UWCScholar :: Browsing by Author "Piper, Laurence"

Browsing by Author "Piper, Laurence"

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After the riot? Rancière, Hamilton, and radical politics
(Penn State University Press, 2018) Piper, Laurence
In recent years, political forces from the Occupy movement in North America to the #FeesMustFall student protest in South Africa have attempted to disrupt the political order in the name of democratic equality. Inspired by radical theorists like Rancière, this politics promises a model of social change through the combination of the disruption of institutions and the reinvention of daily life and political subjectivities. I argue that this radical politics comes with significant limits if it ignores the requirement to build more inclusive policies and new institutions too. This is because disruption alone may extend exclusion by prompting more elite coercion and popular backlash. This claim is illustrated through the example of the #FeesMustFall movement. What is needed instead is a radical politics that also includes a clear theoretical focus on policy and institutional change, such as is contained in Hamilton’s account of freedom as power through representation.
Assessing community participation in rural development projects: A case study of CARE Zimbabwe's Small Dams Rehabilitation Project (SDRP) in Mushagashe
(University of the Western Cape., 2011) Tagarirofa, Jacob; Piper, Laurence
The study sought to evaluate the challenges and opportunities for effective community participation in rural development projects in Zimbabwe through one case-study, and in turn to test the credibility of the popularized supposition that almost all contemporary development efforts characteristically embrace local participation. This matters as public participation is widely assumed to be an essential ingredient for the fruition of rural development efforts. The case examined was to achieve this aim. The research made use of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in which various data gathering instruments were used. Among them were unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The discussion and analysis of data was enabled by the use of People-Centered Development (PCD) as a conceptual framework. Among other findings, a key insight of the research was that the level of community participation in this case is not only minimal, but it is also top down. This has much to do with the negative perceptions by facilitating agents of local people as passive recipients of externally crafted models of development and other factors such as the power dynamics within and between the community and other stakeholders. The research also found out other obstacles that militate against effective participation such as preferential treatment of other tribal groups by the facilitating agent, intra group conflicts and bureaucratic and political influence. Based on these findings, and consistent with the wider literature, a key recommendation of the research is that the nature of community engagement should be based on the principle of equal partnership among all stakeholders as this would encourage full cooperation and thus effective participation.
An assessment of government early childhood development policy to expand access and improve quality: a case study of Brown's farm, Western Cape.
(University of the Western Cape, 2014-11) Nyembezi, Nkosikhulule; Piper, Laurence
In assessing government ECD policy, this thesis focuses on three areas; access, quality, and costs. The study draws on interviews with key stakeholders working within the ECD sector generally, and uses survey data from a case study of Brown's Farm area in Cape Town. The research found that, some ten years down the line, ECD provision is still mostly privately provided by the informal sector through community-based facilities. Both formal and informal ECD facilities are unevenly spatially distributed such that they do not yet reach the most vulnerable poor children, especially in rural areas and informal settlements.
Book review: Building a capable state: service delivery in post-apartheid South Africa
(SAGE, 2019) Piper, Laurence
Written by long-standing research practitioners Ian Palmer and Nishendra Moodley, as well as one of South Africa’s leading academic urbanists, Professor Sue Parnell, Building a Capable State tackles the hard question of whether the post-apartheid state is up to delivering rights-based, sustainable development, and more specifically the task of providing local services like water, electricity, roads and housing. Somewhat surprisingly, after 10 years of maladministration and even deliberate sabotage under the Zuma administration, the answer is a qualified yes. Today South Africa’s citizens, especially poor citizens, are substantially better off than they were in 1994.
