[Debate] Lessons from Social Movements?
LFC Scally
lfcscally at hotmail.com
Mon Apr 16 18:18:45 BST 2012
Comrades,
I think Mzimasi makes a very telling and honest contribution that is very welcomed despite it being a sad indictment of the social movements. Indeed, I have long argued that the social movements have been in decline since January 2003 when I first moved to South Africa (until mid 2007). This much was evident from my research on the CCF and from many of our discussions at the CCS research project that spurned the book Social Movements book edited by Richard Ballard and events across the country I was party to and from speaking with others also involved or once involved. I made the point in my article that the CCF was one of the newest (and by then oldest) organisations and so was turning old (and some of us recognised it was already dead) much earlier and thus I implied and argued expressly it held many of the best and worst lessons for the Left. But it was still a time of euphoria and these points were not popular with some (I distinctly recall such arguments with Andile of the LPM and some in the AEC). It was certainly never easy to argue that COSATU was still a very important player on the Left and would continue to be. Perhaps I was partly to blame for some of the euphoria as in some public forums I was not prepared to provide ammunition to ANC and other less progressive critics of the social movements. Perhaps I should have spoken more openly in all forums. Meanwhile many in and around the CCF, APF and AIDC/ILRIG et al were well aware of my and other peoples similar arguments that were very similar to the ones painted more starkly by Mzimasi and by Heinrich Bohmke. Much of this was relayed to me by people in and around the CCF and other organisations I interacted with-including some of those seen as 'the city-based leadership'.
Based on my experiences in this period, and linked to this debate, I would say that 2 fundamental issues encapsulate much of what is being discussed here:1. the issues of political openess (not just about numbers at meetings-as important as that is -but about money and funding)2. Democratic accountability (both linked to the issue of political honesty)
These two issues came up in many guises but are what frustrated and angered many and this is certainly something that was argued consistently by comrades in the Right to Work campaign set up by AIDC but who did not work for the NGO-indeed my experiences in that process were some of the most telling.
I think unless these issues are dealt with more satisfactorily than they have often been (and what I heard about COPT/Durban events in late 2011 did not fill me with confidence) then those of us critical of the Alliance will not be able to make links with the urban protests Peter Alexander has been documenting of late and we will all remain stuck at the level of 'artificial networks' (as Mzimasi so eloquently put it) that not only do little for the building of the Left but set it backwards and continue to sow suspicions about some peoples motives.
Peter
From: mzimasi at ilrig.org.za
To: debate-list at fahamu.org
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:49:37 +0200
Subject: Re: [Debate] I Thus Caught That Colonial Mind-Set At Work
Hi Comrades
Just in the level of following certain political debates,
especially debates relating to social movements and their mode of oparations in
connection with the role of academia and Left intellectuals. I find it strange
that a lot of academics and intellectuals are still romanticising social
movements. As an activist in the social movements in Cape Town and working
together with other movements around the country, I came across what I would
call a political deaseas. This political deaseas has been taking place in
the relationship between some of the social movements and academics
in South Africa. Academics who popularise certain movements while doing
gatekeeping for certain movements, romanticising some movements while
downplaying some movements. This is an unhealthy political situation and a
political jem for the building of an alternative revolutionary movement in South
Africa.
I fully agree with Bomke in a number of things that he
has articulated about the relationship between academics and social
movements leaders. I mean I talk out of my own experience, irrespective of what
Bomke is saying. Comrades turn to lye about their membership numbers, they
mention big numbers when speaking about their constituencies. Comrades
turn to mention 30 to 40 community organisations who are their constituencies,
but in reality it is only six communities. Comrades turn to speak of thousands
to attend a particular march from 30 communities only to find out that the
attendance is 30 people from 8 communities.
Comrades there is no point in hiding our shrinking number
in communities and memberships. We don't have to hide our internal problems,
financial or otherwise, but if our organisations are weak we must pretend as if
they are still strong. Our role as activists and militants including academics
is to tell the truth to the world about the state of affairs in our
organisations. If our organisations are rotten we must't be shy to say they are
rotten and if they in coma or they are dead we must say it. There is no room for
romanticising the movements whiel they are incompl,ete decline otherwise we
won';t be in postion to say what is the state of our movements so that we
can derive correct strategies and tactics for our wayforward. If we
continue to romanticise our movements we will always apply wrong strategies and
tactics and we won't ever know as at what stage our the development our
movements is, and that is a recipe for dissaster.
I think those who write about the movements should reflect
the truth if we are to build an alternative revolutionary mass movements in
South Africa. In conclussion, it is clear that all of our movements are in a
complete decline, shrinking in numbers, no proper organisational structures to
sustain our movements, they are very sectarian, unable to build a national
character of their struggles. This is irrespective of the current service
delivery revolts tat engulf the country at the moment, but even the current
revolts have not come at any nearer to building a national character of their
struggles, let alone coordination. What we currently see id the building of
artificial networks and united fronts built by the Left that I regard
them as substitute for the working class organisations as these are not derived
in struggles.
Lastly, my interest in these debates is to get
fruitful and meaningful analysis that begins to reflect the true nature of our
movements to be able to chart a better wayfoward for socialist project. It
is also unhealthy for the academia to just defend an unjust, unhealthy situation
in our movements and the academia should learn to take part in the actual
struggles to be able to reflect correctly about the community
struggles.
Revolutionary
Greetings.
Mzi (ILRIG/SMI)
From:
debate-list-bounces at fahamu.org [mailto:debate-list-bounces at fahamu.org] On
Behalf Of Mandisi
Sent: 16 April 2012 12:11 PM
To:
debate-list at fahamu.org
Subject: Re: [Debate] I Thus Caught That
Colonial Mind-Set At Work
hello
are you talking to me?
if you are, am not sure
how you expect me to take you seriously when you seem to insinuation that the
four articles I've submitted here are 'bitchy'. how is the critical review I've
done on Bohmke's work different to what you do for a living?
Mandisi
On 16 April 2012 17:54, David Everatt <David at everatt.co.za> wrote:
I don’t know any of the personalities or your
sub-currents of who-said-what so forgive me for not being able to grasp all
that, which seems to be pertinent if bitchy (and thus enormously readable).
What I am wondering is, what is a ‘Black social movement’, which all of you (I
think) have referred to? Sometime they are just social movements; then they
appear as South African social movements; and then they appear again as Black
(your upper case) social movements. I get the point that white
domination/manipulation/whatever is being battled over, but are these
movements being defined, or defining themselves, in racial terms? Are we
really heading down that path?
de
From: Heinrich
Bohmke <bohmke at gmail.com>
Reply-To: Debate is a listserve that attempts to
promote information and analyses of interest to the independent left in South
and Southern Africa <debate-list at fahamu.org>
Date: Sun, 15 Apr
2012 15:19:13 +0100
To: Anna Majavu <annamajavu at gmail.com>
Cc: Debate is a listserve
that attempts to promote information and analyses of interest to the
independent left in South and Southern Africa <debate-list at fahamu.org>
Subject: Re: [Debate] I Thus Caught That Colonial
Mind-Set At Work
It is mainly a pity
> for you because you are now
typecasting yourself as an over-privileged
> white South African who
frequently writes very demeaning things about
> Black people in the
guise of your self-appointed role as the
> 'de-romanticiser' of Black
movements. Yes there are a few people who
> buy your arguments, but they
are very few and if you reflect on their
> motives, you will surely
notice that they too are people who are not
> content to let Black
township folks run their own
movements.
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