Why Race Matters in South Africa. By Michael MacDonald. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006. 245p. $45.00.

Given that more than a decade has passed since the initiation of the “new dispensation,” a book about the present and future of South Africa that reassesses connections with the past seems appropriate. In this book, Michael MacDonald investigates the evolution of racism and racialism and their linkages to state legitimacy and governance. This empirical examination of South African politics and political economy is well ensconced in the literature. The author provides a rigorous case analysis within the literature of race and class.