South Africa was regarded for a long time as a unique society. Although its history has been linked to that of other countries in Africa and elsewhere, the inauguration of apartheid in 1948 marked its development apart from the rest of the world. Indeed it is only in 1994 that South Africa was deemed to have rejoined the family of nations. This common-sense approach is challenged by the essays in this book. Without ignoring the specific features of South African history, they argue that patterns of political conflict, industrial development, cultural and intellectual resistance, have shown remarkable similarities (and differences) with those evident in other context such as the US, Brazil, the African continent and the African Diaspora. By examining these affinities and interconnections the book contributes to out understanding of South African society as well as explore their relevance to the study of world-wide policies, processes and conflict situations.