The State and National Identity in Lesotho

'Should Lesotho be incorporated into the "new" South Africa?' is a much debated question throughout Lesotho. It is actually an old question, but its currency today stems from the political transformation of South Africa. Proponents point to Lesotho's economic dependence on South Africa, and tenuous existence as a state since its birth in the 19th century, to suggest that citizens might be better off if Lesotho became part of South Africa. Responses inevitably incorporate nationalist pride, and a recounting of Lesotho's history of successful resistance, first against colonial settlers, and later against incorporation into South Africa and apartheid. But proponents answer that the South African nemesis is crumbling and ask what, therefore, there is to resist? Consensus is rare, for the question is really a rhetorical summation of the real concerns of the country's inhabitants: what is the future of the Lesotho state, and hence, of its citizens?; what is it to be Basotho?; what is the significance of Lesotho's history to contemporary political and economic circumstances?