Speaking for the poor and oppressed: questioning the role of intellectuals in South African social movements

This thesis is concerned with debates around the role of intellectuals in South Africa and particularly in the question of intellectuals "speaking on behalf of the oppressed." Although such a question is foremost a response to recent debates about intellectuals in post-apartheid social movements and particularly the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, I anchor the discourse of "speaking on behalf of the oppressed" and its subsequent contestations in a longer historical trajectory going back to missionary ideals around civilisation, progress and trusteeship. Using a range of primary and secondary documents I trace the development of this discourse through the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid era and into post-apartheid discussions highlighting the important points of contestation. This is done by providing an initial problematization of the practice of 'speaking on behalf of others' which is subsequently linked to conceptions of the role of 'the intellectual'. Of particular importance are firstly Zygmunt Bauman's distinction between the intellectual as legislator or as interpreter related to the different between modern and post-modern conceptions of intellectual life; and secondly, Andrew Jamison and Ron Eyerman's distinction between 'intellectual in social movement' (which I translate into the idea of the allied intellectual) and movement intellectual. This thesis argues that current contestations around the role of allied intellectuals speaking for the oppressed in post-apartheid social movements show both continuities and discontinuities to earlier discourses as articulated by a range of social and liberation movements since early colonial times. It also argues that at the heart of the dilemma of intellectuals speaking for the oppressed is a contradiction between their role as legislator and as interpreter.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Political Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Osborne, Carilee

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Du Toit, André

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22881

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/22881