Compromise in south africa: class relations, political opportunities, and the contextualized “ripe moment” for resolution

Abstract

South Africa's struggle against apartheid illustrates a theory of compromised revolution. Compromise is associated with three levels of analysis: the immediate level of bargaining conditions; the structural level of political opportunities; and the societal level of class relations. By the late 1980s in South Africa, all parties were increasingly aware of an emergent military stalemate, and both sides saw negotiation as the only way out of indefinite war. Beyond this proximate level of analysis, shifting class interests and political instability during heightened financial crisis shaped cost assessments and political realignments within the National Party government. Movement and government efficacy fluctuated in response to one another during the 1980s, effecting a shift in the balance of power that increasingly favored the opposition and opened the possibility of negotiations. Attention to the interplay between class relations and political alignments in shaping the “ripe moment” for resolution highlights the usefulness of a multi-dimensional explanation of negotiation, thereby contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the structures and dynamics of conflict and compromise.

Citation

Marsh, K. (2001), "Compromise in south africa: class relations, political opportunities, and the contextualized “ripe moment” for resolution", Coy, P.G. (Ed.) Political Opportunities Social Movements, and Democratization (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 37-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-786X(01)80017-3