DOCUMENT RESUME ED 389 834 CE 069 788 AUTHOR Walters, Shirley TITLE Education for Democratic Participation. an Analysis of Self

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 389 834 CE 069 788

AUTHOR Walters, Shirley TITLE Education for Democratic Participation. An Analysis of Self-Education Strategies within Certain Community Organisations in Cape Town in the 1980s. Adult and Non-Formal Education Thesis Series. INSTITUTION University of the Western Cape, Bellville (South Africa). Centre for Adult and Continuing Education. REPORT NO ISBN-1-86808-025-0 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 315p. PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143) Tests/Evaluation Instruments (160)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC13 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Adult Education; Case Studies; *Community Education; *Community Organizations; Democracy; Developing Nations; Educational Practices; *Educational Theories; Foreign Countries; *Nonformal Education; *Voluntary Agencies IDENTIFIERS *South Africa (Cape Town)

ABSTRACT This book describes self-education within community organizations in Cape Town (South Africa) where a primary concern was the promotion of democratic participation. Part I describes the participatory research approach. Part II focuses on the historical contexts in which voluntary associations have developed and the specific theory and practice that pertain to voluntary associations. Part III discusses the literature, then focuses on three social theorists influential within community adult education--Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire, and Antonio Gramsci. It also identifies conceptual tools t, be used for the analysis of the self-education strategies. Part IV provides background information on the relationship of new voluntary organizations to others in Cape Town and demographic and other pertinent information concerning Cape Town. Part V presents empirical data from three case studies of service and resource agencies established in Lape Town in the late 1970s. Presentation of the case studies follows this format: research process, relationship between macro and micro organizational contexts, internal processes: sharing responsibility, and what helps or hinders the sharing of responsibility. Part VI interprets data that focus on the relationship between the macro and micro organizational contexts and the internal functioning of the organizations. Appendixes include a checklist of categories for the investigation of the cases, resolutions adopted at the 1984 National Conference of Rape Crisis Organisations held in Cape Town, the survey instrument, and a synopsis of the main findings. Contains 230 references. (YLB)

* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. le II

c oa EDUCATION FORDEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION Shirley Walters

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sommorimommlenel BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 ADULT AND NONFORMAL EDUCATION THESIS SERIES EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

An analysis of self-education strategies within certain community organisations in Cape Town in the 1980s

SHIRLEY WALTERS

Centre for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) University of the Western Cape Published 1989 by the Centre for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE), University of the Western Cape, Bellville

® 1989 Shirley Walters

ISBN 1 86808 025 0

Printed by UWC Printing Department, University of the Western Cape, Bellville CONTENTS

Foreword by Prof J G Gerwel 7 Preface 8 PART I INTRODUCTORY Chapter 1Introduction 11 Notes to Part I 23 PART II VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS Introduction 30 Chapter 2Definitions and typologies of voluntary associations 31 Chapter 3 Democratic theories 45 Chapter 4Characteristics of voluntary associations 50 Notes to Part II 63 PART III COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION Introduction 70 Chapter 5 Review of the literature 71 Chapter 6 Ivan Illich and Paulo Fivire 75 Chapter 7 Antonio Gramsci 93 Chapter 8 Conceptual tools for the analysis of self-education 103 Notes to Part 111 108 PART IV THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT Introduction 118 Chapter 9 Background 119 Chapter 10 Voluntary associations in Cape Town in the 1970s and 1980s 124 Chapter II Why did democracy become so important for the emergent voluntary associations? 129 Notes to Part IV 152 PART V CASE STUDIES Introduction 161 Chapter 12 Zakhe 164 Chapter 13 Careers Research and Information Centre 201 Chapter 14 Rape Crisis Cape Town 234 Notes to Part V 258 PART VI DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Chapter 15 Discussion and conclusion 262 Notes to Part VI \ 297 REFERENCES 298 APPENDICES 311

6 7

FOREWORD In its mission statement UWC Objectives,accepted by Senate and Council in 1982, the University of the Western Cape definedits socio-political location and committed itself to a range of educationalactivities congruent with that location. The University recognises the structured natureof social, political and economic advantage and disadvantage inSouth African society, rejects the politico-ideological grounds on which it wasestablished as an institution to serve those structures of inequality,and locates itself as an educational agency serving the forces of socialchange and transformation. One of the activities to which the institution committeditself in its mission statement is that of continuing education. The Centre for Adult and Continuing Education(CACE) therefore represents a central educational concernof the University of the Western Cape. Established in April 1985, the Centre has contributed to abroadcning of our understanding of the role of a university in society:the Centre does not function merely as an adjunct to the `coreactivities' of the University, but has influenced the central educational debate in theinstitution. The University attempts to take seriously itsrelationship with thc 'community' and the manner in which that relationshipinfluences teaching, learning and research in the University. Our understanding of conceptslike `democracy' and 'accountability', which are such key oncs in the on-goinginstitutional debate, must be informed by the institution'sunderstanding of the relationship with the `community'. And CACE has been aprimary agency for bringing that debate into focus. CACE's Adult and Non-Formal Education ThesisSeries, of which this work is the first, is a further significant contributionin this regard. While the University explores new modes of educationalactivity, it is the content and quality of theory it generates that will be decisivein ultimately evaluating our contribution. This publication series sets out tocontribute to the theoretical debate over non-formal education. G Gerwel Rector and Vice-Chancellor University of the Western Cape 8

PREFACE

This work was originally presentedas a Ph. D. dissertation to the Universityof Cape Town, in 1985. The thesis reached completion thanksto the inspiration, support and constructive criticism of others. I wishto express my gratitude to: the members of the Anthropology Dept. U.C.T.,Rhoda Bertelsman, Yvonne Chetty, C.R.I.C. staff, Dave Donald, FerdieEngel, Inez and Charles Ferris, Trish F1ederman, Sally Frankenthal, PaulHare, Brian Heuvel, Sandy Lazarus, Francie Lund, Mavis Makeleni, MizanaMatiwana, Noma-India Mfeketo, Clive Millar, Frank Molteno, Tony Morphet,Steve O'Dowd, Cyelle Pollock, Rape Crisis members, Shelly Sacks,Angela Schaffer, Rachel Sharp, Shelly Simonsz, Crain Soudien, John Turner, Hestervan der Walt, Graham van Wyk, Ingrid Weiderman, Gerry Wheale,Caroline White and members of Zakhe. I wish to express very special thanksto my supervisor, Peter Kallaway, and to my close friend, Johan Walters.

NOTE: Financial assistance given by theHuman Sciences Research C.:k/uncil towards the cost of this research is herebyacknowledged. Opinions expressed or conclusions arrived at are those of the author andare not to be regarded :As those of the HSRC.

8 Part I introductory Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse theinformal and nonform al educational practices within fxrtain community resource andservice agencies, which have formed a part of an emergent socialmovement1 in Cape Town in the early 1980s. It aims: To describe and explain the self-educational practiceswithin these community organisations at a particular historicaljuncture.2 Self-education here is defined as a conscious strategywhich is used by members of community organisations to developthe capabilities of their own membership to participate fully in the management andadministration of their organisations. The study therefore focuses on thestrategies used within community organisations for the imparting ofparticipatory democratic leadership skills. The study is illuminative andexplanatory, rather than evaluative.3 The rational:. for the study is twofold. Firstly,the investigation is in response to pleas within the adulteducation literature4 for research to be undertaken which examines educational practiceswithin voluntary associations and social movements.Gelpi5 argues that some of the most exciting and innovative educational work is occuring outside ofeducational institutions, within organisations su7h as youth movements, localvoluntary associations, trade unions, and cooperatives. There is littleresearch of these educational activities, and therefore little theoretical understandingof them. Gelpi also points out that in periods of social change,popular movements and their educational initiatives appear to be particularlysignificant and therefore, he argues, they need to be the focus ofadult education research. The second reason for the study,which relates to thefirst, is that in the early 1980s, conditions in Cape Town weresuch, that a wide range of extra-parliamentary, community and worker organisations wereestablished, and they were engaging in diverse, innovativeeducational practices. The opportunity to study the innovative educationalpractices within such or- 12 Part I: Iniroductory ganisations, as recommended by Gelpi, therefore presented itself,and I was in a position to take this opportunity. A central assumption within the study is that it is impossibleto talk meaningfully about educational processes within voluntaryassociations without first looking at the organisational and socialcontext in which they are operating. Organisational practices are very much integrated intoand determined by the political, economic and ideological forces.°The study therefore includes an historical perspectiveon voluntary associations in general and of the voluntary associations in Cape Townin particular.

SEQUENCE OF THE STUDY

The planned sequence of the thesis begins witha review of the literature both of Voluntary Associations and Community AdultEducation. Despite the fact that there is no body of literature which pertainsdirectly to the field of study, the review will include detailedcommentary on three social theorists who have contributed substantially to Adult Educationin general and Community Adult Education in particular. Theyare Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire and Antonio Gramsci. The purpose of the reviews isto locate the study in the context of the embryonic literature, to providea conceptual backdrop for the study and to identify suitable conceptual tools for the analysisof the empirical data. The second phase of thesequence is a presentation of the three case studies which will be located historically withinthe broader socio-political coi text. The self-educational practices will be analysed boththrough use of the conceptual tools developed in the first phaseand by relating the practices to the broader context. The third and final phase of the thesis willconcentrate on an interpretation of the educational practices within thecase studies in the light of the discussions developed within the earlier sections.Onthe basis of this interpretation judgements will be offered concerning thesignificance of the educational practices and the value of the conceptual toolsfor the study of education within community organisations. In thisway the main aim of the thesis Will be achieved.

RESEARCH APPROACH

The overall research appi oach thatwas employed from the outset was the Participatory Research Approach (PRA),as defined in the adult education

1 Introduction 13 literature.7 This approach demands that the research integrates 'investigation, education and action'. Unlike conventional anthropological research strategies, it sets out to actively engage with, and thus influence, the research subjects. Within the framework of the PRA, a researc:i strategy was adopted which was similar to that advocated by Glaser andStrauss8 for the development of grounded theory, which is a strategy where as far as possible a generative rather than a verificatory approach is adopted. Grounded theory means freely using qualitative data in an attempt to derive categories, concepts and theory from the data rather than using the data as a means of testing already formulated theory. It implies an ongoing interplay between the empirical data and existing theories as the research moves towards the generation of new theory. The research proceeds from the particular to the general - it is an inductive rather than a deductive research approach. The PRA is a form of action research. Action research has developed as a reaction to the dominant research paradigm of positivism of the 1950's and 1960's. The dominant view has been that research is an objective, value free science. A wide number of writers from a range of disciplines have developed criticisms of positivist methodology in the social sciences.9 Increasingly social researchers have come to question the reliance of researchers on quantitative methods of social enquiry. As Pilsworth and Ruddock1° point out: these methods are still dominant in education, social welfare and government. Investigators in these fields commonly suppose that to adopt an orthodox research approach is to be somehow 'scientific' and, therefore, virtuous. Increas- ingly elaborate techniques have been devised, often based on sophisticated statistical r)cedures, with the overall effect of widening the gap between the researcher and his subject of study. We now possess a wealth of facts and figures about specific aspects of the educational process; yet we seem to understand less and less about human behaviour. Actioit research is an approach which sets out to counter consciously the dominent norms within trad!tional social research. It demands `involvement' rather than `detachment' from the researcher. A:, Morphet11 notes: It takes as its starting points the presence of the researcher acting within the situation being studied. It recognises as one of its ground rules that the situation under study is in processby that I mean that the full range of dynamics, both the micro interpersonal exchanges and the extended social pressure which shape the situation, are important issues of interest. 14 Part 1 Introductory

Action rescarch is thus concerned with the relationship between the researcher and those being researched, with the process of the research and the outcomes of the research. PRA, as will be elaborated later, is similarly concerned with these aspects of research. However, coming out of the adult education tradition, it has a particular commitment to the educational value of the research process for all participants. It is this specific commitment, which is tied into the 'investigation and action' components, which distinguishes it from other forms of action research. Although it may not be normal practice in theses of this nature to elaborate in any detail on the research approach, because of the integral part that the research process played within the investigation as a whole, it does require some further discussion. A brief overview of the theoretical and practical research concerns will therefore be given. Recearch strategies for the study of voluntary associations most frequently include surveys and case studies.12 The strategies are,as Butcher13 points out, not 'adopted wholly on scientific criteria, but result from a mixture of methodological preference and contingent opportunity'. Therefore heargues that it is important that case studies of voluntary associations,are read with some understanding of how the research developed and how the methodology was used. The research strategies described in the literatuie, have includedpar- ticipant observation, which is a 'being everywhere and knowing everything' approach, and a short term, more intensive approach which involves, for example, surveys, interviews and historical research. Thereappear to be advantages and disadvantages in both approaches. Participant observation is described by Mc Call and Simons14 as:

involv(ing) some amount of genuine social interaction in the field with the subjects of the study, some direct observation of relevantevents, some formal and a great deal of informal interviewing, some systematic counting,some systematic collection of documents and artefacts, and open-endedness in the directions of the study.

As Becker and Geer15 have pointed out the value of participant observation is that it provides a rich, experiential context through whichone can:

become aware of incongruous or unexplained facts... (become] sensitive to their possible implications and connections with other observed facts,and thus continually revise and adapt onc's theoretical orientation and specificproblems in the direction of greater relevance to the phenomena under study.

1,3 Introduction 15

In contrast to participant observation, Butcher describes the advantagesof the short term, intensive approach, as being the researcher's possible access to a wider range of opposing perspectives. He argues that a 'visiting' researcher, particularly one not known to the group, is more likely to obtain evidence from all sides than is the person who has been closely involved withthe group over a long period of time. On the other hand, itis acknowledged that a defect of the intensive, short term investigation, is that the researcher obtainslimited, second-hand perspectives on organisational or historical events. Frecm an, Butcher and Gittel1/6 all argue for a combination of participant observation, and other, more direct forms of data collection (e.g. questionnaires). They argue that there is a need to obtain distance from the research situation, in order to gain a degree of objectivity.Freeman17 found that in the first phase of her research, she was intensively involved with the Women's Movement on a day-to-day basis. Later she withdrew from active involvement, and followed activities in an indirect way through friends andpublica- tions. This sequence of active participation followed by indirect involvement, she believes, afforded her with a more infonned perspective on the area of study than would be possible for anyone who was either a participant or primarily an observer. The inevitability of subjective interpretations of the data by the researchers was acknowledged in the abovernentioned studies. The researchers recognised that with the use of qualitative research methods there was no watertight mechanism to ensure the validity and the reliability of the data. Subjective judgement and bias are perennial problems for action research. AsMorphet18 explains, the safeguard which action research offers against these problems is that the fundamental rationale of the method is for the researcher to expose everything to scrutiny. The researcher's vested interest is not in the success or failure of a prized theory but in understanding what took place. AsMarrist9 puts it 'a study of community groups is a study of contemporary political history'. Therefore he says: From the perspective of differing ideologies and interests, the same history reveals different patterns, which are all insights into its meanings though their implications may be contradictory. Hence the researcher has to decide for whose interest he speaks, and whom he is seeking to influence, while still recognising that the force of his argument depends on the intellectual integrity of his analysis, not his commitment. An important question for the judging of research then becomes, not whether or not the researcher is 'neutral', but whether an adequate degreeof intellectual integrity has been achieved. 16 Pan 1: huroductory

Research amongst community groups in the. South African context is particularly problematic. In aprevious study20 in which I interviewed twenty-five local community workers, it was very clear that the political differences between individuals and groups resulted ii, a deep suspicion of, amongst others, funders and personnel from educational institutions, who were offering 'help'. Academic research was particularly suspect.21 Research, therefore, if it was to be undertaken at all, needed to be negotiated and developed in such a way as to be mutually beneficial to all parties. The PRA appeared to offer a possible way forward because of its commitments to 'investigation, education and action'.

PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACH PRA as used in this study refers to the work which is actively promoted by the Participatory Research Group Network in Canada.22 Backgroundto PRA and key aspects of its theory will be presented briefly. This will be followed by an elaboration of important contradictions and issues which have emerged through the research process. The PRA has arisen mainly out of Third World experience in which the serious incompatibility of traditional social research methods and theneeds and problems of Third World societies has becomevery clear. Experimenta- tion by social scientists in Tanzania and some South American countries23 was undertaken to explore more committed forms of research. Consciousness of the problem also grew in Europe and North America dueto the dys- functionality of one-way, detached research ina world of immediate and urgent problems.24 There was thorough questioning of, for example, the means and ends of social research, the relationship between the researcher and the subjects of the research, and the political implications ofresearch. In the Third World, questions about social researchwere necessarily posed in the light of basic development goals, for example,increased food production, and mass literacy campaigns. Furthermore thesegoals were set against a background of escalating anti-imperialist strugglesand strengthen- ing capitalist penetration. The answers tomany of the questions were couchcd in humanist and populist terms, that lookedto 'the people', 'the nation', 'the oppressed' as its subject. In this cont r xt, itwas recognised, that social research had to be directed towards 'liberation'. 'Development'and 'liberation', as concepts within this literature have unspecified content, and generallywere seen as synonymous. The social researcher often becamea self-conscious actor and participant in the process of 'development and liberation'. 15 Introduction 17

There is not much comprehensive material on the epistemologyof PRA.25 It seems that it has roots in Pragmatism, Existc,,,,alistn and Marxism. In the various critiques of PRA from social scientists within the PRAtradition, charges are levelled against either its idealist, pragmatist orhistoric,iti, materialist leanings, depending on the theoretical framework of the critics:- These differences clearly effect the interpreitation of PRA theory andpractice and these debates permeate theliterature.2 Key concerns of PRA relate to the research process, the goalof the research and the relationship between the researcher and the subjectsof the research. Each of these will be discussed briefly. The research process is crucial within PRA as resprchers reject the distinction made between means and ends ofresearch.`8 There are three interrelated Rrocesses within PRA which cannot be separaLed, and which somewritersh9 believe give PRA 'its fundamental strength and power': social investigation, education and action. Since PRA comes out of the adult education tradition, certain principles of adult education are a central foundation. These principles, in very general terms, assume a commitment to adults participating activelyin the world, and deciding what they want to learn and the best way to learn it.PRA is therefore a research and educational approach which has acommitment to the learning process of those engaged in the research. It is also committed toaction which demands 'involvement' rather than 'detachment' from those concerned. The people engaged in PRA share a dissatisfaction with the existing social order, a commitment to improving the social conditions of 'the oppressed'. and a commitment to a research and education process which involvesthe active participation of local people. However, there are differences among those involved in PRA depending on their differing political viewpoints.All are working towards some form of social change : for somethis means class struggle leading to a socialist future, for others it means dialogue and adjustment leading to social reform within the existing social relations. The commitment to 'improving the social conditions amongst the oppressed' is clearly a political commitment. Those engaged in PRA acknowledge that within the debate about the nature of social science are views of man and society with profound political repercussiops.This has important implications for the researchers, because asWebster3 ) has argued: Questions intellectuals ask arc crucially shaped by the ways in which they are linked to political practice. 18 Part I: Introductory

The lack of explicit elaboration within PRA on the natttre of the desired forms of social change, contributes to a lack of clarity in PRA in general, and is an important criticism of PRA. One of the aims of PRA is to bridge the traditional gulf between the researcher and 'the researched'. The ideal is a form of cooperative enquiry between all involved in which: all, together identify the problem the educational value in the process is maximised the control of the research lies with the people involved awareness in people of their own abilities and resources is strengthened those with specialised knowledge and skills, often from outside the situation, are committed participants and framers in a process which leads to militancy rather than detachment critical arid collective analysis that establishes and maintains control in thc hands of the people and explicitly rejects manipulation, is advocated. Those engaged in PRA are concerned with striving to attainan equal relationship between all those involved in the researchprocess, however, the rationale differs depending on the theoretical framework used. Some of Humanist /Existentialist /Pragmatist tendencies, may stress the importance of subjective experience of the people involved, whilst the Marxistsare more likely to emphasise the erosion of the mental-manual division of labom in the research process. With this theoretical discussion concerning therey.',nr . h approach in mind, the design of the research will now be described.

