Protest in South Africa: motives and meanings

South Africa is experiencing record levels of protest. Interpretations of protest fall into two groups. First, there is the argument that protests represent only limited rebellion and that though unruly, they are a mechanism for political re-engagement. A second understanding links “new social movements” that address general grievances to wider hegemonic challenges. This article addresses the issue of whether these upsurges in militant mobilization threaten or complement democratic procedures. The article draws from a study of two protest “hotspots” in Durban.     

Enhancing rural learning,linkages, and institutions: the rice videos in Africa

Africa Rice Center (WARDA) facilitated the development and translation of 11 rice videos. From 2005 to 2009, WARDA partners translated them into more than 30 African languages. Open-air video presentations enhanced learning, experimentation, confidence, trust, and group cohesion among rural people. The videos strengthened capacities of more than 500 organisations and hundreds of thousands of farmers. WARDA's integrated rural learning approach also helped women to access new markets and credit. Learning videos allow for unsupervised learning; unleash local creativity and experimentation; facilitate institutional innovations; and improve social inclusion of the poor, youth, and women.     

Democratic institutions,political representation and women's empowerment: The quota debate in India

This article reflects upon the debate on quotas for women in representative institutions of government. It poses the question whether current debates about quotas for women are relevant to debates on women's empowerment. In doing so, it points to the bases upon which the arguments for and against quotas have been presented within the Indian political system, taking into account the historical debates on caste, the emergence of coalition politics, the strength of the women's movement, and the engagement of women's groups with the politics of difference. The central argument of the article is that unless the issues of class‐based and caste‐based differences are taken seriously by women's groups in India, the wider question of empowerment cannot be satisfactorily answered. The conclusion assesses whether the Indian example is of relevance to wider debates on quotas as strategies of empowerment.     

Circumnavigating de-Westernisation: Theoretical reflexivities in researching political communication in Africa

Abstract

Based on theoretical considerations in the course of the author's current research on the conducting of and changes in political campaign communication in post-1990 Cameroon, this article revisits central discourses on the de-Westernisation of communications studies and outlines culturally-nested theoretical considerations to comprehensively study the practices and changes in political campaign communication in Africa. The article argues that although drawing on supposedly ‘Western’ theories, overall the proposed theoretical considerations constitute an example of a more viable approach to de-Westernise communications theory. The considerations have strong potential to improve our understanding of political campaign communication practices and the changes they may effect in Africa, if they are incorporated into research and not discarded simply on the grounds of regional exceptionalism, as is predominantly the case in Africa.     

阿非利卡人与种族隔离制度的终结

随着南非的经济发展与种族隔离制度的全面推行，阿非利卡人内部出现了阶层分化。进入社会中上层的阿非利卡人不仅不再需要种族隔离制度的人为保护，而且其经济优势地位的保持反而更依赖于种族隔离制度的改革和南非经济的继续发展。但对部分中下层阿非利卡人而言，种族隔离制度的改革会对其现有的经济优势地位构成威胁，这些人反对改革种族隔离制也就成为了必然。由于阿非利卡人的中产阶级化，改革得到大多数阿非利卡人的支持，于是种族隔离制度最终退出历史舞台。     

From nipples and nationalists to full frontal in the new South Africa: An abridged history of pornography and censorship in the old and new South Africa

ABSTRACT

This article examines the ways in which the South African apartheid regimes approached and dealt with the question of pornography as well as how and why these measures changed after the birth of the new South Africa. Pornography in all its various forms, as an expression of human sexuality, is at once directly and indirectly attached to the freedom of speech and expression. This freedom lies at the very crux of democracy. During the apartheid era, the National Party governments dealt with the issues of pornography, erotica and indeed the expression of human sexuality through a particularly conservative system of regulations and bureaucratic structures. This was replaced, in the New South Africa, with a particularly liberal system. The varied reasons, at once apparent and totally obscure, for both the existence of the old and the creation of the new systems lay at the very heart of apartheid and at the crux of that which replaced it. This article examines how and why the apartheid governments viewed and handled this issue in the way they did and why it was dramatically changed in the new South Africa. The timeline of the article is from the 1890s to the current day.     

(Re-)building governance in post-conflict Africa: the role of the state and informal institutions

Post-conflict governance is an increasingly important aspect of foreign development assistance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the weakening and disintegration of the state undermine sustainable human development. A major challenge in post-conflict rebuilding in SSA concerns the incorporation of subnational non-state structures and informal institutions into the post-conflict governance apparatus. In order to tackle this apparent gap in sustainable peacebuilding, more theoretical and empirical research is needed into the nuanced role(s) and contribution(s) of the post-conflict state in reconstituting governance and rehabilitating communities. This article discusses the post-Washington Consensus (PWC), an emerging development approach which seeks to re-introduce the role of the state in development and post-conflict studies. The central proposition of the article is that, contrary to the anti-statist premise of the Washington Consensus, states, non-state structures, and informal institutions play an important role in cultivating institutional reconciliation, interpenetration, and integration between macro-level government structures and subnational social institutions.     

