Black Diamond: The Jewel in the ANC State Machinery

The new South Africa has seen a rapid growth in the black middle class. Members of this segment of society, coined Black Diamonds, have been embraced as the hope of the country, making a key contribution to democracy and development, but also as parasitic bourgeoisie in one of the world´s most unequal societies. What is the phenomenon Black Diamond all about?

Hilde Ibsen is Associate professor of history at the Department of Environmental and Life Sciences at Karlstad University.

Hilde Ibsen works in the field of modern South African history, and she is particularly interested in democracy and sustainable development, class, gender and lifestyle issues. Her recent focus is on the rise of the new black middle class and particularly the relationship between post-apartheid South African society and the consumptive lifestyle of the Black Diamonds.

Hilde will be a visiting researcher at CROP during the month of June 2015.