RESEARCH DESIGN As Butcher was quoted as saying, research strategiesare a mixture of 'methodological preference and contingent opponunity'. This reflects the reality of the research approach and design thatwas developed. The initial stages of the investigation involveda range of different strategies, all of which were designed to immerseme, as participant observer, in the research context. The most significant of thesewas a negotiated, and intensive PR relationship with one communityresource and service agency, Zakhe, over an eighteen month period. During this time the. PRAwas amsciously used and developed, and thisI vriod culminated in 7akho hosting 17 Introduction 19 a one day workshop on 'Self- Management inCommunity Agencies' which was attended by fifty- four people from fifteen localagencies.31 The data gathered from this occasion was ricih, and provided substantial background for the more intensive case studies.'2 The choice of the agency with which I worked, was determined largely by 'contingent opportunity'. I had had a relationship with certain membersof Zakhe for several years, and was thus approached for assistance in the running of a training module spread over a four month period, as part of their in-service training programme. During the course of my involvement with them, ideas for the research project were developed, and finally a research relationship negotiated with all members. The decision to study educational practiccs within agencies, rather than for example civic associations, was also based on contingent opportunity. The climate amongst the emerging movement of worker and community organisations in mid-1982 in Cape Town was politically charged and will be discussed in detail in Part Four. The community service agencies, were sufficiently peripheral to thc explicit political activities although in close touch with developments, to allow easier research access. The educational and class backgrounds of members of the agencies, which were predominantly petty bourgeois, and my own social location, plus my involvement in community service agencies in the previous seven years, presumably also made the agencies more accessible to me for research purposes. Additional, important strategics during this phase of the research, included my active membership of three other voluntary associations, which had emerged in the early 1980s, and which formed a part of the incipient social movement.33I also availed myself of the opportunity, when invited, to act in the capacityof organisational consultant/facilitator, to five other voluntary associations. These engagements provided brief, but in-depth opportunities for general immersion in the context. Thc second stage of the research process included a distancing from the intensive involvement with organisations, although there was not a total withdrawal. A checklist for the collection and classification of the data on education within the case studies had begun to emerge during the intensive period of participant observation within Zakhe (see Appendix One). During that time there was ongoing interaction between tho empirical data and the theoretical peispectives gained from the literature. The emergent checklist was inevitably influenced by both aspects of the research process. With this emergent checklist in mind, two additional agencies were approached, and a short term, more structured research relationship was entered into. The choice of the cases was again determined by both 20 Part I: Introductory methodological considerations and contingent opportunity. Basic criteria for the choice of cases, were : they were resource and service agencies; theywere established in the late 1970s in Cape Town; they were concerned with organisational processes, as well as organisational tasks; they each had differing organisational structures, histories, and services. Each of thecases were represented at the Self-Management Workshop held by Zakhe. The primary research strategies used with each case study consisted of: a content analysis of all documents including minutes, reports, constitutions, and any other relevant material from the inception of the organisations until the present day; semi-structured interviews with the membership which lastedon average between one and a half to two hours, and whichwere based on the checklist (see Appendix One); participant observation which included intensive periodsas both observer and participant within each of the organisations. A more detailed description of the research strategies and the research relationships which were negotiated with eachcase study will be given in the introdu:tions to the cases. During this phase of the research an historical perspective of the development of the local organisations was also obtained, throughan analysis of local literature and interviews with twelve people who had been involvedin community organisations in Cape Town during the 1970s and 1980s. The interviews were semi- structured and took the form ofcase histories which focused on the involvement of the interviewees in voluntaryassociations during specific periods.34 The third and final stage of the researchprocess was an essential ingredient in order to attain 'intellectual integrity', and avoidthe possible danger of solipsism.35 An historical perspectivewas gained both on the local situation, and on the intellectual tradition conveyed in the literature.A set of analytical tools was identified from the literature which would beused to help probe and make sense of the data. The `set of tools'was applied during the discussions of the work of three social theorists, Illich, Freire andGrarnsci, in order both to test the usefulness of the 'tools' andto give more nuanced meanings to them. The usefulness of the tools for the analysisof the empirical data was then considered in the light of emerging empirical dataand their value during the theoretical discussions. The empirical datafrom the three case studies were then analysed with the use of these conceptual tools.

19 introduction 21 CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF THERESEARCH APPROACH36 The PRA provided an essential ingredient in the initial,and crucial stage of the research design. It was during this time that a necessarydegree of trust was developed and the research problem was moreclearly defined. The educational component, which led to collective actionin the form of a one day workshop for other agencies, and then the publicationof the workshop report, provided rich, collective learningexperiences for us all." The cohesion of the group was also helped by the factthat we all were members of organisations which formed part of the emergent movement,and thus had common social and political goals. It isdifficult to imagine being able to engage in PRA, where manipulation is cxplicitilyrejected, unless there are these common political objectives.The PRA literature, on the whole does not highlight the possibilities of conflictinginterests, but seems to assume consensus amongst the research participants. During the first phase, the conflicting interests between the'practitioners' and the 'researcher', also needed to be acknowledged.These differences have been usefully elaborated by Leonard andSkipper,A in an article on 'Integrat- ing theory and practice'. They believe that a recognitionof the 'two cultures' is a prelude to action orientated research. The theoretical,and analytical rigour which distinguishes 'research' from, for example, communitywork is not usually of interest to practitioners, who are mostconcerned with practical results. The tensions between action and reflection, theoryand practice, which are real concerns for the PRA, are also concernswithin the case studies, and will therefore be discussed at length later. For the momentit is important to note this tension, and to raisc the questionconcerning the possibilities within the PRA for the erosion of the manual-mental divisionof labour. For the sake of scientific research and intellectualintegrity, it was necessary for me to become progressivelyless intensely involved with the case studies. PRA was utilised in the first casestudy. The research problem was identified by the researcher and thcmembers of Zakhe and the research process included' investigation, education and action'. This processis described in the Zakhe case study. In the other case studies PRA was notused. The research problem had already been identified and there was nocommit- ment to engage in specific 'action' and 'education'.The research relati( )nships involved short term, negotiated commitments and responsibilitieswhich arc commonly accepted practicc in action research. These includeaccountability to the organisations through ongoing feedback;sensitivity to the needs and 22 Part IIntro.liic:on: goals of participants; opsmness about the goals andpio,:ess of the research; time and energy commitment to the organisation during theresearch process. Data collection was done through participant observation. questionnaires, content analyses of organisational documentation and indepth interviews. These research strategies helpedto provide a distance from the research context. They arc described in detail at the beginning of each of thecase studies. The final point which will be discussed in relationto PRA, concerns the control of the research. PRA advocates control in the hands ofthe participants. There are two possible problems with this. Hrstly, inresearch situations there often is a third party, in the form ofa financial sponsor or an educational sponsor, as in the ease of academic research, who will influence what is lssible, thus limiting control by participants. Secondly,accountability is an issue which is not addressed adequately in the PRA literature. 'Msrelates back to the lack of dant concerning the meaning of socialchange. This topic will also form an iipoi tant part of later discussions, and therefore will not bc addressed hers.

TERINI1NI)10(A

In the test I have usualb adh,ft I I.) liat 11,1kt'Uiiie con\ entioi,al South African terntinoloi:v senbing initahiting this coninn, i.e. 'v.hite', 'coloured', 'lndian' and 'A rican When referringcollectively to the A hican, coloured and Indian seetiohs of the population. Ihave used the term 'black', following wha: is today popularuyage within these commuMdes. On the whole I have tried to avoid the suggestionthat these social categodes each encapsulate a homogeneousgroup. In emphasising the social cleavages within each group and the bonds that Cxistbetween them l have used class-related concepts rattle r than those drawn fron, the study of ethnicity. Rather than using the rather clunis). exNdient of placing inverted commas throughout, I have allo-A ed the terms to stand.

21 13 Nuies IV 13t4:1

NOTES TO PART ONE Chapter One application. I will not attempt to 1. The term 'social movement has very w idc define it here. In this conkxt it is used in a'commonsense' way to define a growing numbrzr of organisations, whichscented to hold an increasingly common position with regard to theState, and which were promotingtheir convictions through mole organised and sustainedcollective action on an ideological and practical level. According to Turnerand Killian, as quoted in J. Freeman 1975 THE POLITICS OFWOMEN'S LIBERATION NY: Longman Inc., p. 47, when this happens a social movementis incipient. 2. 'Describe' in this study means to answer the question'what' in relation to the self-education strategies, while 'explain' aims to answerthe question 'why' in relation to these practkes. the research topic as it has been 3. t,-)1",or; to the development and formulation ot presented in this study I proposed to proceedwith an evaluative study rather that! a 'descriptive and explanatory' one. A tentative piop(isal (Research Diary p. 677 June 1982) to this end witsdiscussed with the ith.rnibers of Zakhe and three other community organisations. Theproblems w hieh I c(wld anticipate from such an evaluative study emerged duringthese discussions in this exploratory phase Problems related to the follow*:

a) The task of evaluation' within most situationsbut niore paiticulaily within Cape Town of 1982, was extremely sensitive.For example, I broached the subject with a leader of an orgainsat ion inNlanenherg, a working class coloured township, in ...aym Hiresponse revealed a very differentunderstanding of an 'evaluation' project to the one I had,lie saw evaluation as similar to a seihml examination which was set up to testand judge the. merits and weaknesses of a pat tic ular project or bodyof knowledg& Evaluation for hun meant 'summative evaluation'. 'Formative evaluation', whick is designed to improve the work of the project in as many ways aspossible during the tile of the project and which is often conducted in a pal ticipatory way,was outside of his experience When he suspected that I wanted toevaluate' his organisation he became hostile in his attitude towards me. Otherresearch which 1 had done in 1982 conliimed the loels of ini.strust amongstmembers of organisations to 'outsiders', particularlyitthey were attached to universities.Exploratory conversations in mid 1982 w ith two otherpeople who were active in community organisations confirmed the sensitivities and the likelytailure of an evaluative prole& t within the (nankin I, ins

it) I CUM.' to fealise that in attempting to set iqr aner.aluative research project which krcued on processes withinthe organisations1 had been making a nujiuibci ol assuinpliow regaiding the nature andthe rationale for certain 24 Part I: Introduction

pracdces within the organisations. I believed that theseassumptions needed to be tested before an investigation ofan evaluative kind could be done. I became more and more convinced through my involvement in the organisations that the internal practices in the organisationswere affected in quite direct ways by the broader political, economic and social circumstances.It therefore became more important to understand, in order to explain, the practices atthat particular historical juncture. I also believed that the researchmethods which would be required for an evaluative as opposedto a descriptive and explanatory study would be very different from one another. I believed that an illuminative and explanatory studywould lay the necessary groundwork for an evaluative study of self-educational practices. 4. For example, E. Gelpi 1979 A FUTURE FORLIFELONG EDUCATION Manchester Monographs University of ManchesterPress; R. Armstrong 'Towards the study of community action' in ADULTEDUCATION vol. 45 no. I May 1972; and R. Armstrong and C. T. Davies'Community action, pressure groups and education' in ADULT EDUCATION vol. 50no. 3 Sept. 1977. 5. Gelpi thid. This point is argued very thoroughly inS. Clegg and D. Dunker ly 1980 ORGANISATION CLASS AND CONTROLLondon: Rout ledge and Kegan Paul (R KP), and J. Wolff 'Women in organisations'in S. Clegg and D. Dunkcrly 1077 ISSUES IN ORGANISATIONSLondon: RKP. Y. For example, l'. 0. Kassam ed. 1982PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH: AN EMERGING AL TERNATIVE METHODOLOGYIN SOCIAL SCIENCE RE- SEARCH Dar es Salaam: Black Star Agency;A special edition of CONVER- GENCE Tarticipary Research: Developmentsand Issues' vol. X1V no. 3 1981 B. G. Glaser and A. L. Strauss 1967 THEDISCOVERY OF GROUNDED THEORY: STRATEGIES FOR QUALITATIVERESEARCH Chicago: Al- dine. 0. For example, B. Fay 1975 SOCIAL TIWRY AND POLITICAL PRACTICE Britain: George A lien and Unwin Ltd; J, W.Filstead ed. 1970 QUALITATIVE METHODOLOG Y: FIRSTHAND INVOLVEMENTWITH THE SOCIAL WORLD USA: Markham Publ. Co.; P.Reason and R. Rowan ed. 1981 MAN INQUIRY: A SOL CEBOOKOF NEW PARADIGM RESEARCH I A Mon: John Wiley. o. M. Pi Isworth and R. Ruddock 'Persons,not responents: alternative approaches in the study of social processes' inB. Hall et al ed. 1982 CREATION OF K NOWLEDGE: A MONOPOLY?PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN DEVEI OPMENT New Delhi Societyfor Pardcipatory Research in Asia. II A. R. Morphet 'Action Research' inB. Steinberg ed. 1983 RESEARCH MF:111ODS 1.OR 111GHER DEGREESCape Town: Faculty of Education 23 Notes to Parr I 25

`Grassrooting the For example, useful surveys havebeen done by J. Perlman 12. 1980 LIMITS System' in SOCIAL POLICY 7Sept. 1976; and M. Gittel et a/ THE DECLINE OF COMMUNITYOR- TO CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: a/ GANISATION USA: Sage Publ. Examplesof case studies are H. Butcher et AND 1980 COMMUNITY GROUPS INACTION: CASE STUDIES ANALYSIS London: RKP; J. Freeman1975 THE POLITICS OFWOMEN'S LIBERATION New York: D. McKay. 13.Ibid. 14. As quoted in Freeman op. cit. interviewing: a 15.H. Becker and B. Greer'Participant observation and comparison' in W. Filstead ed. 1970 op.cit. 16.Op. cit. 17 . Op. cit. 18.Op. cit. 19.Quoted in Butcher op. cit. CAPE S. Walters 1982 THE ROLE OFTHE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN 20. UWC. IN ADULT EDUCATION Bellville:Institute for Social Development 1980 21.This point is also noted in anotherlocal study by F. Lund and E. van Harte COMMUNITY WORK FOR DEVELOPMENTAND CHANGE: ISD. Arthur Ave., Toronto. 22.Participatory Research Group, 29 Prince For example the work of F. VioGrossi in Chile, see 'Research inAdult 23. and Education in Latin America' inCONVERGENCE vol. XVII no. 2 1984; the JIPEMOYA project in Tanzania, seeM. Swantz and H. Jerman ed.1977 JIPEMOYA Dept.. of Research andPlanning, Tanzania and the Research Council for the Humanities, the Academyof Finland. 24.For example, P. Reason and R. Rowaned. 1981 op. cit. the Par- 25.J. de Vries 'Science as humanbehaviour. on the epistemology of ticipatory Research Approach' inLinkoping University 1981 RESEARCH FOR THE PEOPLE RESEARCH BYTHE PEOPLE Linkoping. of 26.For example, D. 13ryceson, L. Manicomand Y. Kassam 'The methodology participatory research' in Kassam andMustafa op. cit. bibliography of the PRA literature andhave 27.I have compiled a comprehensive discussed the main debates in the literaturein a published paper: S. Walters 'Participatory Research' in M. B. Steinbergand S. Philcox ed. 1983 RE- SEARCH METHODS FOR HIGHERDEGREES Faculty of Education UCT 1983, 28.B. Fay 1975 op. cit. argues against theseparation of means and ends. 26 Part I. Introduction

29.For example, Society for Participatory Research in Asia 1982.PAR- TICIPATORY RESEARCH. ANINTRODUCTION New Delhi: Society for PR in Asia. 30.E. Webster 'The state, crisis and the university: the socialscienust's dilemma' in PERSPECTIVES INEDUCATION vol. 6 no. 3 1982 31.The agencies represented were: the ADULT LEARNING PROJECT(ALP) which coordinates andruns literacy classes; the CRIC which helps make informed people to caree... decisions; COMMUNITY HEALTHRESEARCH PROJECT (CHRP) which providesresources, information and research health issues; the on COOPERATIVE WHOLE FOODSGROUP (Food Co-op) which provides whole foods to members and educates aboutfood; the EDUCARE CENTRE which offers childcare facilities for members ofUCT; the GENERAL WORKERS AID SERVICE (OWU Aid)which is linked to the General Workers' Union, and provides an information and legalaid service to workers; GRASSROOTSPUBLICATION publishesa regular newsletter; HEALTH CARE TRUST promotes health issues throughresources and edoca- tion to community organisations; KOEBERG ALERT educates and around nuclear power; MOLO campaigns SONGOLO publishes a regularchildren's magazine; RAPE CRISIS (RCCT) providesa counselling service for rape survivors and educates aboutrape; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT (TAP) assists with technicaladvice to community TIAN ASSOCIATION groups; ULWAZO CHRIS- (UCA) is an alternativeeducation institution; VUKUZENZELE is a textile co-operative; and ZAKHEwhich promotes co-operatives and collective action by providingresources and information for organisations. 32. A report was published by Zakhe which described theworkshop, 'Democracy within community agencies: A report on a workshop S,_!pt.1983' Zakhe Resour- ces for Cooperative Development 33. I was a member ofGrassroots Publication the I inited and the Ad Hoc Detainees Wouten's Organisation Action Committee (ADAC). 34.The interviews wcre held during the last part of 1984and eat ly in 1985. Six of the interviewees had had links with the churchesduring the 1970sthis included the Catholic, theMoravian, the Methodist and with one working for Anglican churches, the Christian Institute,and another attending the NYLTP course, The classification of theinterviewees was as follows: 5 white and 2 African. Three coloured, 5 had had previous linksw ith the BCM and at present 8 would align thenielves with the UD1:, and 3 withCAL/BC, while 1 is no longer involved inix il itical irgati sation. 35. A. R. Morphet 'University involvement in Adult 1 (location' 1984 UCT, describes M, Phil. Thesis solipsism, 'as the result ofa situation in which the researcher creates data required to fit an interpretation,which he (sic) has inserted into the materialin the first instance'.p. 21. Notes to Pan 27

36.I have raised some of these issues in an article,'Participatory research: theory and practice' in PERSPECTIVES IN EDUCATIONvol. 7 no. 3 Dec. 1983. 37.In interviews with all staff in September 1982, ininformal conversajons during the COUISC of 1983, and in an interview in October 1984with one member, the PR group was mentioned as having significantlyhelped members in the development of a deeper understanding of democraticpractices both in Zakhe and in other organisations. These observations havehowever to be reported circumspectly, as no independent evaluation was done. 38.R. Leonard and J. Skipper 'Integrating theoryand practice' in R. O'Toole ed. 1971 THE ORGANISATION, MANAGEMENT ANDTACTICS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH USA: Schenkrnan Publ. Co. Inc.

9Th Part II

REVIEW OFTHE LITERATURE ON VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS 30 Pan ii Voluntary Acsociatton.s INTRODUCTION

The aim of Part Two is to developan historical and theoretical perspectiveon voluntary associations in orderto be able to locate the case studies within this body of literature. As mentionedin Part One, a central assumptionfor the study is that it is impossible to talk meaningfully about educationalprocesses within community resource and service agencies without firstlooking at the organisational, ideOlogical andsocial context in which theyare operating Organisational practices are very much integrated into and determinedby political, economic, social and ideological forces. This sectiontherefore focuses on both the broaderhistorical contexts in whichvoluntary associations have developed particularly since the 1960s, and the specifictheory and practice which pertainsto voluntary associations. Chapter Two

DEFINITIONS AND TYPOLOGIES OF VOL UNT4 RY ASSOCIATIONS

Community agencies are a form of voluntary associations.The definition of a 'voluntary association' however is notclearcut. Their arc numerous definitions in the literaturel and asJohnson2 concludes, the definition of a voluntary association turns on four factors:

1. Method of formation: the organisation does not owe itsexistence to statutory authority but comists of a group ofpeople who have come together voluntarily.

2.Method of government: the organization is self-governingand decides on its own constitution and its ownpolicy. The members determine the adtivities,the services to be provided and the methods to be adopted.They are under no legal obligation to provide aservice, and they can select their own clients.

3.Methods of finance: at least some of the organization's moneyshould come from voluntary sources.