Challenging prejudice through participation: a case study of an anti-xenophobic community based organisation in Khayelitsha site c in the Western Cape, South Africa
(University of Western Cape, 2013) Ako, Abang Zacheous; Piper, Laurence
This study is an investigation into how the Site C, Action Committee Against Xenophobia (SACAX) in Khayelitsha was able to mobilise the community, community based organisations, and governance structures alongside national and international Non-Governmental Organisations working with refugees to successfully challenge prejudice towards African immigrants in the period leading to the World Cup 2010. The primary objective of this mobilisation was to raise consciousness about the plight of African immigrants; prevent a new round of attacks; and also to ensure that state officials were better prepared to intervene in future outbursts. The various stakeholders that took part in this cogovernance space are unanimous that the SACAX programme ushered in a new era of creating awareness and civic education that changed significantly the perception of the community towards African immigrants during the World Cup 2010. The thesis will also show how SACAX also encourage a more active citizenship and also built network between civil society including national and international NGOs and local state. These efforts created a new set of relations and saw the construction of new sets of relations in terms of capacity building across civil society, the state and local and international actors. This resulted in both the creation of an early warning mechanisms and also networks to coordinate efforts in future outburst. This was an example of a Co-governance space or nascent „participatory sphere‟. The example of SACAX is thus a case of civil society deepening democracy in three ways: expanding democratic values, building democratic citizenship and creating new participatory institutional capacity. This then elucidates the role civil society can play in influencing citizens directly, government and public policy. Indeed, to the extent that this network forms the basis of a substantive partnership between state and civil society from local to international levels, such co-governance around the policy issues can be seen as a nascent form of participatory space as identified by Cornwall and Coelho (2007:1).
Community development and engagement with local governance in South Africa
(Elsevier, 2008) Piper, Laurence; Hemson, David Christopher; Hicks, Janine
The issue of public participation is receiving increasing attention in South Africa, from both government and civil society sectors. We are witnessing acknowledgement from a wide range of public institutions that insufficient consideration has been paid to public participation, and that existing policy frameworks, institutional mechanisms and programme interventions are failing to comply with government's constitutional and statutory obligations in this regard. This article examines actual practice in one key invited space: the policy and legislative framework for public participation in municipal processes. The article also highlights community experiences of attempting to engage with municipalities in development planning and policy processes, and their aspirations and expectations in this regard. We conclude with a set of recommendations on how participatory development at the local level can be transformed to ensure that municipal planning and programme implementation processes are truly accessible, participatory and empowering for local communities.
The decline of ‘militant Zulu nationalism’: IFP politics after 1994
(Taylor & Francis, 1998) Piper, Laurence; Hampton, Kerri
Abstract This article argues that since 1994, but especially since 1996, the IFP has progressively moved away from the Zulu nationalist rhetoric and confrontational tactics of the transition period which we term the ‘militant Zulu nationalist’ strategy. The reasons for this are not to be found in changed political objectives, for instance the IFP remains committed to provincial autonomy, but rather in changed political and institutional conditions. First, with the completion of the KwaZulu‐Natal constitution‐making processin 1996, the issues of the transition which divided the IFP from the ANC, namely the form of state and process towards it, have been settled. Second, new political developments such as the ‘defection’ of the Zulu King, and new institutional conditions such as a stake in democracy and the return of law and order, have made the strategy of ‘militant Zulu nationalism’ redundant, even counter‐productive.
Deconstructing ‘the foreign’: The limits of citizenship for explaining price competition in the Spaza sector in South Africa
(Taylor & Francis, 2016) Piper, Laurence; Yu, Derek
An important component of the informal economy in South Africa, the Spaza sector is portrayed as dominated by foreign nationals who outcompete South African shopkeepers on price. Indeed, this business competition from foreign nationals is a key reason given to explain xenophobia in South Africa. This article sets out to interrogate this widely held assumption. Drawing on evidence from over 1000 Spaza shops from South Africa’s three main cities, the article makes the case that business competitiveness does not correspond with ‘foreign’ or South African identities in a simple way. Firstly, while citizenship or nationality is a factor, it is not captured by the labels of ‘foreign’ versus South African, as there are significant differences by nationality within the ‘foreign’. Secondly, not all foreign nationalities out-compete South Africans on price. Thirdly, place matters too, not only because we find different nationalities in different cities, but also because there are different patterns of price competition by nationality in each place. Lastly, there are product-specific dynamics that impact on price more profoundly than nationality. For example, regardless of nationality, milk is cheaper in Cape Town and bread is cheaper in Johannesburg.
