The Politics of Regenerative Nationalism in South Africa

Abstract

In recent years the ANC government has encountered increasing unrest in the form of a wave of community protests and industrial action. Some analysts argue that this reflects widespread antipathy towards the ANC's ‘exhausted nationalism’ and the beginnings of a post-nationalist political era where class politics takes centre stage. This article will examine the position of South Africa's powerful organised working class within this context, with reference to the attitudes of ordinary members of the National Union of Mineworkers. Rather than seeing ANC nationalism as a spent force, this article will highlight the more enduring nature of the ANC's nationalist appeal, which, while not making the party infallible, nonetheless restricts the potential for a new left-wing politics to emerge that can challenge ANC hegemony.