4.Motive: the organization should be non profit-making. It should be noted that these factors arc not absolute, and incertain countries like Britain, the relationship between voluntary associations and the statutory authorities is not cicarcut. Much of the financing for the voluntaryassociations in fact often comes from the central or local government. Thefocus for ,

32 Part II: Voluntary Associations

this study, however is on voluntary associations which do not obtain any funding from the statutory authorities. There are various typologies of voluntary associations that have been developed which will be elaborated very briefly. Morris distinguishes between two broad categories, those organisations whose primary purpose is social service, and those which are concerned with the provision of leisure facilities. Murray4 elaborates on the social service category by identifying three kinds of organisations in this area. First there are what he calls caring organisations: organisations whose services are provided by one group for another group. Second, there arc the pressure groups, some of which combine pressure group activity with the provision of services. Finally there are organisations of the self-help category who concentrate on helping theirown membership. He argues that the three kinds of organisations differ significant- ly in charactcr and purposes. The characteristic relationship ina service- providing organisation is between voluntary or professional worker and the client; the providers and receivers of the service arc two distinctgroups. The characteristic relationship in the. self-help organisation is that betweenmembers who share a social, physical or mental disabilityor who have a problem or need in common; the relationship is one ot i,tual aid, and there is no sharp distinction between providers and receivers rq';_kie services. Pressuregroups are primarily concerned with relationships that go beyond the confines of the organisation and its members or clients. Gordon and Babchuk5 discuss a quite different classification. They develop a typology based on three variables: accessibility of membership, the status-defining capacity of the organisation, and the classification of organisational functions as instrumental or expressive. But, this typology isnot very helpful for our purposes. On the one hand, status-defining capacityof an organisation is very difficult to evaluate, andon the other, most voluntary organisations incorporate both instrumental and expressive functions. By 'instrumental' the authors indicate an organisation that is primarily concerned with activities that take place outside the organisation. An expressiveor- ganisation they define as one which is mostly concerned with immediate gratification to its members. Relating this typology to Murray's classification, self-help organisations would fall more on the expressive end ofan expressive-instrumental continuum, while service-providing organisations andpres- sure groups would tend to be at thc inst. (mental end.

3 0 Definitions and Typologies of Voluntary Organisations 33

The classifications which are presented above,however, are of very limited use for understanding many present day voluntaryassociations. One of the main reasons is that the central distinctionmade between an external and internal focus for the organisation is clearly notuniversally valid. Many of the prcsent day organisations have consciouslyintegrated the instrumental and the expressive functions. Another problem with thetypologies is that they are ahistorical and timeless. Thisis a common critique of much of the organisational theoryliterature.6 An historical perspective on the development and the functioning of voluntary associationsis necessary.

Historical perspective

The 1950s and 1960s saw a resurgence in the numberof voluntary associations in both the United States of America and Britain. Anumber of reasons have been cited for this. In this section a synoptic view will begiven of some of the important social and ideological forces which have helped todetermine both the numbers and the different forms which voluntaryassociations have taken. Present day voluntary associations appear to havebeen strongly influenced by the developments particularly of the social movementsof the 1960s and early 1970s,and also by actions of thc Governmentsof the USA and Britain, and the churches. This section will not attempt to give ahistory of particular movements, but rather will highlight importantideological strands which have formed part of the context within whichorganisations operated. These ideological strands appear to have influenced thetheory and practice within voluntary associations in important ways. Thc importance of ideology as a 'material force' in history wasgiven a new significance in the writings of Antonio Gramsci.Gramsci poirm to the importance of ideology as 'cement' which is able to bind togetherclasses and class fractions into a social bloc. As he argues, ideologies arc notindividual fancies, but are embodied incollective and communal modes of actingand living. These points will be discussed in detail in Chapter Seven. Social movements The growth and the form of many voluntary associations at this time seem to be largely a response by a wide ronge of people and organisations tothe rapid social, political, economic and ideological changes which occurredafter the

;mgCOPY AVAILABLI. 34 Part /I Voluntary Associations

8 Second World War.People were responding to, amongst other things, rapid urbanisation and inner city impoverishment, the Cold War, the `mass society' which was the result of technological modernism, industrialisation and the pervasiveness of bureaucracy.9 Young,1° ina useful analysis of the `New Left',11 identifies five major strands by 1965:which represented the NL configuration. Insome ways each represents an autonomous movement in itself:the student movement for university change (although students to some extent also formed the base of the other movements); the grassroots movement of radical blacks, developing first in the USA through the Students Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), towards black power; community action projects, which included the beginnings of a widespread movement of thepoor, the nascent international movement against the war in Vietnam; and the culturalmovement of the underground and the alternative society. All five overlapped in personnel and ideas, although the youthful counter-culture developedto some extent separately at first and after 1966 grew together with the NLas a whole. From the mid-1960s the Women's Liberation Movement also begantoemerge. The character of the NL appears to have been formed in theinterpenetra- tion of these various movements, and thecommon themes and strategies that linked them. In the literature12 some of thecommon themes are described as: anti-bureaucracy; unity of theory and practice, which ledto pragmatism; moralism with an emphasis on ends andmeans; pluralism; and internationalism. An important influence on the ideologicaldevelopments within the NL at the time seems to have been the global tensiondominated by the two vast military-industrial blocs, the USA and the USSR. Increasingly, the apparent ideological difference betweenthe two blocs was questioned, and a 'convergence theory' developed which stressedthe similarity rather than the differences between them.The legitimacy of the Western states was being questioned and thc hollownessof liberal rhetotic was challenged, with, for example, the build up of nuclear capability inthe West, the colonial struggles, and the internal strugglesfor civil rights by minority groups. Russian Marxismwas also discredited by the revelations about Stalin in 1956, and the Russian actions inHungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The Communist Parties in Britain aidthc USA wcnt into a decline. There was disillusionment with both Liberalism andMarxism. There seemed to be a predominant sense in the 1950s ofa loss of human control within both ideological blocs. Marcuse13 endorseda radical version of the 32 Definitions and Typologies of VoluntaryOrganisations 35 convergence theory:the commontendency to military build-upand bureaucratic centralism, their technicalmodernism and urbanism, the reactionary similarites of their industrialisma critique of repressivecivilization was seen to be applicable to anyindustrial society, not merely thecapitalist applied to mode of organisation. The theoryof alienation was developed and both The radical libertarians were, according toYoung, most willing to accept. the convergence theory, whilethere were others who warned againstits over-emphasis. The effect of these appraisals was newalignments between groups and individuals. In theUSA there was a a self-consciouseffort to revive an independent radical option'beyond' either Liberalism or Marxism. Comprehending humanism, tolerance, and concernwith civil rights and individual liberty, all of which the Marxisttradition had hitherto neglected, it merged these with a socialist insistence oneconomic justice and equality. In the journalLiberation,14 it was said that emphasis would be on:

possibilities for decentralization, direct participationof workers and citizens in determining the conditions oflife and work, and onthe use of technology for human ends, rather than the subjection of man to thedemands of technology.

In the emergent movements in theUSA there seemed to be a fair degreeof consensus, with regard to themes.In Britain, when: there was alonger,and with more substantial socialisttradition, a less cohesive movement developed, conflicts between the different gmupings onthe Left punctuating the 1950s and 1960s 15 An important paradox within the NL wasthat it contained both a socialist critique of capitalism and a liberal critique ofsocialism. The major theoretical attempt to transcend the convergence ofcapitalist and collectivist materialism and bureaucracy was the revival of Marxianalienation concepts. Both Mar- cuse and Fromm16stressed elements of socialisthumanism and individualism, and idealist, cultural orientationsopposed to determinist materialisms. They emphasised the importanceof 'freedom'. Thc anti- capitalist and anti-bureaucratic elements of thetheory, rather than anti-in- dustrialism per se, were developed. Both theoristsseemed to have made an impact on the development of the NL. Severalof the movements were marked by an ethos of anti-bureaucracy. Decentralization and popular contml werecalled for by the di fferent movements, sometimes for different reasons.The black and urban poor 3

""N_ 36 Part 11: Voluntary Associations

movements raised demands for 'community' controlover police, schools and other neighbourhood institutions as part of the civil rightscampaigns which demanded the same civil liberties for all Americans. The studentswere calling for a popular democracy which they definedas the ability of people (not workers) to control there own lives, not only throughexercising individual liberties, but also through the collective appropriation of thestate institutions. The student radicals were struggling fora new society that made good on the promise of the American ideal of freedom bydecentralizing decisions over all aspects of public life. Student radicalismbecame defined by its call for the creation of a public sphere in which representativeinstitutions were transformed into organs of popular power through directdemocratic forms. Another anti-bureaucratic thrustcame from feminism in the late 1960s. It offered a critique of the dominating practices withinthe institutions of daily life and within the contemporary socialmovements. Freeman17 describes the origins of the new wave of feministsas coming via social action projects of,for example, civil rights groups and studentgroups. Soon the women who were participants in these groups, found themselves 'quicklyshunted into traditional roles'. These unavoidably conflicted withthe ideals of 'participatory democracy', freedom' and justice' for which theywere supposedly fighting. They were faced with the self-evidentcontradiction. As a wide range of feminist organisations emerged, the originatorsmade a conscious attempt to achieve a congruence between theory andpractice. Their concepts of participatory democracy, equality, liberty andcommunity, emphasised that everyone should participate in decisions that affected theirlives, and that everyone's contribution was equally valid.These values led easily to the idea amongst some that ail hierarchy was bad.18 Others who contributed importantlyto the anti-bureaucratic climate at that time arc those, who Aronowitz19.groupstogether, as 'cultural radicals'. Some of the people within this groupingformcd themselves into 'utopian communities' where they tried to make livingand working arrangements that constituted an alternative to mainstreambourgeois everyday life. Theyor- ganised collective farms or communalbusinesses which produced chiefly for subsistence. While this tendency in thecounter-culture never bccame a widespread movement, Aronowitz believesthat it exerted considerable moral influence. A much more typical phenomenonamongst cultural radicals was the organizing of political collectiveswhich, for example, might entail the publication of alternativenewspapers, or the working with community 34 Definitions and Typologies of Voluntary Organisations 37 groups. Their countercultural lifeincluded trying to fashion a new way of living based upon a set of moral and politicalprinciples grounded in an alternative sexuality, new forms of family life, orethical precepts governing personal relations. They attempted to base the commune onnon-hierarchical ,20 relationships which would provide a model for autopian future. Rogers Fromm and other humanistic psychologistsstrongly influenced some of these groups, and other'personal growth',self-help groups.21 Disillusionment with the major Liberal and Marxistideologies, led to the 'end-of-ideolozy' thesis, which preferred 'the moralcritique, the personal commitment'." This thesis for many soon became ridiculous, asthey realised that it was 'itself an ideology'.23 In the NL's search for an ideology there was a rejection of the Stalinistsubordination of mcans to ends, and there was a resurgence of a libertarian pluralism.The NL's version of pluralism sought representation of all social groups regardless of socialclass, or power. These libertarian radicals of the 1960s largely accepted ancnd to doctrinaire solutions and closed utopias, endorsing the sortof pluralism and flexibility that had been characteristic of much Anarchistthought. They had a naive concern for the struggles of 'thepeople' and 'the community', rather thanthat of a particular class. Related to the above observations, was the NL'ssuspicion of theory divorced from action. Hayden argued that the movementshould 'depend more on feel than theory', insistirl that'action produces its own evidence which theory alone can never do'.4 Detached analysis was regarded with scep- ticism, preferring participation and experientialrecollection; trusting the spontaneous and expressive as againstthe calculated and measured. Such sceptism was linked to a pragmatic emphasis on'praxis', on proof through action. Saul Alinsky'sapproach25 to community organising has been given by severalwriters2° as epitomising the pragmatic, anti-theoretical tendency. For him the truth of any ideology could be judgedaccording to its usefulness for a movement's practical political objectives ofincreasing popular power, rather than for any intrinsic 'truth'. The anti-intellectual orientation was carriedforward into the 1970s by, amongst others, the feminist movementwhere many of the initial organisers were reacting to the 'abstractrhetoric' they had experienced in some of the political groups. Some feminists, and other localorganizers and intellectuals, had been strongly influenced by the Chinese CulturalRevolution. The principle of 'criticism and self-criticism' guided thework of many small collec- 38 Part II: Voluntary Associations

tives, and influenced the formation of some of the small consciousness-raising groups in the feminist movement. The small group was intended to provide women with a secure way to 'speak bitterness' about their lives. Speaking of bitterness was a fundamental means of raising consciousness about the relation of male suprcmacy to the everyday lives ofwomen. Other sources of inspiration for the use of personal experienceas the format for the consciousness-raising.groups included the revival-like mass meetings of the civilrights movementIn thousands of groups, in articles and fiction,women recovered their own voice through ritual of speaking bitterness, making theirfeelings a social fact, a shared experience. Rage becamea mechanism of political mobilization for various aspects of women's rights, and itsexpression served to create the conditions for women's solidarity. According to Aronowitz'h° Maoism, as assimilated to fit American circumstances,was the pre-eminent discourse, that permitted the critique of everyday lifeto become a form of both feminist and race politics in Amcrica. This claim, however,may simplify the various ideological influences too much. As has alreadybeen seen, there were many strands which focused on the need for oppressedgroups to discover their own voice, rather than the need for themto engage in rational theoretical discourse. The final concept which will be highlighted here,is the internationalism of the NL. There was an identification of the NL withthe pain and dissatisfaction of powerless groups and outcasts everywhereinside and outside the American empire. The appeal of the Third Worldcountries also lay partly in the communitarian and egalitarian aspects of theirsocial forms. Particularly in Britain, the various non-aligned developments ofsocialism, for example, Yugoslav worker self-management, Gandhiannonviolence, or corn- munitarian village socialisms, weresome of the disparate elements fused in the NL's eclectic vision of 'community'. In the USAlater in the 1960s, there was a widening search for a non-bourgeois, non-bureaucraticand unrepres- sive version of socialism in the Third World.29There was an ideal of a trans-national movement that would end colonialism,militarism, poverty, racism and the hegemony of American andRussian imperialists, and their threat of nuclear war. A growing trans-nationalismwas expressed in links of movements and kinds and categories of peopleacross national boundaries i.c. amongst youth, peace, anti-nuclear, anti-Vietnam, andwomen's movements. The trans-nationalism also raised fundamentalissues about the meaning of

Jo Definitions and Typologies of VoluntaryOrganisations 39 will be development and underdevelopment.The 'development debates' described later in Chapter Six. The dominant NL themes of themid-1960s were those whichlinked decentralisation and communitydecision-making in a 'participatory democracy'. Such sentiments, linked to aplurality of emerging power relationships; black people, youngpeople, students, minority groupsand women, were rooted inassumptions that 'in a good societypeople participate basic fully in the decisions which governtheir destinies and thus can create change in their day-to-daylives'.30 The stress on democratic decentralisation and involvement, the suspicion ofestablished leadership and inheritedinstitu- tions, was closer to an Anarchist than aMarxist tradition. In the early 1970s the NL waspronounced dead even by its own supporters. The reasons for its demise areanalysed in detail by Young and cannot be described here. The black power,anti-war, and student movements were all receding. On the other handthere were projects with a strongrelationship and lasting to the NL which condnuedand even flourished. One undoubted action result of the NL, which is described indetail by Boyte'31 was that direct had become 'normal' by the 1970s.Grassroots citizen action groups andthe Women's Liberation Movement, arc twoof the clearest examples of the continuity of some of the ideas withinthe NL into the 1970s. In the next chapter the voluntary associations ofthe 1970s will be described in some detail. First however the contributionmade by the USA and BritishGovern- will ments to the growth of communityorganisations in the 1960s and 1970s be briefly sketched. Governments The USA and British Governments'contribution to the development and growth of voluntary associationsduring the 1960s, came throughtheir government funded anti-pcverty programmeswhich were themselves outcomes of communitystniggles against racism and other formsof oppression. The USA government's most extensiveinvolvement was through the federal- ly funded 'War on Poverty' programmes.These included the improvement of existing resources and the creation of new onesin areas like education, recreation, vocational and rehabilitativeservices. By the 1960s two-thirds of the population of the USA was livingin the urban centres. The impoverished were massed in greater and greaternumbers in inner cities. The variousCivil

c; 40 Part II: Voluntary Associations

Rights and other movementswere demanding ' a better deal'. Itwas no longer possible to ignore their plight. In many of the anti-povertyprojects there was someattempt to include participants in policy making. 'Maximumfeasible participation' of thepoor in the development of the socialservices became official public policywith the Economic Opportunity Act of1964. The Community ActionPrograms which were established underthe Act were describedas follows32

Above all [the CAPI includes thepoor people of the community whose first opportunity must be the opportunityto help themselves.... The localagency applying for a community actionprogram gant must satisfy only one basic criterion: it must be broadly representativeof the interests of the community above all it must provide .... a means whereby the residents of theprogram areas will have a voice in planning and a role in action. The initiationfor community programs must be distilled from the communityitself; there can be no substitute.

The Government was activelyencouraging the formation ofvoluntary associations by providing funding.Some of the premises which within the anti-poverty operated programmes included the belief thattherapeutic programmes, intended to facilitate adjustmentto environmentalconditions, must be offered in a manner congenial to the target population. In orderto accomplish thisend, programme participants must be involved indetermining policy. Anothcr reason for local participation, Grosser."believed, was the assumption that unless socialconditions change inresponse to community needs and wishes, thc new projects might result innew problems rather than the resolution of oldones. Involvement of residentswas also a way of investing projccts with a degree of permanence, in the hopethat they would continue once the sponsoring agencies had left. The clientsof anti- poverty agencies also demanded a say through thc Civil RightsMovement which was pressurising for voting rights and the desegregation ofemployment and education. The Government agencies therefore neededto encourve participation in order to containsome of their more vociferous clients.3 In Britain after thc second world war a major influenceon the voluntary sector was the consolidation of the Welfare State. In thereport of the Wolfenden Committee'35 which was set up to lookat the future of voluntary organisations, the significant developments which theyobserved from the late 1950s in voluntary action, included: the reorientationof some serviceor- Definitions and Typologies of Voluntary Organisations 41 ganisations to differentiate their contributionfrom that of the statutory agencies; the rapid growth of pressure-grouporganisations, seeking to change Government policy, (one of the early and influential ones wasthe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament established in1958); thc flowering of mutual-aid groups in fields from preschool play tothe drug addict and the single parent family; the growth of coordinating bodies at localand national level; and the increasing encouragement of voluntary organisationsby local and central Government. One of the important developments in the1960s was the British Government's encouragement of what they calledcommunity development. It was an attempt to achieve change through consensus.'Participation', `non-directiveness', 'the usual channels', 'negotiation'and`compromise' were among the most importantwords in the vocabulary. Where possible confrontation wasto be avoided. Based on these ideasthe government id tiated twelve Community Development Projscts (CDPs)in 1969 on an experimental basis. According to the Home0111ce36 the projects represented:

a modest attempt at actionresearch into the better understanding and more comprehensive tackling of social needs, especially on localcommunities within the older urban areas, through close coordination of centraland local official and unofficial effort, informed and stimulated by citin,iinitiative and involvement.