Delivery and democracy through civil society? The violence prevention through urban upgrading project (vpuu) and the safety sector of the proudly Manenberg organisation (pmo) in Manenberg, Cape town
(2013) Manuel, Monique Lizelle; Piper, Laurence
Post-apartheid local government in South Africa has significant responsibilities in terms of redressing the socio-economic imbalances of the past, including basic service delivery and fostering local economic development. In meeting the socio-economic and material needs of communities, local government is also required to be democratic by enhancing various forms of public participation in governance and through the election of community representatives for local decision-making. So far as participation is concern, Cornwall (2002), distinguishes between two forms of mechanisms for public participation to include; ‘invited spaces’ (authorized participation) and ‘invented spaces’ (unauthorized participation). In the context of local government in South Africa, invited spaces include elections ward committees and public consultation around the annual budget and integrated development planning (IDP) process. While, invented spaces include protest, civil society engagement with the state and social movement activities. However, the last ten years has revealed that, the promise of effective, responsive and inclusive local governance has not been fulfilled. Rather local government has proven to be unresponsive as revealed by increasing protests over poor service delivery, as well as formal assessments of local government performance. In this context of poor state performance and unresponsiveness, substantial literature points to civil society as a source for deepening democracy and active citizenship. This thesis explores one version of this idea by examining two civil society programmes in the impoverished and gang-ridden community of Manenberg in Cape Town. More specifically this thesis examines the security programme of the Proudly Manenberg Organisation (PMO) and the infrastructure development programme of the Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading Programme (VPUU). Contrary to the claim that civil society is a source for enhancing democracy and service delivery, this thesis has found that neither of these programmes has yielded much in terms of fostering democracy and service delivery. In interrogating concerns regarding forms of representation, accountability and participation, it may be argued that in terms of both representation and accountability, the PMO represents and accounts to a certain minority only. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that participation in the safety sector activities reinforces rather than challenging the coercive rule iii of gangs (drug lords) in Manenberg. With reference to VPUU, failure to implement the programme has frustrated many potential community allies. Furthermore, inclusion in the VPUU project in Manenberg was only accorded to two NGOs (notably PMO), despite the fact that there are two hundred and thirty NGOs conducting activities in Manenberg. This has limited participation in the first stages of the project to those groups. While, the VPUU project has delayed in Manenberg, its representatives have also been seen to be unaccountable to the community. In short, with reference to Manenberg, the notion that civil society can solve or model alternative solutions to democratic development remains farfetched.
Democracy by accident: the rise of Zuma and the renaissance of the tripartite alliance
(Routledge, 2009) Piper, Laurence; Matisonn, Heidi
In party organisational terms, the rise of Jacob Zuma to the Presidency of the African National Congress (ANC) is a victory for the alliance partners and the struggle-era vision of the ANC as a popular front, or the ‘ANC as alliance’, as against Mbeki’s centralised and exclusionary practice. Accidentally, this renaissance of the ANC as alliance is good for democracy in South Africa understood in both liberal and participatory terms. On the one hand, the factionalism in the party provided for an alternation of leadership not possible through formal elections; and perhaps not desirable at this time. Further, the emergence of Congress of the People (COPE) promises a more meaningful party pluralism, taking the pressure for democratic competition off ANC internal processes into the future. On the other hand, the renaissance of the ANC as alliance provides better access to government by organisations, especially COSATU, who have a proven record in mobilising working and poor people around key social issues from land to HIV-AIDS and Zimbabwe. In this way the chances of greater inclusion in national decision-making are heightened, at least for some marginalised groups.
Democracy for a bargain: The 1999 election in KwaZulu‐Natal
(Taylor & Francis, 1999) Piper, Laurence
While the IFP/ANC race for first place in KwaZulu-Natal was the closest of any in the country, the 1999 election was both freer and fairer than ever before, and the result was readily accepted by all parties. In short, the 1999 election further consolidated both the institutions and culture of liberal democracy. Importantly, this consolidation was predicated in an understanding reached between the IFP and ANC that, whatever the outcome of the election, they would co-operate in government at both national level and in KwaZuluNatal. In so doing, the stakes of the election were lowered, making a free and fair election not just more affordable but also desirable so as to legitimate future governance. This deal is further confirmation of the trend in KwaZulu-Natal politics away from the ethnically couched confrontational styles of the transition years towards a more ideologically inclusive and co-operative politics. This trend, along with the basic patterns of party affiliation, suggest that KwaZuluNatal is no more unique politically than any other province in South Africa.
