South Africa in Southern Africa: Reconfiguring the Region - Tapa blanda

Having taught an undergraduate geography course on southern Africa for many years which takes, as one of its main themes, the interrelationships between the countries with particular reference to the role of the regional giant South Africa. At last, a book which I could recommend as a course text! Furthermore one which identified the region in exactly the same terms and for exactly the same reasons as I do. And finally, one edited by a geographer with similar thematic interests to my own - which basically means that the volume contains an eclectic mix of economic, political and social analyses all of which, to varying degrees, tell us something about South Africa's past, present or future regional influence through the prism of specific sectoral or country case studies... The book reflects the interdisciplinary approach which is one of the strengths of regional human geography ... this is a most useful book for both students and academics interested in southern Africa. The perspectives taken are often thought-provoking and the dreary line taken by so many regional texts - that South Africa's dominance is inevitable, overwhelming and self-evident in every sphere and any other view is just hot air - thankfully avoided. That South Africa's position is not necessarily an easy one is also recognized. - Deborah Potts in SOAS BULLETIN

Crucial to an understanding of regional dynamics in southern Africa is the enormous asymmetry between South Africa, the demographic, economic and political core, and the other states, which themselves are remarkably heterogeneous. The difficulty, even at the level of intergovernmental relations, is how to ensure mutual benefit through enhanced interaction without suffering the strong polarization of investment and migration which undermined earlier efforts at formal regional co-operation elsewhere

North America: Ohio U Press