The first task in CDP areas was for the workers to encourageresidents to organise themselves into neighbourhood groups whichcould negotiate with the local authorities around focal issues for the communitysuch as housing, clearance and redevelopment. However as Johnson-7 explains, it did not take long for some of the workers in the CDPs to becorth,disillusioned. The opportunities for rad, cal change that the CDPs had at firstappeared to offer, did not materialize. In reappraisals of their work,community workers argued that the 'dialogue model of change' which they wereusing, embodied an inadequate analysis of the distribution of power withinthe class structure. Some community workers began exploring thepossibilities for linking their work with the wider labour movement, and otherforms of class struggle. There was a move away from community developmentand the consensus model, to community action and a conflict model ofsocial change.38 One of thc unplanned outcomes of thc CDPs was a large volumeof literature in which community development and community action havebeen extensively analysed and critiqued.39 This literature has had an importantimpact on the 42 Part II: Voluntary Associations

theory and practice within various voluntaryassociations, and in Schools of Social Work at the universities. Churches Another social institution which madean important contribution to the development of voluntary organisation withits concomitant promotion of citizen participation in the 1960s,was the cnurch. The churches like all other institutions, felt the impact of urban migrationand industrialization. In the postwar years, great numbers of urban churchesexperienced an exodus of their predominantly white, middle-classcongregations, and an influx into their parishes of working class,predominantly black, Asian or Hispanic people. The churches were forcedto reappraise their role. The organied Roman Catholic Church inthe USA both felt the impact of urbanization, and was strongly movedby the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council convened byPope John XXIII, regarding social problems. In Catholic as well as in Protestantchurch efforts, some priests and nuns became involved in issues such as housing, racismand legislation on social welfare and civil rights. Therewas also an explicit focus on the development of organisations amongst thepoor, and the importance of community development asa method. Through various programmes the churcheshave tried to engage the populations of urban inner-city neighbourhoodsin communal self-help efforts. The churches' large physicalfacilities and real estate became valuable assets in this new view of Christian charity.Their approach to community organisation also provided them witha mission under whose aegis they could engage in the broad social movements sweepingthe country in the 1960s. In these ways institutional interests andmoral-ethical interests became identical, enabling a relatively small minority withinthe church to engage in social issues which the majority ofparishioners were not ready to concede.The churches supported the participationof the people involved in community programmes on moral-ethical grounds. The literatureof the church reflected its regard for the integrity andindependence of particip,mts in community work and advocated that the church'serve as enabler for the community of thc ditnherited, helping peopleto become in Tnith men who fashion those structures of their public life'.4(} The churches in the USA workedat both the local and the national levels to promote community organization.Interdenominational bodies suchas the 40 Definitions and Typologies of VoluntaryOrganisations 43

Interreligious Foundation for CommunityOrganisation were founded. IFCO was 'the joint creation of ninemajor Catholic, Jewish and Protestantchurch agencies and a non-church agency. TheFoundation was formed to help poor communities throughout the USA to mobilizetheir energies and employ traditional and self-determined strategies forsolving urban-rural problems.' It is important to emphasise that thechurches position with regard to community organisation was not by any meansunanimous. The forces which moved the church in this directioncomprised a minority of the religious community who were assisted by the climateof social change within the USA. The 1960s was a time in which a wide rangeof institutions in the western capitalist countries emphasised the needfor the people to participate in determining the future. It was a decade oftriumphalism amongst extra-parliamentary groups which held out great, andnaive hope for 'the power of the people'. The dominant ideology of the NL was aradical humanism, which emphasised both individual liberties and theneed for greater equality. By the end of the decade however the NL was indisarray, disillusioned and divided. Many people were politically frustratedby the refusal of the Johnson administration to end the Vietnam war despitethe mass dcmonstrations by millions throughout the country and theprofound military defeat suffered by American forces in Southeast Asia. According toAronowitz41 sizable numbers of NL activists turned to Marxism-Leninism asthe only possible doctrine capable of delivering America from the morassof racism and war.

IN SUMMARY This overview of developments, particularlyin the USA , provides a backdrop to a more detailed discussion ofparticular types of present day voluntary associations. In the discussion a wide rangeof statutory and non-statutory organisations were seen to have encouraged thedevelopment of voluntary associations for divergent reasons. Some wereinterested in promoting social change through consensus seeking strategieswhich promoted adjustment to the social conditions. Others were interestedin promoting the mobilization of masses of people in order to oppose theexisting social arrangements. They accepted the conflict model of social change.The entouragement of participation in voluntary associations therefore can be seen tosupport both adjustment and mobilizationgoals.42 Different theories of democracy underpin the different perspectives. It is necessary therefore,befoic moving onto a more detailed view of organisational characteristics, todiscuss the different

41 44 Part II: Voluntary Associations democratic theories. This will help to clarifysome of the theorztical assumptions within voluntary associations. CHAPTER THREE

DEMOCRATIC THEORIES

'Democracy' is a key concern of both voluntaryassociations and community adult education. This point will be elaboratedin detail in the following chapters. This chapter, which will provide asynopsis of important democratic theories, therefore forms an importantbackdrop to both the theoretical and empirical data which is still to be presented inParts Three, Four and Five. The defining of democracy is a difficult taskif we consider the diverse writings on the subject from Plato, through Hobbesand Locke, Kant and Rousseau to Marx and Lenin. In his bookKeywords, Raymond Williams, with an eye to the importance of thegeneration of meanings for the existence of any ideology, takes aboutfour and a half pages to auempt some sortof location. What emerges is a word with multiplemeanings and an astonishing historical variability ranging from 'obeying no masterbut the law' to 'popular power'; from the various combinations of'formal democracy' Rid 'representative democracy' to 'real', 'direct' or'people's democracy'.' As Mer- ccrpoints out, the fact that there is no cleardefmition is not just a question of words or semantics but also one of historya history also of the creation of meanings.Plane45 describes 'democracy' as a word which has both descriptive and evaluative meaning. Regardless ofits descriptive content, most often it refers to 'good practice'. In varying contexts the word democracyhas had decisively different meanings and political implications. What is moreimportant is that since the emergence of the various bourgeoisrepresentative states, the word democracy has been articulated with a great number ofother words and meanings; the juridical subject, the free ethical individual, the'neutral' sexual subject and so on. Above all, it seems thatdemocracy must be considered more than a formal' device imposed from above by the dominantclass; it is an ideological concept around which there is ongoingideological struggle. AsTherbom46 states, ideologies arc ongoing social processeswhich 'unceasingly constitute and reconstitute who we are': 46 Part II: Voluntary Associations

Ideologies differ, compete, and clashnot only in what they say about the world we inhabit, but also in telling us who weare, in the kind of subject they interpellate. And these different interpellations of whatexists are usually connected with different interpellations of what is rightand what is possible for each subject.

There is ongoing ideological struggle inthe maintenance and challenge of bourgeois hegemony. 'The struggle for democracy'is part of this ideological struggle. An example of the contested nature of theconcept of democracy is given by Mercer47 when he describes how before about1850 in England, the word democracy was more or lesssynonymous with 'blood on the streets' or the 'rule of the mob', as the spokesman of the rulingclass looked nervously back at the French Revolution. Within the remarkably shortspace of about ten years it had changed its meaning, beingincorporated, with the spread of the democratic franchise, educational reformsetc., within the discourse of the ascendant liberal state, whichnow saw the need to become a liberal 'democratic state'. As a word andas a concept it of course predated the liberal state and will go beyond it, but it is importantto register that precisely because meanings are neither free-floating,nor fixed, democracy is part of the hegemonic discourse ofthe differentstatesthroughaprocess ofncgotiation and articulation. The new meaning of democracy inthe nineteenth-century British state was not just an act of will on the part of thebourgeoisie but was forced on them by theoptesence of an increasingly organisedproletariat. Patcman,4° in her work 'DemocraticTheory and Participation', provides a useful summary of the contemporary liberal democratictheories which are preeminent in the western capitalist countries.She also argues strongly fora participatory democratic theory. Her discussionof the contemporary theory of democracy includes the works ofSchumpeter, Berelson, Dahl, Sartori and Eckstein.49 Forthese theorists democracy refersto a political method or set of institutional arrangements at nationallevel. The characteristic democratic element in the method is the competition ofleaders for votes. Elections are crucial for it is primarily through electionsthat the majority can exercise control over their leaders. Responsivenessof leaders to non-elite demands, or 'control' over leaders, is ensured primarily throughsanctions of loss of office at elections. 'Political equality' inthe theory refers to universal suffrage and the existence of equality of opportunityof access to channels of influence over leaders. Participation as far as the majority of peopleis concerned, is participation in the choice of decision-makers.The function of participation in the theory is solely a protectiveone; the protection of the individual from 4 4 DemocraticTheories 47 arbitrary decisions by elected leaders and the protection ofher/his private interests. It is in the achievement of this aim that the justificationfor the democratic method lies. Certain conditions are seen to be necessaryfor the democratic system to remain stable. While the contemporary theory of democracy has gainedwidespread support amongst present day political theoristsin the western capitalist countries, there are numerous criticeu who question itspresentation as a value-free, 'neutral' theory which implies the kind of system weshould value, and includes a set of standards or criteria by which a political system maybe judged 'democratic'. These standards are those inherent inthe existing Anglo-American democratic systems. One of the 'classical' theories of democracy which Patemanexplores at some length, and which has had aconsiderable impact on contemporary voluntary associations, is a participatory theory of democracy.Three major contributors to the theory are J. J. Rousseau, J. S. Mill and G. D. H.Cole. The theory of participatory democracy is built around the assertionthat individuals and their institutions cannot be considered in isolation from oneanother. The existence of representative institutions at the national level, it isargued, is not sufficient to ensure that democracy is operative. Maximumparticipation by all the people is the goal, and in order to achieve this,social training for democracy must take place in several spheres. The necessaryindividual attitudes and psychological qualities can be developed through the processof participation itself. The major function of participation in thetheory is therefore an educative one, which includes the gaining ofpractice in democratic skills and procedures. Thus there is no specific problemabout the stability of the participatory system. It is self-sustaining throughthe educative impact of the participatory process. Participation, it is argued,develops and fosters the very qualities necessary for it. The more individualsparticipate the more able they become to do so.Subsidiary hypotheses about participation are that it has an integrative effect and thatit aids the acceptance of collective decisions. As Pateman says:51 One might characterise the participatory modei as one where maximuminput (participation) is required and where output includes not just policies (decisions) but also the development of the social and political capacities of eachindividual, so that there is 'feedback' from output to input. The theory of participatory democracy stands or falls on thehypothesis concerning the educational function of participation. Pateman providessub- 48 Part II: Voluntar Associations stantial evidence to support her argument for Ulf; validity ofa participatory democratic theory. Others like Pennock52 question this evidence. The remaining views on the meaning of democracy that will bccon- sidered here are those of certain contemporary Marxists who discuss the nature of,democracy in capitalist countries and its implications for class struggle.' Frequently the debates concerning the nature of dcmocracyon the left have been presented as if there were two alternativeways of seizing and holding political power. One, usually identified with the Leninist traditionor Third International, would be the insurrectional, violent and illegal seizure of power by a disciplined minority which would unavoidably result in a dictatorship a dictatorship of the proletariat needed to hold thatpower. The other attributed to the Second International, would be the non-violent, peaceful,and legal means of seizure of power, i,e. the democratic road which wouldbuild on the gains won,n ot. ju..t by a minority,but by the majority of the population. There are numerous critiques54 of this presentation posed withinthe framework of dictatorship versus democracy. The position of those Marxists who put forward a 'third way' applicable to advanced bourgeois democracies will be examined briefly. The first point that needs to be made is that whichwas made earlier. Democracy is an historically negotiated concept which doesnot have any attachment to a particular form of governmentor any class definition. This is in contrast to Marx who believed that all democracy is classdemocracy and is assigned a necessary class-belonging. Recent works byMarxists haye argued that his conception of democracy lacksa consistent theorization." They accept Laclau's" argument that ideological elements takenin isolation have no necessary classconnotation, and that this connotation is only theresult of the articulation of those elements in a concrete ideological discourse.The significance of this point for the discussion is that different formsof democracy, for example indirect representative forms,or direct forms, do not belong to the bourgeoisie or the proletariat. There isno pure 'bourgeois' democracy which can be posed as simply opposite to 'proletarian'democracy; the articulation of meanings of democracy, it is argued, iscentral to the development of a concept of transition in Marxist theory and practice.57 The theory of transition which is developed by these theoristsdraws heavily on Gramsci's theory of the state which will be exploredin some detail in Part Three. For the moment, it will be sufficient to pointout that the theory challenges the dichotomy between politics and economics:a dichotomy which is one of the main characteristics of capitalism andthe main defence of the bourgeois order. The theoryargues for democratization on all levels of 4 6 Democratic Theories 49

society, both participatory andrepresentative.58 Those who support this theory, argue that revolutionary politics requires thebroadening and deepening of the theory and the practice of both politics anddemocracy, not limiting democracy to the level of politics, but rather expandingit to include all areas of political, economic, social, ideological andcultural spheres. It has been argued that the meaning of democracyis negotiated and contested, and cannot be extracted from its historical context.In the previous discussion on the history of voluntary organisationsin the 1960s, examples of various social and ideological forces weredescribed which affected the theory and practice within organisations in complex ways.Within the same social movement ideological struggle over thetheory and the practice of democracy can be anticipated. The meanings ofdemocracy are not only negotiated and contested at the state level, but arenegotiated and contested at the inter- and intra-organisationallevel as well. The democratic assumptions underpinning the theories and the practiceswithin organisations can also be expected to illuminate operative assumptionsabout social change made by the membership. In the following chapter the characteristics ofvoluntary associations will be discussed.

At CHAPTER FOUR

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF CERTAIN VOLUNTARY ASSOCIA.TIONS

The literature on voluntary associationsis very diverse, and is drawn from the fields of political science, public administration,sociology, anthropology, and socialwOt..59This presents a problem for this study whichfocuses on the educational processes within the organisations.Very few educationalists have studied the educationalprocesses within community organisations in any comprehensive way. Each discipline hasa particular slant: for example sociologists have traditionally focussedon the relationship between voluntary associations and social stratification; politicalscientists have shown concern with processes that preserve and enhancepluralist democracy, and this has led to an interest in theway voluntary associations mobilise people for democratic involvement and participation. There have been few studies of voluntary 60 organisations in their own right. Perhaps there is good reason for this,because as we have seen, voluntary associations rise and fall inresponse to a range of social impulses. They seem to have more permeableboundaries than other organisations,in that they are more directly affected bytheir environment.61 In studying the organisations, therefore, it isnecessary to focus both on internal micro processes and external macro forces. Thereare few studies which are able to do full justice to both aspects simultaneously.In this discussion characteristics will be distilled from the literature whichdescribe both internal and external factors which appear to influence thefunctioning of particularly self-help groups, community development agencies andcollectives. As mentioned in Part One, researchstrategies for the study of voluntary associations mosl,frequently includesurveys and case studies. The surveys done by Perlman' and Gittell63are most relevant for our purposes. The case 48 Characteristics of Certain VoluntaryOrganisations 5 1

and Bor- studies particularly by Butcher,Rothschild-Whitt, and Lieberman directly pertinent, but man are veryuseful.°4 Other case studies which are not rights move- which can illuminate the field,include the work on the welfare studies on various ment by Piven and Cloward,and West.65 Also the case particularly kinds of neighbourhood memberorganisations are interesting, those of Susser, Baker, Alinsky,O'Malley andTwelvetrees.66 relate There are a number of recurringdiscussions in the literature which membership, to the functioning of theorganisations. They cover leadership, of the internal democracy, strategies, goals,and accountability. An overview main points will be presented briefly.

MEMBERSHIP studies. Participation in voluntary associationshas been the focus of several There seems to be a degree of consensusthat the majority of members majority of mem- are' middle class'. Liebermannand Bond67 found that the predominantly bers of feminist consciousness-raisinggroups in the USA were found that in 'white, liberal, educated, uppermiddle class women'. The:' who 'place several types of self-help groupsthis segment of the population by high value on growth and change', werewell represented. In the study Rothschild-Whitt of alternativecollectivist organisations in theUSA, she found that the members tended to comefrom well-educated, financially privileged families. In a survey ofvoluntary associations in Britain,the Wolfenden committee found that ahigher percentage of middlerather than the propen- working class people belonged tovoluntary association. Although sity to be involved in more informal,unorganised ways of providing services was found to be much moreevenly distributed over differentclasses. Since class invol- the 1960s several researchers havenoted an increase in working growth vement in local organisations.Perlman and Gittell both identified a the 1960s. of working class orgoanisations outof the social movements of in Lovett and Percivalm noted anincrease in working class involvement community organisation in NorthernIreland after 1968 when political unrest with began.. There was also a growth inthe number of ethnic organisations It appeals the development of blackconsciousness in Britain and the USA that at times of social upheaval and greaterethnic consciousness the number and the class composition ofvoluntary associations does change. Gittell69 believes that class differentiation cannot beunderestimated as a significant influence on the character,goals and functions of voluntary organisations. Those with workingclass membership will lack access tothe is powerful and will lack material resources.One of their primary resources their potential numerical strength.This is why Piven andCloware argue 52 Part II: Voluntary Associativns

that institutionalization ofa social movement is itself the cause of the decline in the effectiveness of workingclass movements. They believe that thevery act of creating organisations, channelsenergy away from issues and pOlitical action, and toward organisationalmaintenance. (This is not unlike theargument which was used by governmentsin their acceptance of the idea of the need for more voluntary associationsthe development of organisations will promote stability.) Gittell found that middleclass organisations had more flexibility in their choice ofstrategies, and they showed significantdifferences in organisational characteristics. Perlman71notes an increase of organisations in the 1970s where there isan attempt to find issues which will unite low and moderate income people, and peopleof a different colour. However examples of the internal functioning of organisations which havea substantialnumber of their members from differentsocial classes were difficultto find. LEADERSHIP e The theory and practice regardingleadership within voluntary associations provides important insights into theirfunctioning. Butcher72 states that:

Many community groups tendto reject traditional assumptions about the value of, or need for, leadership rolesand positions. They question traditional beliefs that certain people are likely to beblessed with leadership characteristics while others are not. If any members become designated as leaders, it is assumedthen, all should have equal and frequentopportunity to attain such positions. However in his study of fourgroups there was continuity and constancy of leadership through different stages of the organisations' development;there was a tendency for those who alreadyhad leaderhsip positions in other organisations to bccome leaders innew bodies. Voluntary organisations havehistorically been viewedas training grounds for the development of leadership skills.73 In middle incomecommunities, a leadership role in a voluntary association has been considereda valuable credential. In lower income communities, voluntary institutionsare often the only institutionsthrough which individualscan gain leadership experience. In Gittell's study fourleadership patterns emerged: 1.Rotating leadership was generally associated with voluntaryorganisations where advocacy was used as a strategy. This occurredmost frequently in middle income organisations. 2. Externally imposed leadership,for example by a funderor a statutory authority. 3.Staff leadership Characteristics of Certain Voluntary Organisations 53

4.Constant leadership where the organisationand the leader become one and the same. She found that the most important characteristicsof leaders in lower income organisations were that they were strong,highly visible, charismatic people who were able to dramatize issues to rally supportof large numbers of people the basic resource of lower incomecommunities. However this type of leader was not generally interested in spendingtime developing a tightly administered organisation. Gittell and others haveidentified a basic contradiction in the needs of leadership betweenmobilizing people and developing leadership. Perlman74 says: The problem is classic: a strong leader is often oneof the key ingredients for a successful organisation; yet often the individualswith sufficient drive and ego to play that role well are incapableof sharing power or delegating responsibility to others. AUTHORITY The question of leadership relatesdirectly to that of authority. Does the authority lie with the individuals, with thedesignated leader, with all the members of the organisation, or with someoutside grouping (or doctrine) which could be the funders the statutoryauthority, the political party or social class? Rothschild-Whin in her study of alternative collectivistorganisa- tions in the USA, found that theorganisations rejected the rational- bureaucratic justifications for authority.Authority resided in the collectivity as a whole rather thanwith the individual who held authoritythrough a designated position. This notion, she explains, stemsfrom the ancient Anar- chist ideal of `no authority'. It is premised onthe belief that social order can be achieved without recourse to authorityrelations. Thus it presupposes thc capacity of individuals for self-disciplined,cooperative behaviour. Collec- tivist organisations routinely emphasise these aspectsof human beings. Like Anarchists, their aim is not the transference of powerfrom one official to another, but the abolition of the pyramid in toto:organisation without hierarchy. Liebcrmann and Borman also foundthis tendency in self-help groups of various kinds, where the sharing and rotationof leadership was common. They found' that the most frequently occurringactivities in the groups are 'empathy, mutual affirmation, explanation, sharing,morale building, self-dis- closure, positive reinforcement, personalgoal settinti7and catharsis'. Ac- tivities which humanistic psychologists likeRogers would applaud as central to the creation of a non-threateningtherapeutic, learning environment. 54 Part II: Voluntary Associations

Previously, mention was made of the Anarchistictendencies within the social movements of the 1960s.Participatory democracy was popularopar- ticularly with students and in the women'smovement. Oppenheimerex- plains the basic approach as being similarto: small group sociology; Dewey's learning theory; psychiatric tradition,particularly Existentialist and Rogerian; political traditions of Anarchism and leftsocialism; Quaker and Gandhian tradition of non-violence whichassumes that all members are worth hearing, hence consensus decision-making.This list of intellectual influences again illustrates the point made previouslyconcerning the number of competing ideological strands which playeda part in the formation of theory and practice in the organisations. 79 Lovetttakes issue with those who reject allauthority as being 'at once a delusion and a demand for a kind of totalfreedom that can only lead ultimately to the law of the jungle, whichwould hardly benefit the oppressed'. The real question,he believes, isabout the derivation of authority. The debate in the literature aboutleadership in voluntary associations is captured in the debate around Michels'iron law of oligarchy80. Michels' theory was first published in 1911.H. examined thc trends in politicalparties and trade unions andcame up with the 'law' that 'democracyleads to oligarchy, and necessarily containsan oligarchic nucleus'. By oligarchy inan organisation is meant control thereofby a few officials in the top hierarchy of that organisation. Michelsargues that as organisations grow in size they become more complex andstart requiring leaders with special expertiseto run them. A division of labour becomesnecessary and suitably qualified leaders have to take over the running of the organisation. AS thishappens the rank and file lose control of the organisation. Other factors which hebelieves reinforces the tendency towardsoligarchy are that leaders, whetherof proletarian or bourgeois origin,tenaciously cling to officeonce they have acquired it. Michels' logic meshes nicely intoWeber's notion of charismatic leadership and bureaucratic rationalisation, and his compelling vision hasbecome the foundation for many organisational theorists. However thereare numbers of theorists who challenge hisdeterministic theory, and do notsec oligarchy as inevitable. Rothschild-Whittargues that the value-rational, rather than the instrumentally-rational organisationspoint to different possibqirics. Maree81 in his study of trade unions points out that thc historicalCOTILW, different ideologies, and the capacities of the membership, all influencethc oligarchic or democratic tendencies within organisations.

