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Hegemony, 'common sense' and compromise : a neo-gramscian analysis of multilateralism in South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policyTaylor, Ian 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
This study attempts to overcome past failings in the analysis of post-apartheid
South Africa's foreign policy. In contrast to "explanations" offered by most
previous analyses, this work demonstrates that the behaviour exhibited by
Pretoria is not immutable or simply subject to the global "realities", but is
derivative of the specific historic conjuncture of forces that joined together
during the transition from apartheid, and which remain open-ended. The
changes in the African National Congress' economic and political policies during
the transition period are seen as the key to any attempt to understand Pretoria's
post-1994 foreign policy behaviour. This is intimately connected to the
structural changes in the international political economy and the change in the
balance of international class forces brought about by the neo-liberal counter
revolution.
Deploying a theoretical framework derivative of the work of the Italian
Marxist, Antonio Gramsci, this study situates South Africa's foreign policy in a
world where the ideology of neo-liberalism has achieved hegemonic status
amongst the transnational elite class - fractions of national elites, representing
and reflecting the interests of money capital. Such a hegemonic project informs
the beliefs of the Government of National Unity and the subsequent foreign
policy activities postured by Pretoria. This study attempts to understand how
and why the ANCacceded to the dominant discourse of neo-liberalism and why
this must be contextualised within the structural constraints brought to bear
upon the GNUin an increasingly globalised world.
This accession to neo-liberal beliefs has gIVen nse to contradictions
within the domestic polity between contending class fractions and within the
ANC'sown ranks. This has provoked a fundamental tension in Pretoria's overall
foreign policy, where on the one hand South Africa accepts the fundamental
normative world order, whilst on the other pushes various reformist initiatives
which seek to re-negotiate Pretoria's standing within this framework.
Specifically, South Africa's behaviour in multilateral organisations has been
marked by a tactical middlepowermanship role, essentially problem-solving, which seeks to smooth out the international system so that the ongoing world
order may function as "efficiently" as possible. Such behaviour has been
qualitatively different from the activist role that was expected from an ANC-led
administration.
Indeed, the activism exhibited by South Africa has been largely centred
around the promotion of the liberalisation of markets and free trade, albeit
tempered by an awareness of the need to reconcile its acceptance of the
hegemonic order, with that of the appeals of a historically important fraction of
its support constituency: the Left and labour. Attempts to reconcile these two
positions, of promoting "free" trade whilst at the same time demanding "fair"
trade for example, mirror the broader contradictions that have been evident in
South African foreign policy. They reflect the historic compromise that saw the
ANCcome to administrative power, and also the desire by the government to
balance its neo-liberal credentials with certain reformist convictions. This has
been most evident in Pretoria's behaviour in multilateral organisations.
SLXmultilateral initiatives, and Pretoria's role within each, are examined:
the World Trade Organisation, the Cairns Group, the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth,
and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Implications for future South African
foreign policy are drawn out, and a critical eye cast on whether such roles
played out by Pretoria are immutable, or subject to change. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:
Hierdie studie poog om vorige tekortkominge in die analise van post-apartheid
Suid-Afrika se buitelandse beleid te oorkom. In teenstelling met die
"verduidelikings" wat deur meeste vorige analises gebied word, illustreer die
werk dat Pretoria se buitelandse gedragspatroon nie onveranderlik is en bloot
onderhewig is aan die globale "realiteite" nie, maar voortvloei uit die besondere
historiese tydsgewrig van magte wat saamgevoeg is gedurende die oorgang van
apartheid na 'n onvoorspelbare era. Die veranderinge binne die African National
Congress se ekonomiese en politieke beleid gedurende die oorgang periode word
voorgehou as die sleutel tot enige poging om Pretoria se post-1994 buitelandse
gedrag te verklaar. Strukturele veranderinge in die internasionale politieke
ekonomie en die veranderinge in die magsbalans tussen internasionale klasse
as gevolg van neo-liberalisme, het 'n fundamentele impak op die aard van
hierdie buitelandse gedrag.
Met behulp van 'n teoretiese raamwerk gedistilleer uit die werk van die
Italiaanse Marxis, Antonio Gramsci plaas die studie Suid-Afrika se buitelandse
beleid in 'n wêreld waarin die neo-liberale ideologie hoogty vier veral onder die
transnasionale elite klas - fraksies van nasionale elites verteenwoordigend van
die belange van finansiële kapitaal. Sodanige hegemoniese projek onderlê die
oortuiging van die Regering van Nasionale Eenheid (RNE) en voortvloeiende
buitelandse beleidsaksies. Die studie probeer vasstel hoe en waarom die ANC
toenemend gehoor gegee het aan die oorheersende neo-liberale diskoers en
waarom hierdie toetreding gekontekstualiseer moet word in terme van die
strukturele beperkinge waaronder die RNE onderhewig is in 'n immerglobaliserende
wêreld.
