Dr. Håkan Thörn
Department of Sociology
Gothenburg University
hakan.thorn@sociology.gu.se
ABSTRACT
In this paper I argue that collective action against the apartheid system in South Africa should be conceptualised as a transnational social movement, related to a context of political globalization during the post-war era, and part of the construction of an emerging global civil society during this period. Distinct national movement organisations existed, but they were all linked internationally, and their actions, as well as the actions of states, were conditioned by global contexts. The anti-apartheid movement thus proves an important historical case in relation to the recent interest in transnationalism in the context of social movement theory, which until recently largely has emphasised national movements and contexts. The article discerns the crucial forms of organisation, mobilisation and processes of identification that constituted anti-apartheid as a transnational social movement. It also contextualises the movement, emphasising political globalization, post-coloniality and the Cold War. In this historical context a new, global political space emerged, constituted by three interrelated phenomena that played a crucial role in facilitating global anti-apartheid action: a) the new media which creates new possibilities for global communication, the creation of b) transnational networks of individuals, groups and organisations, made possible not only through the new media, but also by face-to-face interaction facilitated by the new possibilities of travel. Not the least important, these networks must also be seen in the context of decolonisation and post-colonial migration and, c) the rise and consolidation of new "global" documents and institutions, predominantly Human Rights and the UN.