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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Class Struggle, Popular Democratic Struggle and the South African State
Author:Levin, Richard M.ISNI
Year:1987
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:14
Issue:40
Period:December
Pages:7-31
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:class struggle
nationalism
Ethnic and Race Relations
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056248708703746
Abstract:A consideration of the character of the ongoing democratic struggle in South Africa, this article focuses on the strategy of the State and the nature of opposition groups in the conflict and the way in which they transform the terrain of struggle. It is argued that a decisive phase of the struggle has been reached involving a shift in the balance of forces in favour of those struggling for a democratic resolution, although State power remains entrenched and numerous problems of strategy and tactics remain for the liberation movements. This analysis is then used to assess the class character and nature of the likely changes which could result from the struggle. The article was completed in August 1986. In a postscript dated August 1987, the author notes that the central question remains the extent to which 'the people' are motivated by and fall under the sway of the working class. It is the resolution of this question that will determine 'how democratic' the national bourgeois democratic struggle will be, and the prospects for a socialist transformation in South Africa. Bibliogr.
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