Hierdie toetrede tot neo-liberale oortuiginge het aanleiding gegee tot
teenstrydighede intern, tussen strydende klasfraksies asook binne die ANC se
eie geledere. Hierdie teenstrydighede word ook weerspieël in Pretoria se
buitelandsebeleids aksies in die algemeen. Aan die een kant aanvaar Suid-
Afrika fundamenteel die normatiewe basis van wêreldorde, terwyl daar ook aan
die ander kant gepoog word om Pretoria se posisie binne hierdie wêreldorde te
bowe te kom.
Suid-Afrika se gedrag in multilaterale organisasies in die besonder word
gekenmerk deur 'n taktiese intermediêre rol ("middlepower role") hoofsaaklik
van 'n probleem-oplossende aard, wat daarop gemik is om die internasionale sisteem so glad moontlik te funksioneer en teenstrydighede binne die
wêreldorde te oorkom. Hierdie rol konstitueer 'n fundamentele wysiging van die
aktivistiese rol wat van 'n ANC-regeerde Suid-Afrika verwag is.
Die aktiwiteite wat wel deur Suid-Afrika geopenbaar is, sentreer
hoofsaaklik om die bevordering van vrye en regverdige handel, alhoewel
gerigsnoer deur 'n bewustheid van die behoefte om sodanige posisie te versoen
met die aanvaarding van die bestaande hegemoniese orde aan die een kant en
die eise van arbeid en politieke steun aan die Linkerkant van die politieke
spektrum. Pogings om hierdie twee posisies te versoen - om "vrye" sowel as
"regverdige" handel te versoen byvoorbeeld, weerkaats die algemene
teenstrydighede waardeur Suid-Afrikaanse buitelandse beleid gekenmerk word.
Die paradokse is tekenend van die historiese kompromie wat tot die ANC se
bewindsoorname aanleiding gegee het asook die regering se behoefte om sy neoliberale
orientasie te balanseer met bepaalde hevormingsoortuiginge. Hierdie
patroon is besonder merkbaar in die geval van multilaterale organisasies.
Ses multilaterale inisiatiewe en Pretoria se verhoudinge met elk van die
volgende internasionale organisasies word van naderby bekyk, veral ten opsigte
van die Wêreldhandelsorganisasie, die Cairns Groep, die Verenigde Nasies
Konferensie oor Handel en Ontwikkeling, die Onverbonde Beweging, die
Statebond en die Kernspêrverdrag. Daar word gewys op die implikasies vir Suid-
Afrika se buitelandse beleid, terwyl daar krities gevra word of sodanige rolle wat
deur Pretoria gespeel word, 'n bepaalde onveranderlikheid geniet of ook
onderhewig is aan veranderinge.
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The United Democratic Front as exponent of mass-based resistance and protest, 1983-1990.14 August 2012 (has links)
D.Litt. et Phil. / Non-violent mass-based protest and resistance by liberation groups have a long history in the South African context. Prior to the 1980s, they had achieved only minor and isolated successes. The formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983 and its successful mass protest action against the state to 1990, changed the equation, however. The UDF's origin could indirectly be traced back to attempts from the 1950s to launch mass-based protest and resistance against the apartheid state. Calls for the formation of a united front against the South African State were made by various persons and organisations since the 1950s, but it was only by the 1980s that circumstances allowed the formation of a united front. Demographic realities, urbanisation, the legalisation of black trade unions, an educated leadership, the growth of a grassroots-based civil society among blacks, all contributed to make the formation of the UDF a reality. Protest against the government's tricameral system, initially provided the direct stimulus for the formation of the UDF during 1983 to 1984. By the end of 1984, the UDF had built up a wide support base to directly threaten the government's position. The result was several states of emergency through which the state endeavoured to crush the UDF-led opposition. The UDF's unique structure, which consisted of affiliates from all sectors of civil society, including black trade unions as an alliance partner, managed to survive the state's repressive measures, continued to pressurise the state so that by 1989, under a new head-of-state, the National Party "capitulated" and opened the door to real elections for a democratic South Africa. The UDF's strategies were aimed to mobilise the masses and through its mass-based action, bring maximum pressure to bear on the government. This strategic approach was executed by employing various tactics, which related to the classic methods of mass-based non-violent action. In the end, the state's security apparatus proved unable to cope with the UDF's relentless actions, offset by its inability to act effectively against the UDF as an entity, mainly because of its amorphous structure. Although other factors, such as economic recession, foreign sanctions, the ANC campaign to isolate South Africa, among other played a role, the UDF provided the crucial domestic impetus to illustrate to the South African government, that black resistance couldn't be suppressed and that the situation would continue to worsen. Seen against this background, it is unlikely that CODESA would have occurred as soon as it did without the activities of the UDF throughout the 1980s.
