One of the books in the Kellogg Institute Series on Democracy and Development has won the 2021 Margaret Mead Award, presented by the Society for Applied Anthropology and the American Anthropological Society to a younger anthropology scholar for a work that interprets anthropological data and principles in ways that make them meaningful and accessible to a broadly concerned public.
Nostalgia after Apartheid: Disillusionment, Youth, and Democracy in South Africa by Amber R. Reed will be announced as the winner the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in November. The book presents a new perspective on South Africa’s democracy by exploring Black residents’ nostalgia for life during apartheid in the rural Eastern Cape, exploring how post-apartheid attempted reforms have led to this surprising phenomenom.
In her review of the book, Leslie J. Bank, co-editor of Migrant Labour After Apartheid, described it as a "fascinating and beautifully written ethnography on rural life in post-apartheid South Africa." She stated, "Nostalgia after Apartheid delivers a significant contribution to the anthropology of southern Africa and to the understanding of the social, cultural, and political meanings of the post-apartheid transition in South Africa."