J4, Characteristics of Certain VoluntaryOrgan4sations 55

ACCOUNTABILITY question of Another related concern withinvoluntary associations is the accountability. This is discussedin divergent ways depending onthe accountability in the democratic theory that informsthe study. On one hand voluntary sector is compared to thatin the statutory socialservices.82 Whereas voluntary elected officials theoretically areaccountable to their electorate, thcir annual associations are minimallyaccountable through, for example, fmancial audit. They are unrepresentativebodies,therefore, it is argued,that agencies might mean any transfer of responsibilityfrom statutory to voluntary democratic accountability andcontrol.83 There is acknow- a dimunition of and in ledgement though that the funderinevitably demands accountability, for the case of the statutory authorities,funding is not normally forthcoming 'unpopular causes'. Some groups who subscribe tothe theory of participatorydemocracy are of the collective. most concerned withaccountability to the members 84 85 showed that the Freemanand Liebermann and Bormanin their studies implications of the strong internalaccountability within the consciousness- raising groups led to the groupsmoving away from their initialpolitical the broader objective. They became isolatedand were not accountable to women's movement. In order to counterthis tendency greater structure was introduced into many of the new groups.This included set topics fordiscus- the life of the sion, a facilitator for the firstfew sessions, and a time limit on activities within the group. Women wereencouraged to move on to other movement afterwards. A third perspective onaccountability within voluntaryassociations, Cowley86 who describes the comes from Marxistcritics. The works of Rabcy,87 vino is con- activities of the Camden CommunityWorkshop, and useful examples cerned with the struggle forsocialism in Montreal, provide being of this approach. Cowley describesthe leadership in the Workshop as neutrality'. essentially non-authoritarian,although there is'no pretense at work, which There is a deliberate effort todevelop new forms of collective accomplished, and means that the waysdecisions are madc, how activities are political controlled is of crucial politicalsignificance. Both the need for political education of members and for theWorkshop to ensure its place as a collective, are seen as importantsafeguards against 'slipping intomindless that the organisers arc notcollectively activism'. Cowley acknowledges of responsible to any constituency orpublic. Therefore the maintenance of thc internal accountability and self-criticism, which includes all aspect placing of work, must be a regular feature. Buthe believes that it is only 'the In politics in command [which] canoffset the lack of real accountability'. J 56 Part II: Voluntary Associations

addition, the consolidation of links with other groups both locallyand nationally, particularly with tradeunions, is of overriding importance.In the process, he sees the Workshopbecoming more public,more open to criticism, more accountable for its political work. The actual visibility of the worktherefore becomes important. MOTIVATION In the final part of this discussion, the motivation ofmembers in joining voluntary associations, andthe results of their participationin the organisations, will be discussed briefly. The three major types of incentives which motivate peopletobelong to an organisation, and which were described by Clark and Wilson,"are: I.primarily material i.e.money and goods 2.solidary i.e. prestige,respect, friendship 3.purposive i.e. value fulfilment Freeman and Rothschild-Whin both find that in socialmovements and collectives the major incentive is purposive, the solidaryincentive is second, and material incentives are third most important. Theorganisations tend to generate a high level of moral commtunent. In the collectives itis not part of acceptable vocabulary to talk about material gain,so publicdiscussion of such motives are suppressed. The self-exploitation (meagre wages)common in collectives and the justification for it (e.g. autonomy, control,self-expression) are similar to the smallentrepreneur. First and foremost, finds, people come Rothschild-Whitt to work in alternative organisationsbecause it offers them substantial control over their work. Collective controlmeans that members can structure both the product of their work and theprocess in congruence with their ideals. Hence work is purposive incontrast to alienating work. However a paradox emerges within those voluntaryorganisations who value the collectivist ideals. In order to successfullyoperate within these organisations members need to be innovative, and requireentrepreneurial skills, which are dependent on a certainamount of independent, creative Strong survival skills individualism. may also be necessary inan often hostile environment. These attributes may at times conflict with thevalues implicit within collectivist democracy which require high degrees ofeither internal or external accountability or both fromthe members. Perlmangpoints out that in community development agencies,money is a motivating factor, as wellas power,prestige and the desire found that the airectors for change. She and top staff are quite wellpaid, and there is oftena r 57 Characteristics of Certain VoluntaryOrganisations viewed as channels degree of competition forthe available jobs, which are of the problems is thatthe agencies depend on for upward mobility. One locality, who are voluntary support in their programmesfrom people in their 'making good' off thehardship poor. This can lead tothe feeling that some are as `one cannotask of the poor. However shebelieves there is no easy answer, wellavetrained minority professionalsto work for lowsalaries....' Perlman90 addresses the question ofmotivation In another recent paper She amongst rank and filemembers of a communityaction organisation. related to Maslow's found a complexity of beliefsand behaviours which she needs.91 Members expressed their motivations as : work on the hierarchy of for community), im- being anger (a sense ofinjustice), loneliness (a quest and increased potence/ignorance (a search forunderstanding, information useful). Each of control), and lack ofdignity/self-confidence (need to feel interviewed but these forces was expressed to somedegree by every person `Seven voices from the emphasis ranged widely.Perlman entitled her paper, and it demonstratesgraphically the competing and someone organisation', file members. times conflicting needs andassumptions amongst rank and the member- The effect of participationwithin voluntary associations on of members to ship, and the need to develop waysto enhance the capabilities wide range of writers. participate more effectively,has been the subject of a participa- Gittell provides a very useful summaryof the research findings on organisation are more tion which show that peoplewho do participate in an going onhto feel likely to br. active politically, toknow more about what is of which isundefined).'2 Most more effective,and to be happier (the meaning importance of citizen participationin voluntary of the literature suggests the innovation and changes associations as a means forencouraging adoption of confirms the research resultsin studies of voluntary in self-image. It also the growth organisations which suggest thatcrisis situations will encourage and increase theireffectiveness. (This again of opposition organisations functioning emphasises thc impoi-tance of theexternal context to the internal of the organisations.)

EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES the The ways in which voluntaryorganisations do, or ought to,cncourage has been participation of members so thatleadership qualities are developed, the development of the focus of little systematicstudy. This is suprising as leadership has been seen as oneof the important functionsof voluntary central theme associations. This area will beelaborated fully later, as it is a which researchers in this study. However,for the moment certain pointers have given, will be brieflydiscussed. 58 Part II: Voluntary Associations

A central argument,whichis based on the assumptions theory of participatory imbedded in the democracy i.e. that thesolution to the problem of developing the capacity of participants lies in the democraticmethod itself, is put forward by several researchers.93 Rothschild-Whitt argues that where people do not have participatory habits, it is becausethey generally have not been allowed any substantive control over importantdecisions. While ac- knowledging that her evidence is not yet conclusive, muchof it, she believes, does indicate that the practice of democracy itselfdevelops the capacity for democratic behaviour amongst its participants. Othersocial scientists like Argyris94remain unconvincedthat participation people's behaviour. can produce change in Amongst those who believein the beneficial results of appears to be little discussion participation, there as to the fonn of participation whichis required in order to achievethe necessary results. Perlman9 discussion on motivation following on from her of members, believesthat all four motivational needs would need to be addressed by the organisation.She states:96 Dignity is gained, or regained, throughmany aspects of the citizen action process, but particularly through I)actions which de-mystify provide the sweet taste of the authorities, and power, and 2) internal participatorydemocracy which gives every membera chance to be heard, a chance learn from these without to make mistakes (and to humiliation) and to disagreewith others (and to resolve these differences withoutrancor). She points out, however, that there is an inherentconflict between action and participatory democracy. (This we saw previouslyin discussionson the consciousness-raising groups).Since she has postulated sary in the organisation, that both are neces- a real paradox emerges. Shequotes Oppenheimer: A paradox exists betweenthe democratic content the group towards of a group and theprogress of a measure of power in the community.Too much discussion we stop moving; too little andwe arc no longer what we we need unity but to achieve were. To achieve a goal unity it is sometimesnecessary to compromise,to gloss over some importantissues... which shall it be? In order to change theconsciousness of the members full participation in and to attain their the organisation, Perlmanpostulates that there decisive factors: action, are three interpretation and internalization.By action, she means that if a group doesnot engage in some activity challenges the normal or confrontation that course or' things, theygenerate no new data for re-interpretation. By reinterpretationshe means two things. attention the organisational First, how much style gives to learningfrom both failures and

5 6 Characteristics of Certain Voluntary Organisations 59 victories,to open discussion and analysisbefore and after actions, and to ongoing leadership development. Second,how well the leaders are able to interpret and explain to the membership theconnections between what they saw happen and why.Making the victory is only part of thechallenge, giving it meaning is equally important. Finally,internalization is used to mean the process by which the lessonslearned from action and interpretation are incorporated into daily operating assumptionsand reinforced in people's homes or neighbourhoods amongtrusted friends and relatives. In summary her hypothesis is that a change inconsciousness will occur in active groups which have indigenous leadership with somedegree of ideological clarity, degree and a process of internal discussionwithin the organisation, and a high of solidarity and friendship with somemembers of the organisation. An interesting observation thatPerlman makes, is that as new insights have been gained regarding the issueof 'meaning' and consciousness, new approaches are evolving in some workingclass organisations which are 'value-based' rather than 'issue-based'. Thisis similar to developments in the more middle class politicalcollectives which have been discussed.People feel concerned about the loss of traditionalguidelines, culture, and values in their lives and are as able to talk ahoutthis as they are to complain about the garbage on the street. She points to some groupswhich are adapting Freire's methods of dialogue and consciousnessraising to their own styles of organising. They work to reinforce tics of culture, trust,and community, within the groups rather than in theAlinsky mode which focuses on 'theenemy' out there. The postulates made by Perlman areintegral to the characteristics of the 'empowering process', which is the focusof Kindervatter's9 study. After reviewing the literature in the fields ofself-management, education for justice, community organising andparticipatory approaches, she compiled a list of common characteristics whichappeared to be central to the empowering process. She defined 'empowering' as:people gaining an understanding of and control over social, economic,and/or political forces in ordcr to improve their standing in society. An'empowering process' is the means to bring about such understanding andcontrol. In her research she was concerned with the role of the outside facilitatorin the empowering process. The eight characteristics shc pments asguidelines for the nonformal educational approach to empowering. Theyinclude:

I.Small group structure (emphasis on small groupactivity and autonomy). 2.Transfer of responsibility to panicipant.s fromthe facilitator.

.t 60 Part II: Voluntary Associations

3. Participant leadership in decision-makingover all aspects of the organisation.

4.Outside agent as facilitator whosupports the people in doing things themselves. 5. Democratic and non-hierarchicafrelationships and processes. Roles and responsibilities are shared. 6.Integration of reflection and action.Analysis moves to collaborative efforts to promote changee.g. problem-solving, planning, skills development, and confrontation skills. 7. Methods that encourage self-reliancee.g. peer learning, support networks. 8. Improvement of social, economic,and/or political standing resultsfrom the process. From the above, it appears that both Kindervatter and Perlmansee the process of organising within voluntaryassociations as a central factor inthe development of the capacity of members to participate fully inthe organisations. Involvement in theplanning, execution and reflectionon the activities are seen as important learningprocesses. In addition they argue that the climate needs to be supportiveof members who are ign3rantor who disagree. Confrontation plays a part in thelearning process, as does thelearning of organisational skills. BothKindervatter and Perlman insiston the need for action and critical reflectionwhich will includean analysis and an interpretation of the action. Perhnan points to the importance of theleaders who are needed to help give meaning to the acdon. Kindervatter describesthe facilitator as acting in a supportive rather than a leadershiprole. Perlman postulates that the action, if itis to raise the politicalconsciousness of the participants, must challenge the 'normal course of things',otherwise there is no new data generated for reinterpretation.Kindervatter is less specific about the kind of action that isrequired for 'empowering'to occur. A third educational strategy which has relevance for thisdiscussion, is that which has become known as Learning by Participation (LB P). It hasbeen developed in relation to work and community experiencefor scholars, and is elaborated in a recent study by the International MovementsTowards Educa- tional Change.98 They defineLBP as an integrative process that includes participation in society, criticalreflection on that participation, and the relation of experiences to theoreticalknowledge, while 5 8

41. Characteristics of Certain Voluntary Organisations 61

the maximizing the participation of learnersin decision-making affecting both programme as a whole andtheir individual activities in the programme. While LBP has been conceptualised as amethod of learning for scholars in community and work experience programmes,where theory and practice strategies which are are linked, it has muchin common with the educational in described by Perhnan and Kindervatter.LBP consists of participation action, critical reflection on thataction, and the relating of thepractical It also experience and reflections on thatexperience to theoretical knowledge. insists on the participation of thepeople involved in the planning,execution and the evaluation of the programmes.All four components are similar to those described by Perlman andKindervatter. The major differencebetween of the LBP, as described by IMTF'" andthe proposed educational strategy Perlman, is the definition of the actioncomponent. Perlman insists onpolitical action which will challenge the status quo.Her goal is the raising of the political consciousness of participants.(She does not however elaborate on her meaning of 'politicalconsciousness'). IMTEC is notconcerned particularly with political consciousnessraising, but with students beingafforded the opportunity to exercise 'realresponsibility'. From the above discussions on theeducational strategies of Perlman, Kindervatter and LBP, four componentswhich are part of an integrative organisational process, have been identified.They are: action, critical reflec- levels. tion, theoretical knowledge andparticipation in decision-making at all All thrte educational theorists insist onparticipatory democratic organisational processes. Perlman whoseexplicit goal is the raising of politicalconsciousness amongst participants, arguesthat the type of action thatparticipants engage in is important; itshould challenge the status quo. Theform this should take Perlman however does notdefine. Kindervatter and LBP seemless concerned with challenging the politicaland economic status quo, as withthe extension of responsibility to theparticipants for the running of the programmes. Kindervatter seems to seethe extension of responsibility inthe micro situation as the first step towards a greater sayfor participants in other institutions in the society.

IN CONCLUSION The permeable boundaries which arecharacteristic of voluntary associations, emphasise the integrated nature of theorganisations with their environments. In the study of voluntaryassociations, the importance of theideological

b.) 62 Part II: Voluntary Associations factors has been shown to be important;perhaps as important as the historical, political and economic factors. The contestedand negotiated meaning of democracy within organisations has beensuggested as a useful way of identifying the complex ideologicalnexus which exists within each organisation. It has also been suggested that by understandingthe democratic assumptions of the members,their theory andpractice may be more clearly understood, with their assumptions aboutsocial change becoming more explicit. The discussion on educational strategies,which develop the leadership potential of all members within voluntaryassociations, revealed four integrative processes which theorists arguedwere essential: action, critical reflection, theoretical knowledge and participatorydemocracy. For the raising of political consciousness, Perlman argued itwas necessary for members to be involved in political action.

60 Notes to Part 11 63

NOTES to PART TWO Chapter Two Britain: I. For example in N. Johnson 1981VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES Basil Blackwell and Martin Robertson;Report of the WolfendenCommittee 1978 THE FUTURE OF VOLUNTARYORGANISATIONS Britain: Croom Helm Ltd; R. Kramer and H. Specht1969 READINGS IN COMMUNITY ORGANISATION PRACTICE USA: Prentice-HallInc. 2. Ibid. p. 14 London: National Council of Social 3. M. Morris 1962 SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Services p. 16 ORGANISATIONS AND SOCIAL WEL- 4. G. J. Murray 1969 VOLUNTARY FARE Edinburgh: Oliver Boyd W. A. 5. C. W. Gordon and N. Babehuk 'Atypology of voluntary associations' in Glaser and I). L. Sills ed. 1966 THEGOVERNMENT OF ASSOCIATIONS Totowa: NJ Bedminster Press 6. For example Clegg and Dunkerly op.cit Part One N. 4 see for example N. Young1977 7. For a detailed history of the social movements, THE INFANTILE DISORDER? THECRISIS AND DECLINE OF THE NEW LEFT London: RKP; for a discussion onthe anti-Vietnam war movement see, H. Zinn 1980 A PEOPLE'S HISTORYOF THE UNITED STATES London: Longmans; for a discussion of the PoorPeople's Movement see F. Piven and H.Boyte R. Cloward 1977 REGULATINGTHE POOR USA: Pantheon; and UNDERSTANDING THE NEW 1980 THE BACKYARD REVOLUTION: CITIZEN MOVEMENT USA: TempleUniversity Press; for a discussion on black power and civil rights movements seeH. Sitkoff 1981 THE STRUGGLE FOR BLACK EQUALITY 1954-1980USA: Mc Graw-Hill P7erson Ltd. GROUPS 8. It is reported in M. A. Lieberrnan andL. Borman 1979 SELF- HELP FOR COPING WITH STRESS USA:Jossey-Bass publ., that common interest associations appear in the history of humansociety at times of rapid change. MODERN- 9. P. Berger, B. Berger and H. Kellner1973 THE HOMELESS MIND IZATION AND CONSCIOUSNESS USAPenguin Books, describes the effects of modernization on people; Zinn op.cit and Young op. cit describe theeffects of the Cold War. 10. Young op. cit that were operative in 11.Young uses this term to describe the various movements the 1960s. He acknowledges that someof those people or movements, whom he labels as NL may dispute thiscategorisation.