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Black consciousness revived: the rise of black consciousness thinking in South African student politicsSikhosana, Nompumelelo Pertunia January 2017 (has links)
University of the Witwatersrand
Faculty of Humanities
Political Studies
Master’s Research Report, February 2017 / The history of segregation in South Africa is well documented. The shadows of the apartheid system still linger in society to date, especially in the form of racial inequality, race consciousness and racial classification. Contemporary student protests and vandalism in institutions of higher education reveal deep-seated tensions that open a can of worms concerning race and equality – elements that have long been of concern in the Black Consciousness Movement and its ideology in the early 1960s and 70s. This research report assesses how Black Consciousness tenets’ and rhetoric are re-emerging in the current national student movement, from the #RhodesMustFall to the #FeesMustFall movements.
Black Consciousness ideology in South Africa, as articulated by Biko, sought the attainment of a radical egalitarian and non-racial society. Amongst some of the espoused principles of the Black Consciousness Movement that defined South African youth politics in the 1970s, is that Black Consciousness emphasised values of black solidarity, self-reliance, individual and collective responsibility, and black liberation. The year 2015 witnessed the resurgence of Black Consciousness language at the forefront of student movements, most notably the #RhodesMustFall and the #FeesMustFall campaigns.
The #FeesMustFall movement and its supporters uphold that their cause is legitimate because it does not make sense for household incomes to depreciate next to escalating costs of living and rising tuition fees. It further states that the ANC fears it because its demands stand contrary to ANC-led government’s interests and have accused the ANC of attempting to capture the movement – hence the declaration that #FeesMustFall is a direct critique of the entire socio-economic and political order of the ruling ANC and exposes ANC corruption and betrayal. The movement continues, though its cause tends to be diluted and convoluted, the struggle is real but so is the legacy of Biko and the spirit of Black Consciousness. / MT2018
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The relation between hostels and the political violence on the Reef from July 1990 to December 1993 : a case study of Merafe and Meadowlands hostels in Soweto.Xeketwane, Babylon Mgcinaka January 1995 (has links)
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Arts. Johannesburg
1995. / This thesis set out to investigate the relation between
hostels and the political violence on the Reef between July
1990 and December 1993 which claimed 4756 lives. This
relation is anchored in a broader discussion of firstly,
political violence in South Africa generally, and secondly of
the hostel system. This contextualisation frames the
investigation of two Sowetan hostels Meadowlands and Merafe.
These two hostels were among those that became focal points
of political violence on the Reef during the period under
review. The thesis argues that the political violence and
conflict on the Reef between 1990 and 1993 constituted a "war"
in which these and other hostels played a crucial part. The
Inkatha Freedom Party colonised these institutions, ejected
non-Zulu and ANC supporters and transformed the hostels from
migrants camps into "fortresses of fear" from which many
attacks on township residents were launched. The thesis
attempts to understand this process through an in-depth
investigation of Meadowlands and Merafe hostels as case
studies. It attempts to draw a sociological profile of these
two hostels. This has involved examining these hostels as
social institutions, the social relations and culture
operating within them, and their place in the social structure
of the surrounding community. The thesis has included an
investigation of the social characteristics of hostel
residents such as their ethnic identity, age, gender identity,
marital, employment status, political affiliation and work
history. These multiple identities are components in
attempting to explain the participation of many hostel
residents in political violence. Through a series of in-depth
interviews the thesis has attempted to map their different
experiences and understandings of political violence in
relation to their broader aspirations, beliefs and world
views. It is asserted that any investigation of the relation
between hostels and political violence requires this attempt
to map a 'view from below' which goes deeper than official
statistics and media accounts. / AC2017
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Gambling in the Bophuthatswana Sun: Sun City and the political economy of a Bantustan casino:1965-1994Van der Merwe, Nicola Sarah January 2017 (has links)
Thesis presented in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of MA at the University of the Witwatersrand, 2017 / This thesis examines the role of the Sun City casino within the context of apartheid homeland policy. The casino was established in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana in 1979, following the abolition of gambling in South Africa, with introduction of the 1965 Gambling Act. This study is motivated by two research questions: (1) the political and economic effects of the casino’s operation in Bophuthatswana; and (2) Sun City’s promotion of Bophuthatswana’s status as an independent state from South Africa. The research for this project was obtained through archival and manuscript materials, oral interviews as well as newspapers archives.
