At the time of his death in August 2012 Neville Alexander was undoubtedly one of South Africa’s foremost proponents of the philosophy of non-racialism. He had devoted his life to fighting against the evils of racism, sexism and economic injustice. He understood how these social realities not only divided but also ranked human beings in terms of human worth and value. He saw how these realities diminished the whole society, both the perpetrators and victims. And so he gave over his life as a scholar and a political activist to challenging these realities.This volume brings together the reflections of a group of activists and scholars on the significance of Neville Alexander to the cause of freedom and justice in South Africa. The reflections are essentially the keynote speeches and the responses to them that were made at a conference in Alexander’s honour held at the Centre for Non-Racialism and Democracy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in July 2013.

Security is a key topic of our time. But how do we understand it? Do law and religion take different views of it? In this fifth volume in the Law and Religion in Africa series, radicalisation, terrorism, blasphemy, hate speech, religious freedom and just war theories rub shoulders with issues of witchcraft, female genital mutilation circumcision, child marriage, displaced communities and additional issues besides. This unique collection of topics is both challenging and inspiring, providing illumination in troubled times, and forming a sound foundation for future scholarship.

South Africa is awash with policy failures, and policy confusion. We argue firstly, that our current discord over policy details has its origin in the (celebrated) negotiated transition. We hold that the vote count of an 85% majority in the Constituent Assembly in 1996 obscured the reality that the Constitution meant different things to different negotiators. The result was that South Africa, from the very start of the democratic era, lacked a national consensus on how to go about consolidating democracy. We keep on failing to build a proper roof over our democracy because the constitutional foundations are weak.

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This curated collection engages international debates about the current challenges facing democracy. Given the proliferation of OcrisisO literature on democracy, this volume finds its distinctive niche in presenting perspectives from the global margins that bridge disciplinary, sectoral, national and conceptual divides. South Africans enter into conversation with scholars and activists from elsewhere in the Global South, including the Arab world and the rest of Africa, and from the European periphery. Insights on democracy are offered from a diversity of perspectives and voices, spanning philosophy, socio-legal and political studies, sociology, public administration, and queer and gender studies and activism. The book will be of interest to academics, activists, policymakers, development planners, and the general public.

‘The D-Word is a timely contribution addressing burning questions: are current contestations about the relevance of democracy due to systemic flaws in how it is constituted, received, practised and even imagined, and can the democratic OprojectO be salvaged? The bookOs unique approach brings a variety of lenses to bear on the prospects for democracy. The critical reflections it contains make for an enriching, broad canvas of ideas.’

– Professor Sandy Africa, University of Pretoria