GI. 64 Part II: Voluntary Associations

12. The literature includes S. Aronowitz'Remaking the American Left Currents in American radicalism' inSOCIALIST REVIEW no. 67 Jan. 1983; plus,Zinn op. cit, Young op. cit, Boyte op. cit 13. quoted in Young p. 12 14.quoted in Young p. 21 15. For a detailed description of theBritish developments see Young chapter8 16. See H. Marcuse 1964 ONEDIMENSIONAL MAN Beacon Press; and E. Fromm 1961 MARX'S CONCEPTOF MAN Ungar 17.J. Freeman 1975 THE POLUICS OF WOMEN'S LIBERATION NewYork: D. Mc Kay; also see M. L. Carden1971 THE NEW FEMINIST MOVEMENT New York: The Russell SageFoundation 18.Lieberman and Borman op. cit. and Freeman ibid., both describe theproblems of `structurelessness'. 19.Aronowitz op. cit. 20.For example, C. Rogers 1951 CLIENT-CENTRED THERAPY USA and1970 ENCOUNTER GROUPS USA PenguinPress 21.Lieberman and Borman op. cit. explore the growth and development ofthese groups in depth 22,Young op. cit. p. 18 23.Ibid. p. 21 24.quoted in Young p. 39 25. This is described in S. Alinsky 1969REVEILLE FOR RADICALS New York: Vintage Books 26.For example Aronowitzop. cit. and Grosser op. cit. 27.This is mentioned in S. Brownmiller 'Sisterhood is powerful' in S. Stumlered. 1970 WOMEN'S LIBERATION:BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE New York: Ace Books 28.Op. cit. p. 24 29.Young p. 55 op. cit. 30.Ibid. p. 46 31.Boyce op. cit. 32.C. F. Grosser 1976 NEW DIRECTIONS IN COMMUNITYORGANISA- TION; FROM ENABLING TOADVOCACY New York: Praegerp. 4 33.Ibid. p. 31 34.This point is made by Johnsonop. cit. chap. 5 35.Op. cit. 36.Johnson op. cit. p. 80

6 2 Notes to Part II 6 5

37.Ibid. p. 81 38.This framework for analysis is elaborated in B.Bernstein ed. 1975 CLASS, CODES AND CONTROL VOL. 111: TOWARDSA THEORY OF EDUCA- TIONAL TRANSMISSIONS London: Routledgeand Kegan Paul. 39.For example D. Jones and M. Mayo ed. 1974COMMUNITY WORK ONE London: R. K. P.; R. Bailey and M. Brake 1975RADICAL SOCIAL WORK London: Edward Arnold Ltd.; J. Cowley, A. Kayeand M. Mayo ed. 1977 COMMUNITY OR CLASS STRUGGLE? Britain: StageOne.; J. O'Malley 1977 THE POLITICS OF COMMUNITY ACTION;A DECADE OF STRUG- GLE IN NOTTING HILL Nottingham: SpokesmanBooks; L. Smith and D. Jones 1981 DEPRIVATION, PARTICIPATIONAND COMMUNITY AC- TION London: RKP 40.Grosser op. cit. p. 44. 41.Op. cit. 42.R. Thomson and M. Armer 'Respecifyingthe effects of voluntary association on individuals in traditionalsociety' in INTERNATIONAL JOURNALOF COMPARATIVE SOCIOLOGY XXI, identify these as twopossible effects of voluntary association. Chapter Three 43.R. Williams 1976 KEYWORDS London:Fontana. pp. 82-7. 44.C. Mercer 'Revolutions, reforms or reformulations?Marxist discourse on democracy.' in A. Hunt ed. 1980 MARXISM ANDDEMOCRACY London: Lawrence and Wishart 45.R. Plant 1974 COMMUNITY AND IDEOLOGYLondon: RKP 46.G. Therborn 1980 THE IDEOLOGY OF POWERAND THE POWER OF IDEOLOGY London: Verso Editions p. 78 47.Metter op. cit. p. 107 48.C. Pateman 1970 PARTICIPATION ANDDEMOCRATIC THEORY Britain: Cambridge University Press. 49.Ibid. pp. 4-15 50.For example, Bachrach 'The theory ofdemocratic elitism' AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW vol. L1X no. 2 p.39-51; Rousscas and Farganis 'American politics and the end of ideology'BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY vol. 14 p. 285-295. of politics and 51.For example, A. Showstack Sassoon `Gramsci: A new concept the expansion of democracy' in HUNT op. cit. n.6.; J. Howell 'Resituating socialist strategy and organisation' in THESOCIALIST REGISTER 1981; Navarro op. cit. N47 52. Pateman op. cit. p. 43

Ct 66 Part II: Voluntary Associations

53.R. Pennock 1979 DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL THEORY USA Princeton University Pmss 54.For example, Hunt op. cit.; S. Hall `The battle for socialist ideas in the 1980s' SOCIALIST REGISTER 1982.; R. Miliband 'The future of socialismin England' in SOCIALIST REGISTER 1977; V. Navarro'The nature of democracy in the core capitalist countries: the meanings and implicationsfor class struggle' in THE INSURGENT SOCIOLOGIST 10:1 Summer 1980. 55.For a critique of the terms of this debate,see E. Balibar 1977 ON THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT New LeftBooks p. 38-42. 56.Mercer op. cit. p. 108: 57.E. Laclau 1977 POLITICS AND IDEOLOGY INMARXIST THEORY; CAPITALISM, FASCISM AND POPULISM London: VersoBooks p. 100 58.This point is made by Mercer op. cit. and Navarroop. cit. NOTES TO CHAPTER FOUR 59.For example Susser op. cit. from anthropology, Freemanop. cit. from public administration, Thomson and Armer op. cit. from sociology,and Grosser op. cit. from social work. 60.This point is emphasised by H. Butcher et al 1980COMMUNITY GROUPS IN ACTION: CASE STUDIES AND ANALYSISLondon: RKP 61.For example, Butcher ibid. andE. Sharp 'Organisations,their environments, and goal definition' in URBAN LIFE vol. 9no. 4 Jan. 1981, both make this point. 62.J. Perlman 'Grassrooting the system' in SOCIALPOLICY 7 Sept. 1976 63.M. Gittel et al 1980 LIMITS TO CITIZENPARTICIPATION; TI-IE DECLINE OF COMMUNITY ORGANISATION USASage Publ. 64.Butcher op. cit.,Lieberman and Bormanop. cit. and J. Rothschild-Whitt 'The collectivist organisation: an alternativeto rational-bureaucratic models' in AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW 1979vol. 44 65.Piven and Cloward op. cit. and G. West 1981THE NATIONAL WELFARE RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THE 30CIALPROTEST OF POOR WOMEN USA; Praeger Pub. 66.I. Susser 1982 NORMAN STREET POVERTYAND POLITICS IN AN URBAN NEIGHBOURHOOD New York:OUP;Alinsky op. cit.; J. 0% Malley1977 THE POLITICS OF COMMUNITYACTION: A DECADE OF STRUGGLE IN NOTTING HILL Britain: SpokesmanBooks; A. Twelvetrees 1976 COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS ANDCENTRES Britain: Pcrgamon Press and J. Baker 1978 THE NEIGHBOURHOODADVICE CENTRE Lon- don: RKP 67.Op. cit. p. 163 Notes to Part II 67

68.T. Lovett and R. Percival 'Politics, conflict and communityaction in Northern Ireland' in INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF COMMUNITYDEVELOP- MENT N 39-40 Summer 1978 69.Op. cit. p. 36 70.Op. cit. 71.Op. cit. 72.Op. cit. p. 182 73.An excellent historical example of this is given in W.Muraskin 'The hidden role of fraternal organisations in the education of black adults:Princeton Hall Freemasonaiy as a case study' in ADULT EDUCATION vol.XXVI no. 4 1976 74.Op. cit. p. 12 75.Op. cit. p. 511 76.Op. cit. p. 264 77 . Op. cit. 1970 78.M. Oppenheimer 'The sociology of participatory democracy'in H. Dreitzel ed. 1969 RECENT SOCIOLOGY NO 1 London: The MacMillanCompany 79.T. Lovett, C. Clarke and A. Kilmurray 1983 ADULTEDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ACTION London: Croom Helm 80.J. Maree 'Democracy and oligarchy in the independenttrade unions in Transvaal and the Western Province General Workers Unionin the 1970s' Unpubl. paper Centre for African Studies UCT 1983, summarisesMichels work very adequately. 81.Ibid. 82.For example Johnson and The Wolfenden Committee op. cit. 83.Ibid. p. 7 84.Op. cit. 85.Op. cit. p. 98 86.J. Cowley `The politics of community organising' in Cowley op.cit. p. 240 87.M. Raboy 'Urban struggles and municipal poiitics: TheMontreal Citizen's Movement' in INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF COMMUNITYDEVELOP- MENT N 39-40 Summer 1978 88.Quoted in Freeman op. cit. p. 101 89.Op. cit. 90.J. Perlman 'Seven voices from one organisation: What does itmean?' unpub. paper, University of Southern California 1980 91.This is summarised adequately in Perlman 1980 92.Op. cit. p. 24

63 68 Part II: Voluntary Associations

93.For example P. Blumberg 1973 INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY: THE SOCIOLOGY OF PARTICIPATION New York: Schocken 94.C. Argyris 'Personality and organisation revisited' in ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY 18: 141-67 95.Perlman 1980 op. cit. 96.Ibid. p. 15 97.S. Kindervauer 1979 NONFORMAL EDUCATION AS ANEMPOWERING PROCESS USA: Center for International Education University ofMas- sachusetts. 98.IMTEC 1983 LEARNING FROM WORK AND COMMUNITYEX- PERIENCE. SIX INTERNATIONAL MODELS Britain: NFER- Nelson PART III

COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION 70 Part Community Adult Education INTRODUCTION

The aim of Part Three is to identifyconceptual tools to be used for the analysis of the self-education strategieswithin the case studies which will be presented in Part Five. There is no obviousbody of literature which deals with self- education within community organsations.The literature which appearsto offer some promise, and which willbe reviewed here, covers the workson community adult education. A generaldiscussion of the literature will be followed by a more specific focuson three social theorists who have been very influential within community adulteducation. They are Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire and Antonio Gramsci. Theirworks represent important ideological influences which madean impact on the theory and practice of voluntary associations during the 1960s, 1970sand 1980s. In Part Two, through the discussionson voluntary associations in general and education within voluntaryassociations in particular, possibleanalytical tools were identified. Thesewere the four integrative processes whichwere argued to be essential in theprocess of leadership development: action, critical reflection, theoretical knowledge andparticipatory democratic practices. It was argued that an additional andcrucial dimension of activities within voluntary associations was theinfluence of the externalcontext. In the following discussions particularattention will be paid to the abovementioned aspects in order both to decideon their suitability as analytical tools forour purposes and to 'sharpen' them by giving theconcepts more nuanced meanings. There are definite limitationsto the usefulness of the literature for this study which need to be statedbriefly. The most obvious limitationis that none of the works address the fieldof study directly. Neither Illich,Freire nor Gramsci discuss education withincommunity organisations. Illich isconcerned with education in general,Freire's theory emergesout of work in 'cultural circles' and Gramsci'smost explicit dcscription of adult educational practices is based on developments in the Factory Councils. Allthree are, however, concerned with educationfor democratic participationbut much of their writing remains at a very general level. Therefore, the aim ofthe review of their theoretical works is not to provide a comprehensive critiquebut to identify suitable abstract toolsfor probing and makingsense of the empirical data. The final decision on the suitability of the tools to bc uscdwill be made aftcr reflecting both on the theoretical discussion and thesocial reality conveyed by thc emergent empirical data concerning self-educationwithin community organisations.

63 CHAPTER FIVE

A BRIEF SURVEYOF THE COMMUNITY EDUCATION LITERATURE

Within thc literature Community Education hasproved a very difficult concept lb grasp and define with anycertainty. One reason for this is that community education is a dimension of social practice,and it is often difficult to distinguish between educational andsocial processes.1 Another related reason for the problem with definitionis that community education takes many different forms and occurs in avariety of places. It includes informal, unplanned educational processes, nonformal activities,and formal program- rnec.2It can form part of, for example, religious, cultural,political, worker, university or welfare activities. Because of its diversityit has no one history; but we do know that educational activity whichtoday may be labelled community education, has been occuring forcenturies.3 Within the British literature there have been several attemptsto develop frameworks for an analysis of community education.However, in my view, they all appear to have the same inherent weakness.Within their frameworks, they most often define strategies in relation to apolitical framework. I will argue that strategies on thcir own do notinherently belong to a particular political tendency, but can only be seen to 'belong'when analysed in terms of Inc specific political goals within a particularsituation. Onc of the frameworks that hay, been referred to onseveral occasions in the literature is that developed by Thomas andHarries-Jenkins.4 They present a framework in an attempt tointerpret the re' ationship between adult education and social change. They use the well-knowndichotomy between the conflict and consensustheorists5 and then place them on a`continuum of attitudes', which include the categories revolution,reform, maintenance and conservation. They make the point that the categories canbe interpreted in 63 72 Part III: Community Adult Education different ways, for example, revolution can be both progressiveor regressive, and it can be violent or passive. If we accept Gramsci's theory of the integralstate, which will be elaborated later, and which, very briefly, describesan ongoing struggle over consciousness between the bourgeoisie and the subordinate classes, the categories as presented above seem to presenta very simplified view of reality. The concept of hegemony stands asa critique of these rather static categories. In addition the example given about the various interpretations of `revolution', points to another problem. This is to do with language. Mercer° argues, when discussing the concept of democracy, that meanings of words are negotiated and contested and need to be understood historically. He makes the point that the words 'revolution' and 'reform'connote a certain set of meanings and possible actions to certain groupings, andnotto others. He argues that the use of these terms no longer serves a constructivepurpose in political debate, particularly if the concept of the `integralstate' is accepted. The emergence of various social movements in the lasttwenty years illustrates the problem.At what point are the movements revolutionary,at what point reformist? Are the ecologists whoare fighting to preserve aspects of the environment, conservative? It seems that these questionscan only be answered in relation to political theory and practice. Theuse of these categories in isolation from an elaborated social theory is thereforenot very useful. The two other frameworks which will be discussed briefly,are those developed by Barr and Mc Conne11.7 In both frameworks thereis an attempt to link various critiques of society and political frameworks withcommunity education strategies. For example, thecommunityservice' strategy is classified as conservative, and`participatory communityactivity'is seen as reformist. There are numerous examples whichcan be drawn on to demonstrate that strategies in themselves do not 'belong'to any particular political theory; the work of Gramsci, Freire and Illich8 for example,shows the different and complex use of participatory strategies, basedon different analyses, with different possible outcomes. Jackson9 in theearly 1970s, drawing on Gramscian theory, argued for rigorous theoreticaleducational programmes for workers in addition to experience-basedapproaches. Many adult educators, at the time influenced by the atheoreticaland pragmatic approach which was prevalent, thought of rigoroustheoretical programmes as being inherently authoritarian and repressive. ThereforeBarr and Mc Connell's frameworks seem to present an inaccurate relationshipof causality between social and political theory anil educationalstrategy. Review of the Literature 73

In the literature the relationshipbetween adult education andsocial change is a central point of discussion.There is an interesting, observable early shift in perspective amongst radicaleducators during the 1970s and 1980s. Initially adult education, intandem with community development, was seen as a potentiallyimportant contributor and promoterof social change. in However, as we have already observedwith the workers in the CDPs Britain, by the end of the 1970s there weremore consistent calls foradult education to be an integral and complementarypart of broader political and social movements. Lovett10 presents an excellent example of this shift inemphasis. In the early 1970s, working in Liverpoolwhich had been declared anEducational Priority Area (EPA) by the government,he was concerned with thequestion point11 he of the relevance of adult educationfor the working class. At one people want remarks on the novelty of actuallybeing able to respond to what rather than what employers andinstitutions expected. This was hardly a radical innovation, but working from aninstitutional base as an adult educator, working it must have appeared to have greatpotential. Jackson,12 however, localised in similar circumstances, soonindicated disillusionment with the focus. He argued that working classeducation should start as a challenge to bourgeois hegemony. Education andresearch should emerge from 'anexplicit position regarding active socialrelations'. By 1978 Lovett, who was reflecting onexperience in NorthernIreland13 where political unrest had started in1968, was far clearer about the needfor community education to be 'an armof community action'. He waslooking to historical examples, like theHighlander Folk School inTennessee1 and the Antigonish Movement in NovaScotia,15 to illustrate the need for an educational movement to be part of abroader social and political movement. makings of a He argues that community actionin Northern Ireland 'has the potential, it radical working class movement',however, if it was to realise its needed 'an educational arm'. Atthis stage in his work, using theuniversity role in promot- as his base, he seemsoptimistic about community education's ing social change. In his most recentwork16 Lovett discusses the development of theory and practice in community education andaction over the last tcn years. He discusses the influence of the threeeducators, Gramsci, Freire and Illich on his work. He concludes that forcommunity education to contribute toradical social change, it should help to develop anindependent working class culture, and this should be done from anindependent educational base. The university had a limited role to play. Healso concluded that committededucators required' a sense of social and political purpose; aview of the world as it is 74 Part Ill: Community Adult Education

and as it could be; a dream ofthe future and an ability to link thisto the educational process'. His work whichinitially was more strongly influenced by Illich and Freire,now draws heavily on Gramsci. Heagrees with Jackson's17contention that education practicemust be constantly interpreted in the light of theory. The test of success for community educationwill be in the answers to the questions, whocontrols? and in whose interests? Within both radical communitydevelopment and community education circles, the emphasis shifted during the 1970s from analyses andtheories concerning the microprocesses of the specific projects, toconcern for macro social and political theory.There was a more soberacceptance of the subordinate role within movements forsocial change of education and communny development. Community workersacknowledged the need to develop thcir programmes within a theoretical understanding of the statc, and withina theory of transition. Gramsci, whowas a political activist and social theorist, and who developed his educational theory because of thess,commitments,has become increasingly relevantto contemporary activists.1° From this very brief survey of the literature, it is clear thata central focus in the literature has been the debate about community education'srole in social change. Several of theeducators had been linkedto CDPs or other government initiated projects, andwere engaged in a public debate withone another. The community educationliterature, therefore, doesnot provide a comprehensive framework forour purposes, although it does raise crucial issues about the role and function of education within broadersocial change strategy. The next two chapters will analyse the theory and educationalpractice of Illich, Freire and Gramsci. The aim is to identify conceptualelements/tools imbedded in thcir work which can be used to probe the empiricalmaterial in the present study. Their works will be located briefly withinthe contexts in which they were developed. This will be done because,as has been stated previously, educational practicescannot be viewed outside their historical, social and ideologicalcontext.s. As Gelpi19 says: the educational problem is above all a political problem, andthat educational strategies must start out from an analysis of social and political forces. CHAPTER SIX

IVAN LUIGI ANDPAULO FREIRE

Background: The work of Illich and Freire needs tobe seen as an integral part of developments in thc 1960s. As has beendescribed, the 1960s was a time whenthem wide range was a struggle for increasedcontrol and self-determination by a of movements and institutions in westerncapitalist countrics. It was also a time of' rapid social change in manyThird World countries which were either in the throes of national liberation struggles, orhad recently attained inde- pendence from the colonialpowers.20 Both Mich and Freire can be classified asradical humanists. Their work was strongly influencedby the intellectual climate of the 1960swhich was discussed in Chapter Two, and whichcomprised anti-bureaucratic, anti- theoretical, and pragmatic tendencies,which had pluralist, populist and anarchist rather than Marxist roots. They arealso Christians who have strong links with the Catholic Church. Both ofthem could fairly comfortably fit into Ruddock's definition of radicalism.21 Ruddock argues that radicalism has several distinguishing features, some ofwhich are: radicalism has no doctrine; it has no foundingfather (as opposed to Marxism). It is largely atheoretical and has anaction-orientated approach to problems. radicals are ready to move to action and theyhope to achieve change by attacking particular things in society. radicals arc suspicious of all forms of government(Anarchists have a certain place in the radical tradition). many Marxists are alsoradicals and vice versa. 76 Pan HI:Community Adult Education

radicals often look to 'self-help' andare attracted by the 'small is beautiful' thesis. The work of Illich and Freire addressesboth the First and Third world situations. Freire developed his work initiallyin Brazil and Chile, and Illich in the U.S.A., Puerto Rico and Mexico.Their work therefore also needsto be viewed within the context of the'development' debates.22

