Book Review: Africa: White Laager
| Published date | 01 December 1965 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206502000446 |
| Author | G. V. Doxey |
| Date | 01 December 1965 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BooK
REVIEWS
577
of
their
depth.
Dr.
van
den
Berghe
is
clearly
not
in
the
latter
category,
and
one
must regret
that
he
could
not
have
taken
more time
to
de-
velop
his
ideas.
In
a
chapter
entitled
"The
Economic
System
and
its Dysfunctions"
the
author
comments
on
the
fact
that
economic
development
in
South
Africa
has
not
generated
a
normal adjustment
in
the
political
and
social
sphere
but,
instead,
the
"political
system
has
reacted
in a
mal-
adjusting
direction.
..".
He
continues:
...
"that
South
Africa
has
survived
so
long
in
such
an acute
state
of
disequilibrium
is
indeed
highly
problematical
for
sociological
theory.
. .
."
It
has also
seemed
highly
problematical
to
other
pundits
at
various
times,
but
the
fact
of
survival
remains
undeniable.
One
may
agree
broadly with
Dr.
van
den
Berghe's
conclusion
that
South
African
society,
as
at
present
con-
stituted,
presents
many
exceptions
to
"laws"
advanced
by
various
theorists
on
the
subject
of
equilibrium
and
integration
in
society;
in
this
connection
it
may
be
suggested
that
the
chapter
dealing
with
"Ex-
ternal
Pressures"
is
one
which
could,
and
should,
have
been
greatly
expanded
and
substantiated.
There
is a
useful
bibliography,
although
it
should
be
noted
that
some
confusion
has
arisen
over
the
name
Marais.
Professor
J.
S.
Mar-
ais,
correctly
listed
as
the author
of
The
Fall
of
Kruger's
Republic
should
also
be
given
credit
for The Cape
Coloured
People.
York
University
G.
V.
DOXEY
WHiTE
LAAGER.
The
Rise of
Afrikaner
Nationalism.
By
William
Henry
Vatcher,
Jr.
1965.
(New
York:
Frederick
A.
Praeger.
Toronto:
Burns
&
MacEachern.
x,
309pp.
$8.50)
The
growth
of
nationalism
among
the
Afrikaner
people of
South
Africa
is a
topic
which
no
serious
student
of
South African
politics
can
afford
to
ignore;
as
a
movement
it
has
played
a
vital role
in
shaping
the
course of
events
in
that
country, and
Afrikanerdom
is
today
en-
trenched
in a
dominant position
from
which
it
seems
unlikely
to
be
ousted
in
the near future.
In
addition to
its
significance
for
the history
of
South
Africa,
however,
the
rise
of
Afrikaner
nationalism
is
itself
deserving
of
detailed
and
penetrating
analysis,
for
it
reveals
many
interesting
features.
The
desire to
preserve
Boer
independence which
inspired
the
Great
Trek
was
strengthened
by
the struggle
to
preserve
a
"national"
identity
in
the
face
of
persistent attempts
to
anglicize
by
the Imperial
power,
Great
Britain,
and
by
the
determination
to
pre-
serve
white
superiority over
the
non-white
peoples. This
distinct
na-
tionalism
first
found
expression
in
resistance
in
wars
against
Britain
and
against
the
Bantu,
and
later
in
revisionism
following
the
Treaty
of
Vereeniging
which
concluded
the
Anglo-Boer
war.
Throughout
the
first
half
of
the
twentieth century
there
was
a
slow
but
significant
resur-
gence
of
nationalism
among
the
Afrikaner
yolk,
culminating
in
an
un-
expected
victory
for
the National
Party
in
the
1948
General Election
which
ushered
in a
period
of
political power
as
yet
unbroken.
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