Africa and the Global 1989

It is widely assumed that “1989” played a major role in the Second Wind of Change and the reintroduction of democratic system which the African continent experienced after 1990. Yet from a methodological point of view questions of attribution and causation are not settled satisfactorily by the predominant diffusionist debate. Furthermore, African Studies also has produced little case study based conclusions on the relative importance of structural vs. contingent factors. Against this background, this paper looks into dynamics in Southern Africa since 1986, focussing on the stalemate between South Africa and Angola (which had become a proxy for US-Soviet competition), the implementation of the UN Namibia independence plan in 1989, the abandonment of legislated one-party rule in Zimbabwe n 1990 and the beginning of negotiations on the end of apartheid in South Africa.