IVAN ILLICH

Illich's work is the least directly relevantof the three theorists, who are to be discussed. However, his work does havesome pertinence as it reflects important patterns of thought andbehaviour which were present incommunity organisations of the 1960sand 1970s. His work has strongly in- fluericed liberal thought on educationthrough to the 1980s. In this section the focus willcentre on a critical understanding of Illich's arguments for education for democraticparticipation. Note will be taken particularly of the position in hiswork of the four integrativeprocesses identified in Part Two i.e. action,reflection, theoretical knowledge and participatory democracy. His two works,which have had the most impacton educational debate, Deschooling Societyand Celebration of Awareness, will be used as the focus of discussion. These two books are the result of hiswork in Puerto Rico, New York and Mexico during the 1950s and 1960s.His ideas he believes have applicability in both the First and Third Worlds,23and as we have noted, theywere strongly influenced by the social movements inthe U.S.A., and developments in the Third World. An example of his writingcan most graphically demonstrate the influence of the context on his work. The opening essay in Celebration ofAwareness is a manifesto, 'a call to celebrate', whichwas jointly enunciated by, and reflecting the mood of agroup of fricnds in 1967. It was a call:

To celebrate our jointpowers to provide all human beings with the food, clothing and shelter they nccd to delight inliving. To discover with us, whatwe must do to use mankind's power to create the humanity, the dignity and the joyfulnessof each one of us. To be responsibly aware of your true feelings and to gatherus together in their expression. We can only live these changes:we cannot think our way to humanity.... He continues: Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire ^17

is profoundly But we must also recognize that ourthrust toward self-realization structures._ We can escapefrom these hampered by outmoded, industrial-age unwilling dehumanizing systems. The way aheadwill be found by those who are and structures.... Our to be constrained by theapparently all-determining forces responsibility freedom and power are determinedby our willingness to accept for the future.... authority: the ability to In the future we must end the useof coercive power and demand action on the basis of one'shierarchical position. celebrate our The call is to live the future.Let us join together joyfully to awareness that we canmake our life today the shapeof tomorrow's future. work can Within this quote a number.of thecentral strands within Illics arguing for 'anotherdevelopment' where he be identifed. Firstly, he is in the defines the meaning of development asbeing the actual improvement and social quality of human lives ratherthan in terms of macro-economic Secondly, he believes growth. He is concerned withthe humanising of society. development of self- that social change can bebrought about through the growing numbers of peoplewho are committed to an awareness amongst that large ecologically sound, caring,sharing community. He argues bureaucratic institutions, like theeducation system, arc majorconstraining challenges factors in the growth and personaldevelopment of people. He thus the existence of these institutions. Illich contributed to the ethosof some of the value-rationalvoluntary places with associations which were discussedin Part Two. Authorityhe the future in individuals, or counter-culturecollectives who can begin to live utopian communities. Feelings arevalued more highly thantheoretical analysis. Self-awareness is a key to a moreequal, less oppressive society. While I llich addressed himself to awide range of issues, he was centrally involved in the education debatesof the time. Whereas manveducators25 'access for the poor' were concernedwith 'relevance', 'the open classroom', theory on two major etc. Mich argued to&school society. Illich based his criticisms of schools: firstly, thatthey deny to majorities sociallypowerful that knowledge, particularly knowledgeof political economy, and secondly action.26 He they cripple individuality.spontaneity. creativity, and collective was concerned to progresstowards 'true' education whichinvolves the conscious choice by an individual or groupto learn something, to'school' oneself. As such it is asell-determining activity. Ilesaid:27 learning, a I believe that only actual participationconstitutes socially valuable participation by the learner in every stageof the learning process, including not but also a only a free choice of what is to belearned and how it is to be learned, 78 Part Ill: Community Adult Education

free determination by each learner of hisown reason for living and learning the part that his knowledge isto play in his life.

Based on this position, in IL lich's viewa good system of education must fulfil at least three purposes. Thoseindividuals or groups who desireto learn must have access to adequateresources at any time during their lives, not just during the years usually set aside forformal schooling. Thus, technologymust play a crucial part in theprocess of deschooled education. Quality education must also challenge the ideas of institutionalcertdfication by providing access for those people who want to share their wisdom with others who mightwant to learn from them. Finally,a system of education that proposes to be excellent must furnish an opportunity and themeans for individuals to maks publicany issues or challenges they wishto make before the body politic.28 In order to fulfil these threepurposes Mich propmes networks ofindividuals or groups that 'facilitateclient initiated communicationor cooperation'. These networks ofeducational resources are idealtypes that are more visionarx than made to fit existingsocial arrangements. They include the following:49 1. Refemnce Services to EducationalObjectswhich facilitate access to things or processes used for formallearning. Some of these thingscan be reserved for this purpose, stored inlibraries, rental agencies, laboratories, and showrooms likemuseums and theatres; others can be in dailyuse in factories, airports, oron farms, but made available to studentsas appren- tices or on off 'hours.

2.Skill Exchanges which permitpersons to list their skills, the conditions under which they are willingto serve as modeLs for others whowant to learn these skills, and the addressesat which they can be reached. 3.Peer-Matching a communications network which permitspersons to describe the learning activity inwhich they wish toengage, in the hope of finding a partner for theenquiry. 4. References Services to Educators-at-large who can be listed ina directory giving the addressesand self-descriptions of professionals, para-professionals, and freelancers,along with conditions ofaccess to their services. Such educatorscould be choscn by pollingor consulting their former clients. Illich has little desire to make these proposals into recipes. Hebelieves that once the vision is established, given hisunderlying faith in the nature of

7 I. 1

Ivan Illich and Paula Freire 79 individuals as striving for 'self-realization', there will be agrowing motivation to fulfil the possibilities inherent in the alternativeshe proposes. Education for democratic participation means forIllich the provision of equal access to educational facilities and resourcesregardless of educational background, social class, colour or creed. Certification,he argues, should not be the mechanism for grading, classifying andsorting people for different positions in the labour market.lich in this approach makes some similar assumptions io the contemporary democratic theoristswho were discussed in Chapter Three. Equal statutory rights are seen as acentral consideration for the equalising of educational opportunity. He does also argue, as noted above, for'participation by the learner in every stage of the learning process'.He believes that the most valuable learning often takes place through experience ratherthan instruction. How- ever, he does not discuss theinvolvement of learners in the decisions around, for example, the technology to be used in thelearning process although he is concerned about the distribution of power in the learningrelationships. Thus, he argues that anyone who is willing and able shouldbe allowed to teach. Peer learning is emphasised. He sees the role of educator ashaving to take different forms. At times, particularly with the teaching of skills, rotelearning may be approriate, while at other times 'the educational guide or masteris concerned with helping matching partners to meet so that learning cantake place.' Critical discussion Many of the Marxist commentators, who are criticalof Illich, criticise the lack of a coherent theory in his work. They are critical ofthe negative formulation of the problem, which ne, .er moves beyond negation,and they argue that he has a naive and simplisti vim of social change.Some of their criticisms perhaps would hold good 'or other radicals as well. Gintis31 points out that, the strengths of Illich's analysis lie in his consistent and periasive methodology of negation.He demystifies many of essential elements in the liberal capi tali stsocicties: consumption,education, the welfare state and corporate manipulation. But hisfailure is that he refuses to pass beyond negation. He never moves on to a synthesis. Onlyin one sphere does he go beyond negation, and that is with technology, whichhe sees as having some potentially liberatingeducational functions. Gintis argues that his failure to move beyond negation is an implicit affirmation of thedeepest charateristics of the existing order. For example, by rejectingschools Mich embraces a commodity-fetishist cafeteria- smorgasbordideal for education, and he affirms a utilitarian individualistic conception ofhumanity. 80 Part III: Community Adult Education

An acknowledgement of the political nature of knowledge is central to Illich's argument. Therefore making knowledge accessible is a political act. In schools, he argues, knowledge has become a commodity, and 'knowledge capitalism' has become an acceptable rationale for the distribution of jobs and income'. Knowledge he recognises as being both explicit and implicit, as with the hidden curriculum in the schools. Barrow33 believes that Illich has 'a very hazy view of what he means by knowledge', and he has an over- simplified picture of the acquisition of knowledge. Barrow argues that rather than just access to 'facts', education should be most concerned with the development of people's capacity to handle ideas. Giroux34 gives the essence of radical education as:

its ability to help students move critically within their own subjectivity and to break with the 'commonsense' assumptions that tie them to the dominant structures of power and control.... Illich does not seem to appreciate the pervasiveness of bourgeois hegemony and the need for an active strategy for the raising of consciousness amongst the people. He does not question the value bias which may be present in his technological, alternative sources of knowledge. Having previously acknowledged the political nature of knowledge, his lack of discussion of the political values which will be present in his utopian systems, is contradictory. In these systems he seems to take knowledge and informationas neutral. Giroue5sees two major positions which characterise the 'educational left': on the one hand there art content-focussed radicals and, on the other, strategy-based radicals. The content- focussed radicals define radical pedagogy by the:r insist( ice on the use of Marxist-based, theoretical perspectives to demystify the dominant ideology. On the other hand, the strategy-based group defr.res radical pedagogy as the development of 'healthy', non-alienating social relationships. The latter position, into which Illich would fitmore comfortably, springs from a long tradition of thought including such diverse notables as Rousseau, Carl Rogers, and Erich Fromm. (It is also the tradition on which arguments for the theory of participatory democracy z.e based.) Steeped in what can be generally termed radical humanism, thisgroup acknowledges the oppressive power and control exercised by institutions such as schools. They therefore are inclined to stress humanistic social arrangements at the expense of radical content. Content-focussed radicals, whoare concerned to present the 'correct' analysis, on the other hand, have divorced content from proccss. Giroux argues that. what is needed in radical education is a definition of knowledge which recognizes itto be not only a body of

7 81 Ivan Illich and PauloFreire conceptual thought, but also as aprocess whichdemands radical educational this need to different relationships. Both Gramsciand Freire have recognised have free choice inwhat degrees, but Mich isconcerned mainly that people and how they learn. but 'hidden curriculum' tocategorize the unstated Mich uses the term students in classrooms, effective distribution of norms,values, and attitudes to analysis of this phenomenon.The assumptions that but he never attempts an and the hidden curriculummanipulates the students he seems to make are that creativity. Ananalysis of detracts from their personalfreedom and space for and the hiddencurriculum the relationship betweencapitalist social relations his solution i.e. to deschoolsociety, is not based on a is missing. Therefore human theory of social change. It isbased on a notion of theory of the state or a political and ideological freedom which ignores theimportance of economic, capitalism, he does not connect factors in social change.While he is critical of critique of society in anycoherent way. Hisradical his solution with his and with no dialectical pedagogy ends up beingahistorical, individualistic, which can lead on tocollective social action. notion of knowledge take into account the Mich's 'networkingstrategies', which do not but encourage a consensualview, became popular conflictual nature of society organsiations during the amongst certain adulteducators and community 1970s and are still influentialin the1980s.36

In Summary identify possibleconceptual In light of the aim ofthis chapter, which was to the case studies, brief commentis necessary on the tools for the analysis of theoretical place which the fourintegrative processes ofaction, reflection, democratic practices havewithin Illich's theory. knowledge and participatory Therefore only Mich does not refer to themicro educational processes. possible. The 'action' componentwithin his visionary general comment is information and learning educational process relateslargely to the retrieval of The process is highlyindividualised and incidentally through experience. bring about the new self-directed. The 'action'which would be required to of negation rather than anyconstructive political society seems to stress acts communities where the action. He also encouragespeople to form utopian theory and practice can beenacted in the present time. "1:,h. He highlights the The development of'theory' is not stressed h!' 'skills' but he does not argaeforpat:icular 'facts'or need for 'facts' and neutral concepts. It is the 'skills'. He seems to implythat they are politically the capacity to workwith retrieval of the facts ratherthan the development of

7 82 Part III: Community AdultEducation ideas which is emphasised. 'Reflection' on action,as part of the learning ptocess, is not mentioned specifically although he argues that people from experience. do learn Finally, he does stress theimportance of the participationof aspects of the learning learners in all process although, as argued above,it is not clear who makes certain decisions like the use of technologyand the definition of knowledge. The details ofthe participatory elaborated. democratic pmcessesare not

r Ivan Mich and Paulo Freire 83

PAULO FREIRE in adult There is no doubt that Freire hasbeen a highly significant figure appeal for education over the last fifteen years.His work has had particular political nature of radical adult educators becauseof his emphasis on the raises education. However, the widespreadexpression of interest in his ideas when they are questions. For example, why arepeople happy to accept Freire has been opposed to Marxism in general? Ishis approach in fact as radical as claimed? underlying In this section, the main thrustof Freire's theories with their philosophical assumptions will beelaborated in order to identifyFreire's be views on education for democraticparticipation. Special attention will given to the part played within hiseducational theory to the integrative processes of action,critical reflection, theoreticalknowledge and par- within ticipatory democracy. The democratictheories which are imbedded his writings will be identifiedin order to relate the microeducational proces- of discussions, ses to his broader theoriesof social change. During the course the questions that were raisedabove, will be addressed. During the period of the refomnstgovernment of PresidentGou lart in and he Brazil Freire participated in thedebate about national development coordinator of the waS associated with theradicals in the Catholic Church. As National Literacy Programme in 1963he developed plans to include twenty thousand groups in the literacy programme.But in April of 1964 the military overthrew President Goulart. Freire wasimprisoned for seventy-five days because his literacy programme was seenby the military as politically subversive. He then went into exilein Chile. Thus Freire wasworking and writing about a society that was in a stateof transition. Freire acknowledges the importance of such a time, hesays:"7

The time of transition involves a rapid movementin search of new themes and with his new tasks. In such a phase manneeds more than ever to be integrated will reality. If he lacks the capacity to perceivethe 'mystery' of the changes, he be a mere pawn at their mercy. Brazil, in the 1950s and early 1960s, wasprecisely in this position of moving from one epoch to another.... Freire saw the importance of thisphase of history as crucial where,in Kuhn's sense there were competingparadigms. He saw education as central at thistime:3g 84 Part III: Comnutnity Adult Education

Thus, in that transitional phase, education became a highly important task.Its potential force would depend above allupon our capacity to participate in the dynamism of the transitional epoch.

He argued that Brazil had beena 'closed society' which was in the 'process of opening'. During this timethe society began to polarise:

Men and institutions began to divideinto two general categoriesreactionaries and progressives.... The deepeningof the clash between old andnew encouraged a tendency to choose one side or the other;and the emotional climate of the time encouraged the tendency to becomeradical about that choice.

Freire described Braziliansas having no experience of democracy. Brazil had a history of a 'closed, colonial, slavocratic, reflex, andanti-democratic society.'39 Hebelieved that the people hadto learn democratic behaviour thmugh the experience of it. Headvocated their participation ina range of voluntary associations: I was convinced that the Brazilian people could learn socialand political responsibility only by experiencing that responsibility, through interventionin the destiny of their children's schools, in the destinies of their tradeunions and places of employment, through associations, clubs, and councils, andin the life of their neighbourhoods, churches and rural communities by activelyparticipat- ing in associations, clubs, andcharitable societies. They could be helped to learn democracy through the exercise ofdemocracy; for that knowledge, above all others, can only be assimilatedexperientially.... Nothing threatened the correct development of popularemergence more than an educational practice which failedto offer opportunities for the analysis debate of problems, and or for genuine participation;one which not only did not identify with the trend toward democratization butreinforced our lack of L democratic experience.

It was the desire to contributeto the development of a truly participative society that was a strong motivation behind the developmentof Frei re 's work. He wanted to take advantage of the period of transition inorder to democratize the education process:40

I was concerned to take advantage of that climate toattempt to rid our education of its wordiness, its lack of faith in the student and hispower to discuss, to work, to create. Democracy and democratic education are foundedon faith in men, on the belief that they not onlycan but should discuss the problems of their of their continent, their country, world, their work, the problemsof democracy itself.

BEST COPYAVAiLABLE Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire 85

Education is an act of love, and thus an act of courage.It cannot fear the analysis of reality or, under pain of revealing itself as&farce, avoid creative discussion. Freire's ideas are accessible in Englishin five books and numerous articles. His first three books Educationfor Critical Consciousness (1967), Pedagogy of the Oppressed and CulturalAction for Freedom (1970) andhalf in of the fifth book The Politics of Education(1985) relate to his experiences Latin America in the 1960s. In 1978 hepublished Pedagogy in Processbased on his experience in assistingwith the national literacy programmein Guinea- Bissau in 1975-1976. This book providesevidence of a significant development in his thinking which isreflected in his mode of analysis andexpression. Before moving on to the philosophicalinfluences within his work it is necessary to describe briefly theadult education method which Freirehas developed to put his theory into practice. Hismethod is elaborated in detail in Education for Critical Consciousness andin Pedagogy of the Oppressed. One of the most important things about Frei reis that he not only presents educational theory but also describes its practicalimplications. This is in line with one of his main ideas, namely that thepractices of adult educaion reflect political and philosophicalassumptions:41 'All educational practice implies a theoretical stance on theeducator's part. This stance in turn implies ... an interpretaion of man and the world.' Freire's method was centrally concerned withconsciousness raising; that is the process whereby learners develop acritical understanding of their society and an awareness of how to change it.His approach can therefore not be reduced to techniques and methods,although he does stress certain educational forms and processes. His method developed initially through theestablishment of 'culture circles'. The method was, after six months, usedin the teaching of literacy. Literacy he saw as an area of education whichtaught essential skills, and through the process, could teach participativebehaviour. The 'culture circles' provided the structures in which a problem-posingapproach to education could be undertaken. In the 'culture circles' insteadof a teacher there was a coordinator, instead of pupils there were groupparticipants, instead of lectures there was dialogue, instead of syllabi there werelearning units based on specific, politically relevant problems. Throughthe culture circles they attempted through group debate either to clarifysituations or to seek action arising from that clarification. The approachdeveloped in the culture circles was applied to the literacy classes.Through teaching adults how to read they werv attemptins to move the learnersfrom a naive to a critical attitude. They believed that:44

tr; 86 Part HI : Community Adult Education

The more accurately men grasptrUe caimlity, the more critical their understanding of reality will be. Their understanding willbe magical to the degree that they fail to grasp causality. Further, criticalconsciousness always submits that causality to analysis: what is true todaymay not be so tomorrow. Naive consciousness sees causality as a static, establishedfact, and thus is deceived in its perception.

