The African National Congress and nationalism in South Africa in light of Manuel Castells' The information age : economy, society and culture, Vol. I, II & III

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis applies the theory developed by Manual Castells in his three-volume book, The InformationAge, to the African National Congress' (ANC) policies for post-apartheid South Africa. Anoverview of major theories of nationalism provides the context for Castells' own views. There followsa brief summary of the ideas Castells proposes on the transition from industrial capitalism toinformational capitalism, expressed in the emergence of the ideal type of the network society, andhis theory on identity and nationalism. Turning to ANC policy, an analysis of ANC and governmentdocuments demonstrates that the ANC intends creating a new South African nation; an expositionof the characteristics of this new nation is given. This thesis also shows that the economic policyof the ANC-in-govemment, shifting from the 1994 Reconstruction and Development Programme tothe 1996 Growth, Employment and Redistribution strategy, deliberately joined South Africa to theglobal economy. After examining the contemporary state of nationalist sentiment in South Africa,the significant extent to which South Africa tends towards the network society pattern is determined,following which Castells' conceptions of the network society and identity are applied to present-daySouth Africa in order to project the path of nationalism in the country.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University