Social movements as learning spaces: the case of the defunct Anti-Privatisation Forum in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Social movements often become spaces for learning, although this type of learning has been overlooked by activists and scholars alike. Analysing the case of the collapsed Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF), the article submits that the APF was not only an organisation that challenged privatisation, but also a learning space for activists from middle-class and working-class backgrounds. Non-formal educational platforms, such as political education workshops, organisational and practical skill training sessions and campaigns organised by the APF and its partner organisations, were instrumental in transferring skills to community-based activists. After the demise of the APF, its activists applied the skills and competences they had acquired to continue advancing social and economic justice in other organisations. Furthermore, community-based activists educated middle-class activists about the conditions of working-class communities and the challenges of building working-class movements in post-apartheid South Africa.

RÉSUMÉ

Les mouvements sociaux deviennent souvent des espaces d’apprentissage, bien que ce type d’apprentissage soit négligé par les militants comme par les universitaires. En analysant le cas du Forum anti-privatisation (APF), l’article soutient que l'APF était non seulement une organisation qui remettait en cause la privatisation, mais aussi un espace d’apprentissage pour les militants issus de la classe moyenne et de la classe ouvrière. Les plateformes éducatives non formelles, telles que les sessions de formation aux compétences organisationnelles et pratiques, les campagnes et les ateliers d’éducation politique organisés par l’APF et ses organisations partenaires, ont joué un rôle déterminant dans le transfert de compétences aux militants locaux. Après la disparition de l’APF, ses militants ont mis à profit les compétences acquises pour continuer à faire progresser la justice sociale et économique dans d’autres organisations. En outre, les militants locaux ont sensibilisé les militants de la classe moyenne aux conditions de vie des classes ouvrières et aux défis que représente la création de mouvements ouvriers dans l’Afrique du Sud post-apartheid.

KEYWORDS:

• Social movements
• Anti-Privatisation Forum
• learning
• skills
• non-governmental organisation
• activists

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Mouvements sociaux
• Forum anti-privatisation
• apprentissage
• compétences
• organisation non-gouvernmentale
• militants

Acknowledgements

I dedicate this article to my late brother, comrade and mentor, Aziz Choudry, who wrote extensively on learning in social movements and passed on, untimely, in May this year. Comrade Aziz, through his writing and active participation in concrete struggles for social and economic justice, touched many souls and hearts in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and the rest of the world.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 A full list of interviews, giving the date and interview platform for each interviewee, is included at the end of the article, after the references.

Additional information

Funding

The author is grateful to the National Research Foundation in South Africa [grant number TTK190227421295] as well as for the support of the International Center for Development and Decent Work, Kassel, Germany.

Notes on contributors

Mondli Hlatshwayo

Mondli Hlatshwayo is a senior researcher in the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation at the University of Johannesburg.