白人民族主义与南非种族统治

南非现代国家形成的历史 ,正是荷兰人为主的欧洲人到这片土地上殖民、发展形成为新民族 (阿非利卡人 ) ,掌握种族主义统治权 ,后又不得不放弃这种少数人统治权 ,并适应多种族和解共生潮流的历史。南非当前许多社会问题的深层结构性根源也正在于 1 7世纪以来阿非利卡人对南非历史的深远影响 :他们在占据南非政治、经济统治地位的同时 ,主导了全社会一系列相对固定的种族和民族关系格局的形成 ;这种历史深层结构一旦形成就难以改变 ,甚至在南非政治上实现多种族平等后的相当长时间里都会是如此。因而 ,首先应该认识以民族主义形式表现出来的白人种族主义对南非种族统治的影响 ,以此透视政治与社会意识之间复杂的互动关系 ,最终全面消除种族统治的历史残留。     

Legitimating transformation: political resource allocation in the South African constitutional court

This study examines the performance of the South African Constitutional Court in four cases in which it was required to review the allocation of resources by the political branches. According to the conventional view, political resource allocation should be immune from judicial scrutiny because it involves decisions that courts are neither institutionally equipped nor mandated to make. In new democracies, the added reason for judicial self-restraint in this area is thought to be that courts should avoid potentially damaging confrontations with the political branches un1i1 they have established their legitimacy. And yet, in the cases examined here, the Constitutional Court has not only skillfully negotiated its review function, but actively sought out opportunities to subject political resource allocation to the standards set by the Constitution. In this way the Court has been able to build its legitimacy by endorsing the overall thrust of the political branches' transformation efforts. In turn, those efforts have been legitimated by their exposure to judicial scrutiny. This finding suggests that the conventional view may be wrong, and that constitutional courts in new democracies may need to involve themselves in controversial political questions if they are to play a meaningful role in the consolidation of democracy.     

South Africa: The Order of Good Hope

Past South African governments already felt the need for honours as instruments of diplomacy in the 1930s, but only instituted the Order of Good Hope in 1973. Inherited British attitudes to honours, the cessation in 1925 of the award of honours bearing titles, and long periods in which civilian honours were not awarded contributed to its frugal use. Wishing to recognize foreign assistance to the liberation movements, from 1994 President Mandela frequently put the Order to use, freely awarding leaders of foreign governments. However, restraint returned after the initial surge. Since instituting new orders in 2003, President Mbeki has emphasised substantial merit as the key to admission.

“Yes, I should have given more praise.” The Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon, became Commander-in-Chief and later Prime Minister of Great Britain, when asked whether there was anything in his life that he could have done better.

     

从借鉴中国经验看南非政党政治

根据对非国大借鉴中国共产党的制度建设和中国的经济体制改革经验的背景分析，本文提出了“南非政党制度模式”概念，对该模式的稳定、作用及影响进行了分析，井认为，三方联盟基于对南非当前社会发展的主要矛盾达成的共识是“南非政党制度模式”的政治基础；而工人阶级则是该模式得以运转的群众基础。由《自由宪章》确立的“建立自由、种族平等的新南非”的既定目标，并没有随着黑人执政而得以实现，民族民主革命仍是当前南非社会发展的主要矛盾。为此，非国大力图运用政治手段实现经济基础向黑人资产阶级及中产阶级阶层的转移。三方联盟推行的民族民主革命纲领起到了笼络民众的政治效用，然而在一定程度上迟滞了南非的经济发展，不便于国内新兴市场的培育。     

Current film policy in South Africa: the establishment of the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa and its role in the development of a post-apartheid film industry

Abstract

The author aims to discuss the historical process which led to the establishment of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), its strategies and vision for a post-apartheid film and video industry, and its potential role in policy formulation beyond the borders of South Africa. It is not an attempt to provide an insider's critique and/or analysis of current film policy, but aims to highlight the role of the NFVF in the policy-making process.     

National liberation and the conflicting terms of discourse in South Africa: An interpretation

Abstract

Underlying the moves and countermoves of the current communal conflict in South Africa is a struggle to control the meanings of the key terms of discourse—race, nation, apartheid and socialism—by which the conflict is characterized within and outside the country. Although no definition, therefore, of any of these terms can escape politicization, there is a case, historically and with a view to a negotiated settlement, for having apartheid, the most emotion‐laden of these terms, limited to post‐1948 doctrine and practice. The foundation for a negotiated settlement unaccompanied by overt civil war must be rather detailed agreement, tacit or explicit, on what the end of apartheid means. But if there is to be such agreement, it must be the work of a broad coalition from all of the race/nations acting probably against the desires of two major groups: defenders of the status quo and proponents of revolutionary socialism.