Spaces of Opposition

Activism and Deliberation in Post-Apartheid Environmental Politics

Bibliographic Data

ID4139891
AuthorsClive Barnett (0000-0002-1291-1421, Faculty of Social Sciences, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, England, corresponding author), Dianne Scott (0000-0002-8781-5581, University of KwaZulu-Natal, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume39
Issue11
Pages2612-2631
Publication date2007-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/a39200
OpenAlexW2058876098
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited28

Drawing on recent political theory that examines the relationship between inclusive deliberation and oppositional activism in processes of democratisation, we develop a case study of environmental justice mobilisation in post-apartheid South Africa. We focus on the emergence of a network of social movement organisations embedded in particular localities in the city of Durban, connected into national and transnational campaigns, and centred on grievances around industrial air pollution. We analyse how the geographies of uneven industrial and urban development in Durban combine with sedimented place-based histories of activism to make particular locations spaces of democratic contention, in which the scope and operation of formal democratic procedures are challenged and transformed. We examine the range of strategic engagements adopted by social movement organisations in pursuing their objectives, looking in particular at the dynamic interaction between inclusion in deliberative forums and more adversarial, activist strategies of legal challenge and dramaturgical protest. We identify the key organisational features of groups involved in this environmental justice network, which both enable and constrain particular patterns of democratic engagement with the state and capital. We also identify a disjuncture between the interpretative frames of different actors involved in participatory policy making. These factors help to explain the difficulties faced by social movement organisations in opening up the space for legitimate nonparliamentary opposition in a political culture shaped by norms of conciliation and consensus

Civil society · Deliberation · Deliberative democracy · Democracy · Democratization · Environmental justice · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Sociology · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · Public Administration · South African History and Culture

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