- Record: found
- Abstract: found
- Article: found
Building democracy in the new South Africa: civil society, citizenship and political ideology
Abstract
This consideration of the task of building a ‘non‐racial, non‐sexist democracy’ in South Africa combines historical experience, political theory and survey results to which an organisational participation, democratic commitment, party allegiance and a sense of citizenship exist together in forms able to support a process of democratisation. In consequence, the author suggests that there are serious hazards inherent in either the liberal or Gramscian models of democratic development. On the one hand, Gramsci's idea of a ‘regulated society’ in which the state progressively recedes in favour of an increasingly complex and articulated civil society makes too little provision for those elements of civil society that remain neutral or even hostile towards the prevailing political order. On the other hand, liberal democracy, in its various forms, is inherently elitist, depoiiticised and fundamentally alienated. The survey findings confirm that both these problems are fundamental to South Africa's new political society. As an alternative, the article proposes a strategy drawn from recent work on Latin America ‐ a ‘politicised civil society’ which will link the concerns of individual citizens more closely to the more formal processes of state and party politics. ROAPE considers this argument to be important beyond South Africa's borders and hopes that this article will initiate a discussion on the problems of extending democracy in Africa far beyond the parliamentary circulation of elites where it is presently confined.
Content
Author and article information
Bibliography
ANC. . 1994. . ‘The Reconstruction and Development Programme’ . , Johannesburg : : ANC. .
Andrew Arato and Cohen Jean L. . 1992. . Civil Society and Political Theory . , London : : MIT Press. .
Atkinson Doreen. . 1992. . ‘State and Civil Society in Flux’. . Theoria . , Vol. 79:
Boggs Carl. . 1976. . Gramsci's Marxism . , London : : Pluto. .
Everatt David and Orkin Mark. . 1993. . ‘Growing up Tough’ . , Johannesburg : : CASE. .
Friedman Steven. . 1991. . ‘An unlikely Utopia: state and civil society in South Africa’. . Politikon . , Vol. 19((1))
1992. . ‘Bonaparte at the Barricades’. . Theoria . , Vol. 79:
Geyer Felix. . 1993. . ‘Political alienation and environmental complexity reduction’. . Kybernetes . , Vol. 19((2))
Gramsci Antonio. . 1979. . “‘Lettere del Carcere’. ”. In Marxism After Marx . , New York : : Houghton Mifflin. .
1971. . Selections from Prison Notebooks . , p. 267 London : : Lawrence and Wishart. .
Kane‐Berman John. . 1978. . Soweto: Black Revolt, White Reaction . , Johannesburg : : Ravan. .
Kass Gordon. . ‘An exploratory technique for investigating large quantities of categorical data’. . The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society . , Vol. 29((2))119––27. .
Keane John. . 1988. . Democracy and Civil Society . , London : : Verso. .
Rob Lambert and Webster Eddie. . 1988. . “‘The re‐emergence of political unionism in contemporary South Africa’. ”. In Popular Struggles in South Africa . , Edited by: Cobbett William and Cohen Robin. . London : : ROAPE /James Currey. .
Marx Anthony W. . 1992. . Lessons of Struggle . , New York : : Oxford University Press. .
Orkin Mark. . 1986. . Disinvestment, the Struggle and the Future: What Black South Africans Really Think . , Johannesburg : : Ravan. .
Orkin Mark. , ed. 1989. . “‘Introduction: the case for sanctions against apartheid’. ”. In Sanctions Against Apartheid . , Cape Town : : David Philip. .
Geyer Felix and Heinz Walter. , eds. 1992. . “‘Beyond alienation and anomie: the emancipatory efficacy of liberation ideologies in South Africa’. ”. In Alienation, Society and the Individual . , p. 199 New Brunswick : : Transaction Publishers. .
1983. . ‘A divided struggle’: alienation, ideology and social control among black students in South Africa’. . Journal of Intercultural Studies . , Vol. 4:: 3
Ramphele Mamphela and Boonzaaier Entile. . 1988. . “‘The position of African women: race and gender in South Africa’. ”. In South African Keywords . , Edited by: Boonzaaier Emile and Sharp John. . Cape Town : : David Philip. .
Seekings Jeremy. . 1993. . Heroes or Villains: Youth Politics in the 1980s . , Johanneburg : : Ravan. .
Swilling Mark. . 1988. . “‘The United Democratic Front and Township Revolt’. ”. In Popular Struggles in South Africa . , Edited by: Cobbett William and Cohen Robin. . London : : ROAPE in association with James Currey. .
1990. . ‘Political transition, development, and the role of civil society’. . Africa Insight . , Vol. 20:: 3
1992. . ‘Socialism, democracy and civil society’. . Theoria . , : 79
21 June. 1994 . The Star . , (’Coalition lives on to fight’). 21 June. , Johannesburg :
Upton G J G. . 1978. . The Analysis of Cross‐Tabulated Data . , Chichester : : Wiley. .
Walzer Michael. . 1992. . “The Civil Society Argument’. ”. In Dimensions of Radical Democracy . , Edited by: Mouffe C. . London : : Verso. .