African uprisings, labour and ideology in an era of renewed economic crisis: The case of South Africa

This chapter develops a critical political economy analysis of the neo-liberal policies in Africa and the resistance from civil society organisations. This can be called the ‘globalisation of people and deglobalisation of capital’. Across Africa, much labour movement activism is still rooted in micro-shop floor and industry-level sectoral demands. Shifting to a broader ideological terrain, to national policy contestation and to Africa-wide solidarity is a vast task. The South African working-class turn to xenophobia in 2008, 2010 and 2015 (and in between) show that even the most advanced, militant proletariat reverts to Othering instead of continental and internationalist solidarity. Still, once organised labour in unison with community, environmental, women’s and other groups provides the ‘Africans uprising’ against the ‘Africa Rising’ constituency of extractive industries and neo-liberal policy managers, a different set of policies will be advocated. An egalitarian economic argument will be increasingly easier to make now that global capitalism is forcing Africa towards rebalancing. That will compel, ultimately, a much more courageous economic policy.