Description: War in Worcester explores the experiences of the young in taking a stand against the apartheid regime in the 1980s at the height of the struggle for freedom. It combines an analysis of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission's process and findings with a close ethnographic study in a small town. Issues including tactics, pain, betrayal and ethics are examined from the point of view of young activists and the forms of documentation of conflict used by the Commission are critiqued.
Brief description: Pamela Reynolds is Professor Emerita, Johns Hopkins University, and Honorary Professor, University of Cape Town. Her books include Growing Up in a Divided Society: The Contexts of Childhood in South Africa, Childhood in Crossroads: Cognition and Society in South Africa, Dance Civet Cat: Child Labour in the Zambezi Valley, and Traditional Healers and Childhood in Zimbabwe.
Review Quotes: 'War in Worcester' presents the record of struggle in a small town and a description of relationships among young men who examine their experiences of activism retrospectively and microscopically.-- "--African Studies Review"