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Hegemony, 'common sense' and compromise : a neo-gramscian analysis of multilateralism in South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Taylor, Ian R. |
| Copyright Year | 2000 |
| Abstract | This study attempts to overcome past failings in the analysis of post-apartheid South Africa's foreign policy. In contrast to "explanations" offered by most previous analyses, this work demonstrates that the behaviour exhibited by Pretoria is not immutable or simply subject to the global "realities", but is derivative of the specific historic conjuncture of forces that joined together during the transition from apartheid, and which remain open-ended. The changes in the African National Congress' economic and political policies during the transition period are seen as the key to any attempt to understand Pretoria's post-1994 foreign policy behaviour. This is intimately connected to the structural changes in the international political economy and the change in the balance of international class forces brought about by the neo-liberal counter revolution. Deploying a theoretical framework derivative of the work of the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci, this study situates South Africa's foreign policy in a world where the ideology of neo-liberalism has achieved hegemonic status amongst the transnational elite class fractions of national elites, representing and reflecting the interests of money capital. Such a hegemonic project informs the beliefs of the Government of National Unity and the subsequent foreign policy activities postured by Pretoria. This study attempts to understand how and why the ANCacceded to the dominant discourse of neo-liberalism and why this must be contextualised within the structural constraints brought to bear upon the GNUin an increasingly globalised world. This accession to neo-liberal beliefs has gIVen nse to contradictions within the domestic polity between contending class fractions and within the ANC'sown ranks. This has provoked a fundamental tension in Pretoria's overall foreign policy, where on the one hand South Africa accepts the fundamental normative world order, whilst on the other pushes various reformist initiatives which seek to re-negotiate Pretoria's standing within this framework. Specifically, South Africa's behaviour in multilateral organisations has been marked by a tactical middlepowermanship role, essentially problem-solving, 11l Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/51785/taylor_hegemony_2000.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
