Prof Christi van der Westhuizen-Academic and author

Christi van der Westhuizen is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pretoria. She is the author of two books. Her first book, "White Power", published in 2007, focuses on the rise and fall of the National Party. Her most recent offering is "Sitting Pretty-White Afrikaans Women in Postapartheid South Africa". She has written numerous academic publications and papers.

Christi grew up in Boksburg, outside Johannesburg. Her early career was as a journalist for the the anti-apartehid Afrikaans newspaper Vrye Weekblad, and then the more mainstream Beeld. After a time working in international relations she launched her academic career which has focued on issues of race and identity.

We spoke about her childhood in Boksburg, her early questioning of  the Afrikaner mainstream around her, and some of the the themes of race, power and gender identity that form the backbone of her books.

We also chatted about issues around democratization, the re-emergence of a toxic Afrikaner nationalism, and the need to reboot the south African political discourse.