At
the beginning of the 1980s, a group of left intellectuals and
activists sought to press the then-exiled African National Congress
(ANC) to adopt a change of strategy which would have given priority
to the organized collective action of workers and the poor: they were
expelled and their proposed remedies ignored. But, while it had
little impact on political practice at the time, the implied debate
between the dissidents and the ANC raised issues crucial to
understanding the challenges which face South African democracy
today. Although the dissidents’ approach was based on a flawed
analysis of the processes which produce social change, it did
highlight an aspect of anti-apartheid resistance strategy which has
made achieving a more egalitarian
and democratic South African more difficult.
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