Civil society and social movements in South Africa

This work deals with contemporary civil society and social movements in South Africa. The focus is set on disadvantaged, marginalized communities. The research looks into two core topics: the role of community-based collective action within broader South African civil society and the strategies, which South African civil society formations apply. Three social movement theories are applied and serve as a theoretical foundation for the empirical results: the theories of resource mobilization, political structure and collective identity. The energy, which comes from community-driven collective action, is not sufficiently taken advantage of. Two tactical approaches of South African social movements could be identified: movements working within constitutional spheres by applying public advocacy work and awareness training and more radical movements, which seek to overcome the current political system. By the means of participatory observations and narrative interviews with representatives of non-governmental organizations, community activists, expert scholar and community development workers, this research aims to understand the status quo of South Africa’s post-apartheid civil society.