Includes bibliographical references and index.

"As apartheid ended, why did the South African academy shift from cr itique to subservience? Why have common-sense explanations of the socia l world of South Africans replaced searching questions? Why are convers ations on social issues in South Africa controlled by technology, manag ement and, until their recent collapse, the idea of markets? Why has se rious thought in the new South Africa become an indecent activity? Thes e, and other, questions are at the heart of this book which brings soci al theory to bear on social practice to disrupt received conceptions an d representations of the social in the post-apartheid South Africa. Thi s subversive volume seeks to revive the tradition of intellectual argum ent that marked apartheid's final years. Using critical theoretical per spectives, the contributors offer explanations of narrowly focused post -apartheid discourses, and imagine different orderings of contemporary South African life. "Re-imagining the Social in South Africa" aims to r evitalise thinking on twenty-first century South Africa by positioning the humanities, especially its critical spirit, at the very centre of t he national conversation"--Publisher's website.