Abstract

This special edition brings together selected articles from the 23rd biennial conference of the Southern African Historical Society which was held in Durban in June 2011. The conference with the broad theme of ‘The Past and its Possibilities: Perspectives of Southern Africa’ was the Society’s largest and most vibrant yet, drawing delegates from across Southern Africa, as well as from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Finland, Hungary, the United States, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. Gratifyingly, the calibre of the papers was exceptionally high, and there was a palpable air of excitement about the profession of history both in and about the southern African region. There were many highlights, animated debates, lighter moments, and meaningful meetings, and especially noteworthy was the presentation on the evening of 28 June of the inaugural SAHS/Taylor & Francis Prize for the Best Student Paper. This was awarded to Kylie van Zyl of Rhodes University, whose insightful and highly topical paper ‘Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics: A Comparison of the Construction of Authority and Responsibility in Two South African Cholera Epidemics, 1980 1983 and 2000 2003’.1 appears in this special edition along with other featured papers presented at the conference by Bill Freund, Anne Digby, Peter Alegi, Cynthia Kros, Theresa Edlmann, Karthigasen Gopalan, and Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie.