This second volume of the New South African Review is composed of original chapters dealing with contemporary issues in South African politics, economy and society. The new series, drawing upon the tradition of critical scholarship established by its predecessor South African Review of the 1980s and 1990s, seeks to present diverse views and perspectives across a range of concerns vital to our country. The present edition brings together contributions from authors from an array of universities and civil society organisations, and while there is much that is complementary between them, there is no intention that the New South African Review should assume a particular intellectual ‘line’: rather, the idea is to promote intellectual debate and diversity.

The New South African Review is housed in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand, where three of the editors earn our keep. We should like to thank our colleagues in the Department for their constant encouragement in this project, as well as administrators Ingrid Chunilall and Laura Bloem for their constant willingness to take on the various mundane tasks connected with it. We should also like to acknowledge the vital financial assistance offered by the University's ‘SPARC’ Funds for special projects, and the support given to our application for that assistance by the Dean of Humanities, Professor Tawana Kupe. In addition, we note the enthusiastic backing and wise publishing advice extended by Veronica Klipp, director of Wits University Press, and the valuable contribution made by Monica Seeber, who served as the technical editor and, finally, we are indebted to all those anonymous referees who dispensed Olympian judgements upon the various chapters in draft form.