The thesis is divided into five chapters which track the trajectory of Sun City’s development. The development and construction of Sun City are explored with regards to the financial contributions by the Bophuthatswana and South African governments. Secondly, the role that the governments of Bophuthatswana and South Africa played in the development of the casino and the political impact thereof.
Further, the employment at the casino is investigated, regarding the economic promises made to the both the governments by Southern Sun. The area surrounding Sun City had a high unemployment rate and the resort was promoted as means to curtail this problem. The attractions Sun City offered such as burlesque shows and prostitution are discussed, with specific reference to the casino as a place of racial integration and conspicuous consumption. The sanctions and boycotts are explored regarding the cohort of international sporting and musical entertainers hosted at Sun City and the shifts in the boycott following 1990. Lastly, the fall of bantustan policy is outlined, for the reincorporation of bantustan territories into South Africa highlighted questions of gambling legality.
This thesis concludes that Sun City brought exposure and infrastructure to Bophuthatswana, but most of the motivations employed to build the casino, such as high taxation, increased employment and the development of a heritage for the ‘Tswana’ people never materialised. The Sun City casino scheme aimed to further enrich individuals such as Kerzner and Mangope and the marketed benefits were not realised for the Bophuthatswana citizens. / XL2018
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From apartheid to democracy: the emergence of ultraconservatives in Ermelo 1960-1994Greyling, Carolien Lucia January 2017 (has links)
Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters in History at the University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa 2017 / This dissertation examines and explains the underlying social, ideological and economic reasons why the white population of Ermelo gravitated to a politics of the extreme in the years 1960-1994. In contrast to commonly held views that the growth of ultraconservatism correlates neatly with economic trends this dissertation argues that ultraconservatism in Ermelo emerged due to varying complex and at times contradictory reasons. By examining white society at the time of conquest in the 1860s, it is argued that whites in this area formed racist views from the time of settlement as the commercial success of their newly acquired farmland was dependant on the exploitation of cheap black labour. The focus of this study is however, on the emergence of new ultraconservative political parties from the late 1960s to the early 1990s which formed in reaction to National Party and local political dynamics. It is argued that the bedrock of conservative views was moulded during the time of initial settlement, however, for various reasons throughout the years these views were held and propagated. This study is a local history of ultraconservatism in Ermelo and illuminates particularities in the town’s white politics within the context of profound changes in Afrikaner politics nationally. White working-class workers and farmers supported ultraconservatives while white business people supported the NP and their politics of reform. This dissertation made use of public and private archives as well as life history interviews with various long-time residents of the town. It is argued that although capitalism was the main motivator for ultraconservative views and politics in the mid 1800s, it was also capitalism that brought about reform and created a platform for negotiation in the 1990s when ultraconservative political parties threatened the peaceful transition into a democratic South Africa. / XL2018
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Elite patriarchal bargaining in post-genocide Rwanda and post-apartheid South Africa: women political elites and post-transition African parliamentsMakhunga, Lindiwe Diana January 2016 (has links)
Thesis (Ph.D. (Political Studies))--University of the Witwatersrand, Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences, 2016 / This study comparatively interrogates the representative parliamentary politics of women
political elites in the subSaharan
African states of posttransition
Rwanda and South Africa.
It analyses the relationship between women political elites and gender equality outcomes
through the theoretical framework of the presupposed
positive relationship that is said to
exist between high levels of women’s descriptive representation and women’s substantive
representation. It specifically explores this relationship through the lens of legislative
outcomes passed in each state. In South Africa, this legislation takes the form of the 1998
Recognition of Customary Marriages Act and in Rwanda, the 2008 Genderbased
Violence
Act. This study locates the outcomes of women’s parliamentary politics in these states to the
different articulation of elite patriarchal bargains negotiated by women political elites within
the opportunities and constraints of parliamentary institutional contexts and the political
parties represented in these regimes. I show that the higher the degree to which a ruling
political party needs to privilege and emphasise women’s interests in the reproduction of political power and legitimisation of its own authority, the more favourable the terms of the
elite patriarchal bargains that women political elites tacitly negotiate within political parties
will be for pursuing gender equality legislative outcomes in patriarchal institutional contexts.
