Problematizing Civil Society in South Africa and beyond

Four recent studies on civil society dynamics in South Africa

Tags: Southern Africa , South Africa , Civil Society Building

South Africa’s soccer fever has subsided, but recent sparks of violent protest and public sector strikes indicate that for the foreseeable future, social tensions are here to stay. Fueled by perverse social-economic inequalities and fragile public institutions, outbursts of public anger will continue to send out warning signals to the wider world that stability and democracy in South Africa cannot be taken for granted. This post brings together the findings of four recent studies on civil society in South Africa.

In a contribution to a recent study about South African civil society and xenophobia by the Atlantic Philanthropies, Patrick Bond and others take the phenomenon of xenophobic violence as the backdrop for a thorough analysis of civil society dynamics in a stubbornly persisting neoliberal world order. Drawing on social theory, international trends and a historical analysis of civil society activism during South Africa’s apartheid and the two following decades, the authors reflect on civil society responses to intensifying social protest. The study can be downloaded here.

One the one hand, the findings suggest that these protests reveal reservoirs of civic energy for collective action and solidarity. On the other hand, outbursts of violence and xenophobia disclose a disconnect between citizen anger and channels for formulation of demands and solidarity to channel grievances and claims and negotiate these in the public sphere. The authors argue that this points at network problems between levels and actors in the associational ecosystem. One important reason for this is the fact that civil society struggles to adopt a broader vision of society and strategies for collective action.

These conclusions are echoed by another recent study by the Civil Society Building Knowledge Programme on South Africa. In the resulting book ‘Mobilizing Social Justice’, we analyse five case studies on civic action for social justice. Contextual analysis, clear strategies and alliances between social movements, NGOs, grass roots groups and knowledge actors emerge as crucial ingredients for successful civic action. You can download the book here.

The studies place South Africa in the broader global context. Bond stresses the need for civic actors in South Africa to formulate alternatives beyond the claws of global neoliberalism that hold political elites and domestic socio-economic policies captive. In ‘Mobilizing Social Justice’ we emphasize South Africa’s label as ‘the world one country’ and suggest that its civil society dynamics hold lessons for other countries and indeed for global social dynamics at large.

In both studies South Africa’s Anti Privatization Forum and the Treatment Action Campaign emerge as prominent ‘new’ social movements with potential to inspire civic activism in South Africa and beyond. Meghan Cooper and Rina Alluri recently conducted in-depth studies of these movements and these are now available in the Hivos/ISS working paper series. Both papers are available here. These working papers confirm a final observation that problematizing civil society society in South Africa uncovers tremendous challenges and threats but also exciting opportunities and emerging civic alternatives to end socio-economic apartheid at a global level.