Is ‘another world’ really possible? Re-examining counter-hegemonic forces in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

A wide body of scholarly literature on social movements on an international level emphatically, but uncritically, declares that ‘another world is possible’. This paper investigates this trend and its implications for political and academic practice in post-apartheid South Africa, where community-based movements have emerged primarily in order to access basic services. In particular, it highlights the pivotal role that the state and poor people's immediate basic needs play in limiting social movements' contribution towards a transformative development agenda. Paying close attention to poor people's struggles and needs, the paper argues that there is a sharp disjuncture between the ideologies manufactured by academics, and the worldviews that the working class and poor possess. It concludes by providing insight into the possibilities for post-apartheid political struggles – praxis – to lead to the formation of class consciousness and to a formidable challenge to neoliberalism.

Keywords:

• social movements
• ideology
• community politics
• neoliberalism

Acknowledgements

Luke Sinwell is grateful to Noor Nieftagodien (previously his PhD advisor at Witwatersrand University) and for the support provided by the programme called ‘The voices of the poor in urban governance: participation, mobilization and politics in South African cities’.

Notes

As indicated in a report completed in 2009 on four key service-delivery hotspots, the protests do not challenge the ANC's national policy framework; see Sinwell et al. (2009).