Do I need ethnic culture to be free? A critique of Will Kymlicka's liberal nationalism
(AJOL, 2002) Piper, Laurence
As part of a vigorous debate about the politics of multiculturalism, Will Kymlicka has sought to find grounds within liberal political theory to defend rights for cultural groups. Kymlicka argues that the individual's ability to choose the good life necessarily takes place in a cultural context such that access to one's ethnic or national culture constitutes a condition of autonomy. Thus, in liberal societies where the culture of minority ethnic groups or nations is under threat, these groups should enjoy certain special rights so as to up hold the autonomy of their individual members. However, Kymlicka's ‘liberal nationalist' argument relies on a problematic isomorphism between culture and identity. Very simply, I shall argue that an individual's culture is not necessarily given by their membership of an ethnic group or nation, thus breaking the link between individual autonomy and rights for ethnic groups or nations.
The election result and its implications for political party configuration
(Sabinet, 2004) Piper, Laurence
As a competition for both popular support and political office, Election 2004 deepened the dominant-party system in South Africa. In terms of support, the African National Congress (ANC) did better than ever. Indeed, its leadership seemed more concerned about internal left-wing politics than about rival parties. Conversely, with the partial exception of the Democratic Alliance (DA), opposition parties did worse, and appear stuck in a zero-sum competition amongst themselves. In terms of office, ANC popularity meant greater national power and, for the first time, control of all provinces. Further, Election 2004 revealed that the more the ANC cooperates with its alliance partners the better it does at the polls, and the more influence the Congress Of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu)/South African Communist Party (SACP) have over policy. For opposition parties this dynamic is reversed. Those parties which co-operated with the ANC to get office lost popular support, while those which eschewed office did better at the polls. In sum, while popularity and office are mutually reinforcing for the alliance, they constitute a dilemma for opposition parties. Finally, while there are signs that broader social change will pose some class-related problems for the ANC, more profound racial obstacles await opposition parties.
The emergent practice of governance and its implications for the concept of politics
(AJOL, 2007) Piper, Laurence
This paper explores the implications of the disjuncture between the real-world practice of governance and the popular understanding of politics. There are two ways of addressing this disjuncture. The first is to accept the popular conception of politics and declare its relative decline, alongside the state, in the face of supra-national governance. The second is to challenge the popular conception of politics and include governance in a new, broader definition. From the view that empirical social scientific concepts are judged in terms of their utility, both to everyday discourse and to philosophical and theoretical discourses, a case is made for the second option.
Enforced informalisation: the case of liquor retailers in South Africa
(Taylor & Francis, 2013) Charman, Andrew; Petersen, Leif; Piper, Laurence
After a decade of unsuccessful efforts to migrate informal businesses to South Africa’s formal economy there remains little understanding of the dynamics in this sector, especially as regards micro-enterprises. International literature discusses ‘exit’ and ‘exclusion’, holding that poor law enforcement is the reason for the persistence and growth of the informal economy. Through examining the informal liquor retail (“shebeen”) sector, we demonstrate that enforcement actually produces informality in this sector. Illustrated with examples from one of our sites in Delft South, Cape Town, the article describes key aspects of shebeen business practice, including the responses to greater law enforcement. Notably, instead of closing shop or facing the hurdles of compliance, the great majority of shebeens continue to evade the law by downscaling their activities. This finding has implications, not just for liquor policy in South Africa, but for understanding both theories of formalisation and theories of the informal economy.
Expert advocacy for the marginalised: how and why democratic mediation matters to deepening democracy in the global South
(Institute of Development Studies, 2011) Piper, Laurence; von Lieres, Bettina
Summary: The paper argues that the practice of democratic mediation is an increasingly common, yet under-researched, component of engagements between citizens and public authorities across the globe. While the actors who mediate (and their tactics) are diverse and are not necessarily of the marginalised group, they share a commitment to overcoming representational, knowledge or ideological deficits in decision-making for the marginalised group. While the ‘speaking for’ nature of democratic mediation clearly opens up critical legitimacy problems, the practice of democratic mediation appears to be remarkably common, and even effective. The paper demonstrates this by surveying at least three kinds of democratic mediation observed across a large number of cases. First is ‘mediation as professional advocacy’. The mediator in these cases is more an ‘interested intermediary’ in contentious policy politics. In a context of skewed powerrelations where certain groups remain systematically marginalised, not least through knowledge and representational deficits, a degree of advocacy is required to get more egalitarian policy dialogue. Second is ‘mediation as representational entrepreneurship’. This refers to engagements between citizens and forms of public authority that stretch from the local to the global level. In more ‘global-local’ mobilisations, mediators are often experts, professionals, and international NGOs. In more ‘local – global’ movements, the mediators are ‘hybrid activists’ deeply rooted in the local identities and associations. However, in either case the actor is distinguished by the taking of initiative to include the voices of the marginalised in a domain of power-relations which is multi-level. Lastly, ‘mediation as citizenship development’ refers to forms of activism typically associated with community and capacity development, and usually involves limited advocacy by civil society organisations (CSOs). Hence there 04 IDS WORKING PAPER 364 may be little by way of explicit mediation in local governance decision-making in these cases, although the empowerment of communities has a demonstrable and mostly positive impact on local governance.
