Despite the transition from apartheid to democracy, South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. Its extremes of wealth and poverty undermine intensifying struggles for a better life for all. The wide-ranging essays in this sixth volume of the New South African Review demonstrate how the consequences of inequality extend throughout society and the political economy, crippling the quest for social justice, polarising the politics, skewing economic outcomes and bringing devastating environmental consequences in their wake. Contributors survey the extent and consequences of inequality across fields as diverse as education, disability, agrarian reform, nuclear geography and small towns, and tackle some of the most difficult social, political and economic issues. How has the quest for greater equality affected progressive political discourse? How has inequality reproduced itself, despite best intentions in social policy, to the detriment of the poor and the historically disadvantaged? How have shifts in mining and the financialisation of the economy reshaped the contours of inequality? How does inequality reach into the daily social life of South Africans, and shape the way in which they interact? How does the extent and shape of inequality in South Africa compare with that of other major countries of the global South which themselves are notorious for their extremes of wealth and poverty? South African extremes of inequality reflect increasing inequality globally, and The Crisis of Inequality will speak to all those - general readers, policy makers, researchers and students - who are demanding a more equal world.

Publication of the "New South African Review, " produced from the department of sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand, " "represents the launch of an exciting new annual series of studies in South African politics, economics, and society. Drawing together original contributions, Volume 1 2010 will range widely over South Africa's location in the global economic crisis, the mounting environmental challenges facing the country, and the extent of poverty and unemployment through to the state of Zuma's ANC, land reform, and other critical issues confronting South African society: crime, child trafficking, HIV-Aids, indigent management, the justice system, and so on. Controversial, challenging and critical, the collection is framed by the question of whether South Africa can shift from a present path heralding long-term decline to a more optimistic future of global competitiveness and sustainable development. A vital read for all those wishing to keep track of present policies, trends, and outcomes in South African political economy. Contributors to the volume include: Devan Pillay, Mark Swilling, Mike Muller on the environmental crisis; Neva Magketla, Seeraj Mohammed, Sam Kariuki, Doreen Atkinson, and Scarlett Cornellison on the economy; Anthony Butler, Maxi Schoeman, Liezl Loots and Kammila Naidoo on politics; Colin Hoag, Prishani Naidoo, Jeremy Gordin and Louis Reynolds on state policy; Zosa de Sas Kropiwnicki, Hein Marais, Peter Vale, Loren Landau, Tara Polzer, Aurelia Wa Kabwe Segatti, Terry Ann Selikow, and Graham Gibbon on society and crisis; Roger Southall on development or decline.