Nelson Mandela

This book reflects on the life and politics of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), and his efforts to broker peace and reconciliation in a deeply divided country. Through examples from apartheid South Africa, it explores conflict and methods for realising peace, social justice and democracy.The book looks at the festering of animosity and racial bitterness between the white Afrikaner community and the black community due to years of racial violence, injustices and authoritarianism in South Africa. In the most violent phase of the country's history, Mandela offered to both communities peaceful means to ensure equality, justice and inclusivity. The author highlights the extraordinary challenges which Mandela faced in mobilising consent and persuading both the black and the Afrikaner community to acquiesce to peace and the transfer of power. The volume further details the socio-political contexts and negotiations which resulted in the swift transfer of power, Mandela's insistence on crafting inclusive systems of nationhood, his multi-cultural cabinet, and the institutionalization of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address challenges facing the two communities post-conflict.An accessible introduction to one of the greatest leaders in contemporary history, this book will be essential reading for scholars and researchers of peace and conflict studies, social exclusion and discrimination, critical race theory, human rights, politics, decolonization and post-colonial studies, sociology, and history.