Southern Africa: civil society, politics and donor strategies

Abstract

If democratisation is in part a way for civil society to play a greater role in public life, what impact have recent political transitions, including elections in Angola, had in southern Africa? The question is important because that country is coming out of a long history of civil strife and needs to rebuild its society. But it is also of some consequence for the future of southern Africa because most political theorists see multiparty polls as the main avenue allowing for the emergence of an active civil society. What, therefore, can the experience of Angola tell us about the existence, role and future of civil society in the region and, more generally, in Africa? And what light can the experience of post-colonial Africa shed on the current transitions in Angola?

These questions are simple enough to ask but complicated to tackle – and this for two sets of different reasons. The first is that the history of Angola may turn out to make it a case apart, sharing little with other countries in the region. It may be difficult to compare its evolution to that of its neighbours. Hence it will be necessary to examine in some detail the trajectory of the country before embarking on any comparative exercise. The second is that there is no working consensus on what civil society actually is, even if the concept is freely used by Africanist scholars, journalists and NGO experts. Here too, we will need to work out more clearly what it is that civil society can mean in contemporary Africa.