Freedom”, Monthly Review, March 2004.
67. Lazar, David, “Competing Economic Ideologies in South Africa’s Economic Debate”,
The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 47, No. 4, 1996.
68. “History and Archaeology Report”, Department of Education, updated version,
2002.
69. The Report of the Working Group on Values in Education, The Values in Education
Initiative, Department of Education, 2001.
70. Through representation in institutions of history and heritage, work in government
departments, and taking part in the regional network of SADET (www.sadet.co.za),
for example.
71. Butler, Jeffrey, Richard Elphick and David Welsh (eds), Democratic Liberalism in
South Africa. Its History and Prospect, Wesleyan University Press, Middeltown, Connecticut,
1987, pp. 188, 258, 399, 409; Villa-Vicencio, Charles, Trapped in Apartheid: A
Socio-Theological History of English-Speaking Churches, New York, Orbis Books, 1988,
p. 131.
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