Keyword: peoples movements

Elections: A Dangerous Time for Poor People's Movements in South Africa

Picture: beonkey Richard Pithouse - History groans with the suffering caused by authoritarian individuals and regimes that were elected to power. For this reason the only useful measure of the commitment of any political project to democracy is to see how it responds to challenges to its own position and ideas.  Although certain state institutions, including universities, have become highly authoritarian, middle class South Africa generally enjoys the right to dissent that is the centre of the democratic ideal. One can...