From Protest to Challenge Volume 2: Hope and Challenge, 1935–1952

From protest to challenge is a multi-volume chronicle of the struggle to achieve democracy and end racial discrimination in South Africa. Beginning in 1882 during the heyday of European imperialism, these volumes document the history of race conflict, protest, and political mobilisation by South Africa’s black majority. Completely revised and updated, with the inclusion of photographs and with the previous volumes re-formatted to unify the series, this second edition of From protest to challenge revives the classic work of Thomas Karis and Gwendolen Carter and provides an indispensable resource for students and scholars of African history, race and ethnicity, identity politics, democratic transitions and conflict resolution. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance and generosity of all those who helped to make this book possible. During two extended periods of pioneering field research by Gwendolen Carter, Thomas Karis, and Sheridan Johns in South Africa in 1963 and 1964 – a period of growing political tension – dozens of South Africans gave them documents or loaned them material to photocopy, often in the hope of preventing irreplaceable records from falling into the hands of the police. In addition, lawyers for the defendants in the 1956-61 treason trial contributed a complete set of the trial transcript and the preliminary examination, as well as a set of virtually all the documents assembled by the defence in preparation for the trial. Added to the materials that the team was able to photocopy from archival collections at several South African universities and at the South African institute of race relations, these months of fieldwork provided the initial foundation for what was to become the first four volumes of From protest to challenge.