Knowledge production in/for action : a case study of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement.
Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Social movement struggles have generated an interest amongst theorists who want to
contribute to the growing literature about organisations that organise and mobilise in recent
years. Amongst these theorists are those who argue that most crucial in researching social
movements is looking at learning and theorising within social movements. There is a debate
about whether there is in fact any theorising within social movements, or rather external
theorists present their own ideas about social movements.
This study locates itself at the forefront of this debate with the intention to argue that social
movements’ struggles are useful for understanding learning and theorising within social
movements themselves. It uses existing theories of learning, in particular Communities of
Practice theory, to argue that social movements theorise. The study uses Abahlali
baseMjondolo, a social movement in Durban, South Africa, to engage with the question of
learning in social movements. I conducted eight interviews with current and former members
of Abahlali, looked at documents generated by the movement itself, and drew on my eight
years’ experience of working closely with the movement.
The study is located within a critical paradigm and is written within the Marxist theory of
social movements, hence it sees Abahlali’s struggle as being about confronting systems of
power. It is a struggle that rests on issues of equality, justice and social transformation where
the rights of being human and rights to place and to a decent life take priority. Critically
important is that this struggle is a school through which its members derive new meanings
and power to engage their reality. The study shows that this struggle is not elite driven or
externally manipulated but that organising and mobilising take place from the ground up.
What is striking in this study is that Abahlali’s struggle is part of their practice of theorising.
In their struggle, Abahlali have produced a phenomenon based on their lived experience and
theoretical framing called Ubuhlalism. However, using the Community of Practice theory, the
study presents significant shifts in Abahlali’s practice and theory-making processes over time.
Description
M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2014.
Keywords
Abahlali BaseMjondolo (Organization), Social movements--Study and teaching., Knowledge, Sociology of., Education--Social aspects., Theses--Education.