Faith-based organisations, local governance and citizenship in South Africa
(University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2009) Piper, Laurence
From exclusion to informal segregation: The limits to racial transformation at the University of Natal
(Taylor & Francis, 2004) Piper, Laurence; Durrheim, Kevin; Trotter, Kirsty
In the context of higher education transformation in South Africa, this paper attempts to capture a series of observations about transformation at the forme r University ofNatal. From a descriptive, multidisciplinary perspective it critiques racial transformation at the University as driven by concerns of representivity over the need for desegregation. We base this discussion on three sets of observations: an analysis of institutional policy, a review of demographic change in the staff and student bodies and a study ofstudents ' lived experiences of segregation on campus. During the past decade a great deal ofchange has occurred in the overall racial demographics of the student and staff bodies. While demographic transformation efforts at the University do echo national trends, a closer inspection ofthe policy, practice and lived experience oftransformation at the University reveals that all is not well. In particular, institutional policy with respect to transformation has tended to be reactive and superficial and students experience camp us as a segregated and racialized space. Thus, racial transformation at the University has only been partially successful: while overt racist exclusion is withering, informal segregation and attendant racialization remain.
From local survivalism to foreign entrepreneurship: the transformation of the spaza sector in Delft, Cape Town
(University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2012) Charman, Andrew; Petersen, Leif; Piper, Laurence
Small, home-based grocery stores, known as spaza shops, are ubiquitous throughout the township areas of urban South Africa, constituting an important business in the informal economy. In recent years, this retail market has become a site of fierce competition between South African shopkeepers and foreign entrepreneurs, especially Somalis, and is often cited in the media as one reason behind the xenophobic attacks on foreigners. Drawing on original data collected in the Delft township in the city of Cape Town, this paper demonstrates that foreign entrepreneurs, overwhelmingly Somalis, have come to own around half of the sizeable spaza market in Delft in the last five years. This increase is attributable to larger scale and price competitive behaviour as these entrepreneurs operate collectively in terms of buying shops, and stock, as well as in stock distribution. Also important are some more customer friendly services too. Compared to the more 'survivalist' local business model where individual owners look to supplement existing household income rather than generate an entire livelihood, the Somali business model has rapidly outcompeted local owners, bringing spaza prices down and forcing many locals to rent out their shop space to foreign shopkeepers. Consequently, while South African shopkeepers resent the Somali influx, most consumers appreciate the better prices and improved service. The rise of Somali shopkeepers thus represents a transformation of business practice in the spaza sector from survivalist to entrepreneurial modes
From religious transcendence to political utopia: the legacy of Richard Turner for Post-Apartheid political thought
(Berghahn Journals, 2010-06) Piper, Laurence
In recent times South African politics has come to exhibit features typical of many post-colonial contexts, not least the rise of acrimonious and confrontational politics based around personalities and forms of populism. In such contexts rational dialogue and democratic deliberation become increasingly difficult to get going and to sustain. Drawing on Richard Turner’s The Eye of the Needle, first published some forty years ago, the paper examines the role religion, and religious organisations, could play in returning such acrimonious public debate to more democratic and visionary grounds. The key point is that religion offers a form of transcendence from the divisive and bitter particularities that animate contemporary political conflicts. It does this through the spiritual affirmation of our shared human worth due to the love of God(s). From this recognition, achieved through spiritual appeals, the conditions for more rational and democratic debate can be retrieved. In addition, religious transcendence redeems the value of utopian thinking, and thus could help re-orientate public debate from a politics of blame for past wrongs to a politics of imagining of future rights.

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