South Africa

Armed struggle and democracy : the case of South Africa

Upphovsperson:	Legassick, Martin
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Armed struggle, democracy, Liberation, ANC, Historical analysis, Political culture, South Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

The impact of the concept(s) of armed struggle for the notion(s) of democracy in South(ern) Africa is the focus of this paper. Originally submitted to a conference on '(Re-) Conceptualising Democracy and Liberation in Southern Africa', held in Windhoek/Namibia during July 2002, it argues from the point of departure of the personal involvement of the author in the issues raised. The author was part of a group which criticised the strategy of armed struggle in the ANC. For the articulation of this dissenting view they were suspended from the movement in 1979 and finally expelled in 1985. With this paper he inspires a debate, which can claim relevance for current issues of democracy in South Africa and the Southern African region more generally. Given the degree of personal involvement of its author, this analysis is contemporary history based on personal insights, and provides arguments for a necessary discussion.

Political cultures in democratic South Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Neocosmos, Michael | Suttner, Raymond | Taylor, Ian | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2002
Ämnesord:	Democratisation, Human rights, Liberation, Nation Building, Reconciliation, ANC, South Africa, Southern Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The democratic transition in South Africa that emerged during the 1990s and became manifest in a democratically elected government, has not yet brought to completion the post-Apartheid social and political transformation of that country. In fact, it has far from consolidated a new socio-political culture. The contributions to this Discussion Paper reflect upon different but related aspects of South African democracy after Apartheid as represented in a variety of social forces, institutions and individuals. They illustrate that societies in transition have to make sustained efforts to overcome the legacies of the past, and that the present reproduces some of the past structural constraints and patterns of power and control in the new framework. This publication has been compiled under the aegis of the research network on “Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa” (LiDeSa), currently coordinated through the Nordic Africa Institute. The contributions were originally presented to a workshop organised in Cape Town in December 2001.

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