Exchanging Symbols: Monuments and Memorials in Post-Apartheid South Africa brings together eight chapters, authored by scholars from diverse disciplines. Authors consider how, why, and to what the cultural landscape must change in order to reflect the postcolonial and post-apartheid South African state. The inquiries put forth in Exchanging Symbols began at the Human Sciences Research Council, which sought to understand the performative and transformative events associated with the #RhodesMustFall Movement that took hold of the UCT campus in 2015. For many authors in this book the #RhodesMustFall Movement is a catalyst to investigate the sociopolitical climate from which it emerged.
The first chapter, “Statues of Liberty? Attitudes Towards Apartheid and Colonial Statues in South Africa” situates readers within the aftermath of the #RhodesMustFall Movement. Using nationally representative public opinion polls and attitudes of adult South Africans, the research team of Sharlene Swartz, Benjamin Roberts, Steven L. Gordon, and Jarè Struwig...