Mobilising Social Justice in South Africa - perspectives from Researchers and Practitioners

A new book by the Hivos/ISS Civil Society Building Knowledge Programme

Tags: Southern Africa , Civil Society Building
Additional tags: South Africa Civil Society Building

How do civic actors in South Africa deal with contemporary developmental challenges such as socio-economic inequality, limited access to basic services, xenofobic tensions and governance constraints. At a time of rising social tensions, the country’s institutions are in danger of losing the legitimacy they gained in the wake of democratic dispensations of the 1990s.

Civic actors in South Africa form alliances at different levels, combining legal and non-legal strategies to try to address massive and growing disparities between rich and poor, as well as large-scale inequality and injustice. They aim to mobilise social justice through various and innovative means.

In this new publication, the Hivos/ISS Civil Society Buildig programme, in partnership with Pretoria University Law Press present the findings of five research projects that address some of the many dimensions to understanding the dynamics of civil society, the potential for civic actors to contribute to structural changes in unequal power relations, and the roles of external actors in supporting them. The book also provides an account of some of the discussions around the research findings at an international conference on Civil Society in November 2009 in Johannesburg, which was hosted by the Hivos/ISS Civil Society Building Knowldge programme. The book is available online and can be ordered at the link below.