Belgrade launch of the ‘The End of South Africa? Contemporary South Africa and the politics of Self-Determination’
On the 17th of May, the NSI, together with the Belgrade Internal Law Circle, launched the report ‘The End of South Africa? Contemporary South Africa and the politics of Self-Determination’.
An excellent panel, including Ivor Chipkin (NSI), Miloš Hrnjaz (Belgrade International Law Circle), Biljana Djordjević (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences), Janja Simentić Popović (Belgrade International Law Circle) and Milan Krstić (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences) met to discuss and debate questions the report raises.
Current populist politics in South Africa, in Eastern Europe, and parts of Western Europe, the US and in Russia raises fundamental questions about the identity of the ’people’ and who belongs and who doesn’t to the political community.
Current populist politics in South Africa, in Eastern Europe, and parts of Western Europe, the US and in Russia raises fundamental questions about the identity of the ’people’ and who belongs and who doesn’t to the political community. Exploring the politics of self-determination is a way of considering how the external and internal boundaries of political communities are changing or being called into question. In the post-war period the foundation of Yugoslavia went against the post-war consensus that states should house homogenous nations.
After 1994, South Africa was the banner child of cosmopolitanism. The South African and Yugoslav experiences raise tough questions about the possibility of political communities founded on diversity and difference. The current situation thus demands creative thinking and policy making.
Please see the full report on our website.