I illustrate how political institutions located in the state never present conclusive gains or
losses for women and gender equality but are contextually ambiguous and contradictory in
the ways that they foster representation and locate gendered political accountability. / WS2016
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Asisjiki: black women in the Economic Freedom Fighters, owning space, building a movementDlakavu, Simamkele Blossom January 2018 (has links)
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the partial requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand Department of African Literature, March 2017 / XL2018
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Ons leer mekaar / Die pyn van die groeps-wette08 1900 (has links)
Op ’n sonnige Saterdag- oggend op Montagu kom daar ’n gekap en geraas uit ’n groot skuur. In die agter- grond sing ’n vrou ’n op- gewekte deuntjie. Wie werk so hard en so vrolik op ’n Saterdag? En waarom? Toe Ons Leer Mekaar onder- soek gaan instel, het ons die Montagu Skrynwerkers Ko- operatief leer ken - ’n be- sonderse groep mense wat op ’n besondere manier werk. Hulle is ’n span van tien, waar- van vier vroue is. En almal in die span is saam eienaars van die skrynwerkers-besigheid. Maandag-oggende besluit die span wat hulle target vir die week is. "En as ons nie target slaan nie, dan moet ons sit, al is dit Saterdag", vertel Leon de Koker, die produksie- koordineerder. "Jy werk vir jouself, so aan die einde van die dag kan jy nie ’n baas blameer, of se baas waar is my loon nie. Hier moet almal saamtrek. Elke lid deel in die winste van die ko-operatief, maar ook omgekeerd: as ons verliese maak, deel elkeen daar in." Die ko-operatief maak futon- beddens en ses-hoekiae tafels, wat landwyd verkoop word. Futon beddens lyk soos harde plat matrasse wat op die grond oop gegooi word. Die tafels word veral in kantore gebruik, omdat baie tafels in- mekaar pas om ’n groter tafel te maak. Dit word ook trapazoidal tafels genoem. Baie council huise op Montagu het nie elektrisiteit me. Die skrynwerkers verkoop hulle afval-houtjies teen R1 ’n sak vir brandhout. Die semels verkoop hulle aan die boere wat hoenders en perde aanhou. "In die somer noem ons dit die Coke-fonds, die geldjies wat so inkom", se Leon.
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Conflict, contradiction and crisis: an analysis of the politics of AIDS policy in post-Apartheid South AfricaFletcher, Haley Kim January 2009 (has links)
Despite the profound impacts of HIV and AIDS on all sectors of South African society, governmental responses to the AIDS epidemic have been inundated with contradiction, conflict and contestation. Though governmental leaders have justified not funding HIV treatment programs because they believe that poverty needs to be dealt with first, social spending has been slashed as part of an adherence to a neo-liberal economic model. Though it would seem that the government would seem to have everything to gain by establishing a cooperative relationship with non-governmental actors regarding the epidemic, the relationship between the government and non-governmental actors has instead been described as nothing short of hostile. Though the government enthusiastically backed Virodene, a supposed treatment for AIDS that turned out to be no more than an industrial solvent, other ‘scientifically backed’ AIDS treatments have been treated with caution and skepticism – to the point where the government even refused to provide funding for programs to prevent mother to child transmission of the virus. And perhaps the most perplexing is that although widely respected for his intellect and cool demeanor, former President Mbeki chose to risk his political career on the AIDS issue by shunning away from the mainstream consensus on the biomedical causes of the epidemic and instead surrounded himself and sought advice from AIDS ‘dissidents’ This thesis will seek explanations for these apparent contradictions. Using Bourdieu’s (1986) typology of capitals, it will build on an argument put forward by Helen Schneider (2002): from the South African government’s perspective, the contestation regarding HIV and AIDS policy and implementation is over symbolic capital, or the right to legitimately hold and exercise political power regarding the epidemic. Though this argument helps explain the conflictual relationship between the government and non-governmental actors regarding the AIDS crisis, in order to understand the perplexing contradictions within the governmental policy response, the political context of policy formation must first be taken into consideration.
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