The assumption underlying theirapproach was that critical understanding leads to critical action. The method usedto move people to a critical position was 'an active, dialogical, critical andcriticism-stimulated method'. It was the process of 'conscientization'. Freire's philosophical foundationfor his educational practice is elaborated in Pedagogy of the Oppressed.It is a position which very much reflects the intellectual milieu of Brazilin the early 1960s. It is an explicitly eclectic position whichdrawson three closely related intellectual currents of the twentieth century radical Christian theology,existentialism, phenomenology, and humanist Marxism. Freire's view on Christianity isthat it entails a commitment to social action against exploitation andoppression. As he put it in an interview"''the role of the church must be therole of liberation, of the humanisationof humankind'. His use ofconcepts such as witness, rebirth, and theEaster experience derive from Christianity.His philosophical position alsoincor- porates existential-phenomenological ideas.His stress on interpersonal relations and dialogue derive fromthis perspective, as does hisconern with consciousness and the way peopleconstrue the world. As he says:'Reality is never just simply theobjective datum, the concrete fact,but it is also man's perception of it.' His use ofconcepts such as inter- subjectivity, intentionality and authenticity derive via this philosophical route.45 Finally, his positionalso includes the thinking of humanistMarxists, for example, in itsemphasis on praxis and the need for a utopian vision to negate existing capitalistsociety. Concepts such as praxis, alienation and dialectics he derives fromMarxism. With this brief introduction to Freire the specific role of action,reflection, theoretical knowledge and participatory democracy will providethe foci for further critical discussion of hisapproach to education. Critical discussion At the centre of Freire'seducational approach isa conception of man man standing on his own feet as an active enquirer, rather thana passive receiver of the ideas of others. He believes that all peoplearc capable of sustaining a critical relationship with their environments, and that throughreflection and

8 4 Ivan Mich and Paulo Freire 87 that action they will be able to de-mystifyoppressive knowledge. He belie-es people are different from animals becausethey are able to detach themselves from their natural and social environment,and then act to change it. People are continually in a processof action and reflection. Thusthg6central concept of Freire's epistemology is praxis,that is, conscious action. The act of knowing involves a dialecticalmovement which goesfrom action to reflection and from reflection uponaction to a new action. For the learner to know what he did not knowbefore, he must engage in anauthentic process of abstraction by meansof which he can reflect on theaction-object whole, or, more generally, on forms oforientation in the world. For Freire, praxis unites thought and actionand hence avoids the separation of these which leads either to emptytheorising or to mindless activism. It leads him to conclude that educationmusthelp people in the process of objectifying the world, critically understandingit, and acting to change it. His approach is theretpre an explicit attempt toembody the theory of knowledge based on praxis.4 It centres on dialogue, a processin which the educator and learner search for knowledge together. Thissearch, being based on praxis, presupposes not only intellectualwork but also action. Freire's conception of education is in directcontrast to the concept of education as an act of transmission andtransference of knowledge. Freire criticises traditional narrative forms ofeducation as oppressive and likens them t4o a system of 'banking'. He suggests thateducation which follows this mode becomes an act of depositing in which the studehts arcthe depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead ofcommunication the teacher issues communi- ques and 'makes deposits' whichthe students patiently receive., memoriseand repeat. This is the 'banking' concept ofeducation, in which the scope of action allowed to the studcnt extends only as far asreceiving, filing, and storing the deposits.... His critique of banking education rests on the 'jew that the teacher as 'narrator' encourages a one-way dependenceof the student upon thc teacher. The memorising and regurgitation of 'facts'creates, and maintains, agulf between teacher and taught. Frei re argues that such a processis anti-dialogical and therefore anti-educational on the groundsthat 'dependency' presents a contradiction and an obstacle to 'authenticfree thinking and real consciousness'.° This 'banking education' regards knowled&e asstatic and learners as passive. Freire's writings are a critique of thisapproach. His method derives

.v 88 Part III: Community Adult Education

from his epistemology and the idea ofpraxis. The whole process of problem- posing and decodification is basedon this theory. The concept of praxis, particularly inthe earlier works, tends to be abst.ract and can thus be criticised froma Marxist perspective for the promotion of idealism which overemphasiseshuman freedom to bring about social change. Content is not givento the 'theory and practice' beyond thecur- riculum needing to be basedon actual needs and real problems relating to the context. The 'action' is also unspecified.However, in Pedagogy in Process Freire makes more explicit both thecontent of the practice and its determining context. For example, he acknowledges therole of the party in social transformation and the necessary relationshipin Guinea-Bisaau of educationas part of the process of production.30 Before moving on to discuss Frei m'sapproach to the use of theory, there is one critique of 'conscientization' which should be noted. The critiqueraises the question of the nihilist tendencieswithin the process of 'conscientization'. In a paper by Bowers 'Culture against itself: nihilism asan element in recent educational thought',51 hedevelops an argument which raisesques- tions about the process of consciousness-raising, which sets outto question and demystify all aspects of an individual's existential and historicalsituation. He is critical of the promotion of 'discontinuity' which undermines'traditional cultural defences against nihilism'. He argucs that educationalpractice which promotes the criticallyreflexive person as the centre ofa social change strategy, and which does not provide forthe recognition and establishmentof any form of authority outside of thereflective judgement of theindividual, will be unable to ensure that the individual will accept themoral authority of important social groups. Thiswould be directly counterto a Marxist theory of class struggle. Bowcrs states that the basicorientations of the neo-Romantic(for example Illich) and liberation theories of education thatcontribute to the nihilistic dissolution of thecultural foundations of beliefare: an emphasis on self-realization, the locating ofauthority within the individual,a teleological view of change that makes tradition appear asan obstruction to progress that must be overcome, and a view of individualism that ignores theformative ground of culture. He suggests that a theory of educationthat reduces the nihilist tendencies must provide a theoretical basis for understandingthe limitations of setting the individual against culture and tradition.There must be recognition that the individual is not an autonomous entity,but an inter- subjective being (in thephenomenological sense),or an 'individual-communal being' in Mark 's tcrms. He argues that insteadof allowing the educational experience toturn inward towards subjectivity,on the assumption 8 6 Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire 89 transformation of the that 'speaking a true word' representsa progressive thoughtful world, the project ofconsciousness-raising can lead to a more originated in the past. He awareness of how thepresent pattern of thinking of a democratic gives the example of peopleunderstanding the foundations that are sub- polity which can strengthencommitment to communal values Bowers' argu- stantively different from thenihilistic value of self-interest.' quite differently, is remarkablysimilar to the argument ment, although framed into the history of Gramsci uses for schooleducation to be an initiation theory to philosophicalthought.53 Bowers, however does not extend his include political practice, asGrarnsci does. He remains atthe ideological rather than level, where 'restoring the senseof community' is an educational however raise some very a political andeconomic act. His paper does important questions for radicaleducators like Freire, and forcommunity models of educators and activists who arcattempting to develop collectivist organisation. pointed out The lack of clear theoreticalformulations in Freire's work is of Freire's in different ways and fromdifferent perspectives. It is clearthat one For him, the strengths is that he addresseseducational issues as political ones. nature fact of domination in Third Worldnations, as well as the substantive Giroux54 points out, of that domination, is relativelyclear. Consequently, as confined to his analysis of the socio-politicalconditions of domination are This presents both an acknowledgement and astrong rhetorical indictment. Firstly, he does not present hisarguments within a two major problems. theory of defined theory of the state, nor doeshe seem to have a coherent transition. This results in therelationship between his pedagogyand social the study, action being left vague and unclear.As we have seen in Part One of and never this can result in groups staying atthe consciousness-raising stage, domina- moving on to political action. Secondly,the conditions and nature of does tion are not explored in any depth;the extent of ideological hegemony refer to the not appear to be fullyappreciated. Conscientization seems to proccss of overcoming a'state of false consciousness'with only the 'oppressed' having a 'fragmentedconsciousness'. This is in contrast tothe developed by more detailed andanalytical concept of 'commonsense', Gramsci. Freire uses the5two simplecategories of 'oppressed' and 'oppressors' which, as Rude"' points out, are veryinadequate for describing categories and the complexities of societies.Gramsci moves _way II om these into talks about 'commonsense' becausehe breaks down the gross dichotomy classes and class more complex divisions.He talks more specifically about alliances. 90 Part III: Community Adult Education

Freire develops his theory ofcultural domination and cultural actionfor freedom from his analysis ofconsciousness. He distinguishes threelevels of consciousness: 'magic consciousness','naive consciousness' and 'critical consciousness'. He states that `tounderstand the levels of consciousness,we must understand cultural-historical realityas a superstructure in relation toan infrastructure , .56 However,as mentioned above, he stays at the levelof generalities as he does not use the concepts of Marxist analysisto identify more precisely the context of differentlevels of consciousness. Freire thus focuses on the plane of consciousness to the neglect of theeconomic basis. The position of the teacheror coordinator in Freire's method further illustrates his approach to theory. The task of the teacher isto challenge the learners to move to a level of critical consciousness. Theproblem-posing method, which is based on dialogue and which must avoidmanipulation, is used to achieve this. But what is the basis for theteacher's challenge? The basis must be a theory concerning society where theruling class ideology obscures reality and the teacher's role is to reveal this ideology.But it is over the question of a 'correct theory' where Freire ismost ambivalent. A tension is discernible between his humanist opposition to impositionand historical materialism. He is reluctantto acknowledge the superiorityin terms of theoretical understanding of theteacher. As he asserts: 'And critical perception cannot be imposed'.57In Peda- gogy in Process Freire does acknowledge that popular wisdomcan at times be incorrect and in these instances it must be corrected.He has in more recent statements argued that educators must share their theoretical knowledgewith learners in a process thatdoes not deny inequality of is based on.cooperative knowledge but one which and democratic principlesof power. As Youngman points out:J°

The opposite of being directive is not being non-directivethat is likewise an illusion, the opposite both of manipulation andspontaneity icritical and democratic participation by thelearners.... Freire's ambivalence to the teacher havinga superior theory reflects his eclecticism which prevents him from identifyingMarxism, for example, the theory which as can most comprehensivelyexpose the ideology of the ruling class and thus provide thebasis for critical education. Fmi re 's positionon 'action' is also unclear particularly Pedagogy in Process in his earlier work. develops his position althoughthere are still criticisms of the ambiguities in his writings. Gleeson, Walkerand Giroux59 all on Freire's failure to elaborate comment on the relationship which hesaw between the

8 '7) Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire 91 educational processes and revolutionaryaction. Gleeson lists a seriesof questions which he believes remain unansweredby Freire. For example, what does he mean by 'authentic', `true' or`real' consciousness? How can he be sure that conscientizedrevolutionaries will not become oppressorsthemsel- yes? To what extent can radical, literate peasants,untrained in guerilla tactics and without organised military strategies,be capable of resisting government troops? In addition Gleeson believes thathe does not seem to explore satisfactorily the relationship between therevolutionary leadership and the masses. Neither is the relationshipbetween intellectuals and the masses developed with any thoroughness. JimWalker,60 in his critique of Freire's political theory, particularly as expressed in Pedagogyin Process: The Letters to Guinea-Bissau, usefully analysesthese issues. For Freire, it seems that the same principles governthe roles of both the educator and the revolutionary leader. Apart from themilitary aspects of the revolutionary leadership, he sees the roles as being very similar. Heregards the petty bourgeois nature of the leadership as almostinevitable. The leaders are typically professionals and intellectuals who renounce their classorigins and join the oppressed. Freire builds up an elaborate theory of dialogue andcommunication to bridge the gap between leaders and people. This is the essenceof their relationship.

It is only in his writings on Guinea-Bissau thathe elaborates at any length on the role of the political party.Walker believes that he accepts as un- problematic the all-encompassing role of the party asdeveloped by Cabral. He takes the Guinea-Bissau people to be homogeneous.He does not develop his analysis of the relationship between the leadersand the people beyond the importance of the dialogical relationship and the need formoral attentiveness and application to duty on the part of the leaders.While in his later wcrk Freire does elaborate on his view of revolutionary actionthere is no systematic account of the conditions of revolution,the form of political organisation or the programme of action. A central and importantweakness in Freire's work is the lack of a theory of social change and the lackof specification about the goal of social change. His work also lacks a clearlyspelt out vision of his ideal, future society. These deficiencies cloud Freire'swork. They leave the readers to make many assumptions in their searchfor his social theory and they leave room for misinterpretation and confusion.His eclecticism allows his work to be used by a widc range of people from verydifferent philosophical perspectives. Finally, we turn to the relationship of Freire's pedagogy to'participatory democratic practices'. From thc discussion thus far itis clear that Freire is centrally concerned with the development of dcmocraticthcory and practice. EJ 92 Part III: Community Adult Education

Education occurs through active participation both in the structuredlearning situation and in political, social, cultural and ecrinornic activities.The relationship between coordinator and learner is basedon 'dialogue'. There is an emphasis on the equality of all concerned. As alreadymentioned there in ambivalence in his writing about the role of leadership in theeducational process. While his theory has been influenced by the Existential- Phenomenological, Marxkt, radical Christian and Humanistschools of philosophical thought it would seem that the radicalChristian-Humanist influence is stronger than the Marxist. Thiscan be seen in his appeals to `humanity' and `freedom' in his analysis rather thangrounding his argumelt in a theory of the state. This leads toa promotion of an atheoretical tendency, with a concentration on the individual who holdsauthority. In summary Freire seems to draw more on the participatorytheory of democracy than on the liberal or Marxist theories whichwere described in Chapter Three. While he aligns himself firmly with the oppressed, hedoes not place class struggle and political action at the centre of his theory.In his later writings links with the revolutionary movementswere seen as crucial, although the form they should take, and the role of education withinthem, was not developed by Freire. The creation of critical thinkers, whowould beactors' in the world, was a primary objective. The internal participatoryeducational process was elaborated in detail and while Freire 'stressedthe need for political clarity... rather than techniques and methods'61 hiswork does tend to argue for the correct method within the radical educationalprocess. The tension between not wanting to impose ideas on learners andteaching the correct theory runs through his work. One of the implications of this tensionwithin his work for organisations using his theory, may be the prioritygiven to internal accountability rather than external accountability, witha concomitant lack of a collective view of social change strategies. Equality inrelationships, and the processes of action and reflection, can become ends in themselveseven though the rhetoric may bc militant. Chapter Seven

ANTONIO GRAMSCI

Background Gramsci's central and ongoing concern wasthe revolutionary transformation War 1, the of Italian society. During hisactive political life-time, World Russian revolution, the possibilityfor a socialist revolution andthe rise of fascism, had all been integral tohis experience. In prison from 1927until his He death in 1937, Gramsci grappledwith and reflected on these experiences. believed that in order to transform thepresent it is necessary to knowits distant origins. For this reason he felt that inorder to understand the victory offascism of and to find ways to transform the state,he needed to study the formation the Italian state, the lack ofpolitical unity in the Italian bourgeoisie,and the absence of a genuinebourgeois-democratic revolution in Italy. Gramsci's views on adult education areintimately linked to his views on the state. The most explicit reference toadult education is made in connection with the Factory Councils in northernItaly in 1920 and there is verylimited material in English on the FactoryCouncil movement. Because hiseducational theories are integrated withhis social theories, it is necessary to understand his theory of the state andflowing from that, his theory of social transition. The aim of this chapter, aswith the previous one, is to explorethe relevance of the analytical toolswhich have been identified aspotentially being used to probe the empirical data.This will be done through a discussion of Gramsei's views on educationfor democratic participation. Gramsci's theory of the state Gramsci took Marx and Engel's conceptof hegemony in civil society and made it a central theme of his ownversion of the functioning of the capitalist place in the system. He elevated whathe called 'hegemony' to a predominant science of politics, and in so doinghe emphasised much more thanearlier the writers the role of ideology inperpetuating class relations and preventing development of working class consciousness.By so doing he also broadened 94 Part 111: Community Adult Education

the meaning of politics to include 'base and superstructure'.62He assigned to the state part of the function of promotinga single bourgeois concept of reality. He therefore, gave the statea more extensive role in perpetuating the class structure than orthodox Marxists. Theysaw the state as primarily a repressive force which was an arm of the rulingclass. Gramsci saw the mass of workers as being able to develop class consciousness themselves,but he also saw the obstacles to consciousness asmore formidable in western societies than Lenin had imagined. It was not merely lack ofunderstanding of their position in the economic process that kept workers fromcomprehending their class role, nor was it only the 'private' institutions of society,such as religion, which were responsible for keeping the working class fromself-realization, but it was the state itself that was involved in reproducingthe relations of production. In other words the state was muchmore than the coercive apparatus of the bourgeoisie; it included ideological hegemonyof the bourgeoisie. The importance of the state asan apparatus of hegemony for Gramsci is therefore still rooted in the classstructure defined by and tied to the relations in production. This is the key tounderstanding Gramsci.63 Gramsci provides an analysis of historical development which rejectsthe narrower Marxist version of civil society as incompleteand not relevant to the western situation. But at the same time he doesnot deny that ideology is intimately connected to relations in production:64

... for though hegemony is ethical-political, it must also be economic,must necessarily be based on the decisive nucleus ofeconomic aktivity. It is not the separation of ideologyfrom the economic base which Gramsci stresses, but rather the dialectical relation betweenthem. He uses the concept of 'historic bloc' to describe this unity. Hegemony and the hegemonic function ofthe state emanates from both the nature of the bourgeoisieas an ideologically all-encompassing class and its particular position of economicpower in capitalist society. It is Gramsci's treatment of hegemony which explains thedevelopment, or lack of development, of working class consciousness,so important to any Marxist political analysis. Gramsci raises man's thought (consciousness)to a newly prominent place in Marxism. Control of consciousnessis as much or more an arena of political struggle as control of the forces of production:65

Furthermore, another proposition of thephilosophy of praxis (as he called Marxism) is also forgotten: that 'popularbeliefs' and similar ideasare themselves material forces.

-ra Antonio Granisci 95

be involved The state therefore as an instrumentof bourgeois domination must participant in that in the struggle overconsciousness, must be an intimate is not onl y carried out throughthe develop- struggle. Bourgeois development in the arena of m,-!nt of the forces ofproduction but through hegemony consciousness. The state is involvedin this extension, not only inthe coercive He enforcement of bourgeois economic powerbut also through consent. emphasises the active role of thedominant class in perpetuallyreproducing forces art have its hegemony and suggests thatit is not only the progressive class. Gramsci argues to carry out a 'war ofposition', but also the the dominant of the state if they that the bourgeoisie will only resortto the coercive power remain in the back- cannot obtain consent. Thecoercive forces otherwise ground, normally acting as a systemof enforcement and threatbut not overt coercion, except in certaincircumstances. betwee:i If the arena of consciousness forGram sci is the primary struggle change? How do the dominant and subordinateclasses, then how do things classes? In the subordinate classes overcomethe hegemony of the dominant will describe the order to understand Grarnsci's answerto these questions I of the revolu- role of intellectuals, the conceptof commonsense, and the role tionary party, as part of a theoryof transition. Examples ofhis own practice will also be described. Theory of transition He saw Gramsci's analysis of intellectualsis part of his analysis of the state. needed to come to intellectualgrips with 'the them as the important cog for political and civil society' whichmakes up the state. A primary concern proletariat and the him was the creation oforganic intellectuals of the intellectuals who mobilisation of disillusionedbourgeois and working class had become separated fromtheir class origins. previous criteria for classifyingpeople as He was dissatisfied with thinker', as 'a intellectuals or non-intellectuals.He saw everyone as ' a of the philosopher', because as he said,'Everyone has his own conception world.'u6 He thought a more useful method ofclassification would be to describe their social functions. Hebelieved that the notion of intellectuals as 'traditional a distinct social categoryindependent of class is a myth. Them are intellectuals' whose position has acertain inter-class aura, but itderives attachment ultimately from past and presentclass relations and conceals an formations. Gramsci believed thatthe 'traditional to various historical class that intellectuals' did not necessarily serveruling class interests. He asserts 96 Part III : Conunwtity Adult Education

the relationship betweentraditional intellectuals and theruling class is not necessarily and always immediate.67 'Organic intellectuals', Gramscidefmes as the thinking andorganising elements of a fundamental social class. They do not have the roleof intellectual necessarily, but are distinguished by their function indirecting the ideas and aspirations of the class to which they belong. For example,the organic intellectuals of the working class are defined on theone hand by their role in production and in the organisationof their work, andon the other by their 'directive' political role focuseAon the party. Gramsci believed that if dieworking class is to takeover the leadership of the nation it must create its -win organic intellectuals. Thenew intellectuals required by the working class would differ profoundly fromthe bourgeois intellectuals. The new intellectualsmust be active participants in practical as organisers and permanent life, persuaders'. The relationshipbetween knowledge and power needed to change and the division betweenmanual and mental labour needed to beeroded. As he wrote:63

Intellectuals' error consists inbelieving that it is possibleto know without understanding and especially without feeling and passion.... If therelations between intellectuals and the people-nation, between leaders and led,is the result of organic participation in which feelings and passionbecome understanding and thence knowledge... then and then only is the relation one of sentation.... repre- He saw intellectuals as having a directive and organisationalfunction which is educative. Intellectuals needed to be connecting people'shistorical experience dialectically with lawsof history and toa superior conception of the world. The largely uncritical and unconsciousway that the masses perceive and understand the worbl he termed`commonsense'.69This corn- monsense must be challenged ;to that commonsense becomr3 'good sense'. The extension of critical intellet alai activity in closelinkage with the political practice of the counter-hegemonicmovement amongst ever-broadening tions of the population sec- must occur. In thl:; way ideasare not only corrected and made adequate to thesituation, but they becomea 'material force'. The starting point of criticalelaboration he saw as knowing product of the historical oneself as a process. It is vital that the mass of peopleare led to think coherently about the world. Unity between intellectualsand 'the simple' and between theory mu practice need to be achieved.Contact between intellectuals and 'the simple' needs to be the source ofproblems to be studied and resolved. The problems and principles needto be madc coherent through practical activity. It is inthe revolutionaryparty that the obliteration of

9 -4 Antonio Gramsci 97

and prac- distinctions between workers andintellectuals and between theory role to play in tice should occur. Gramscibelieved that the party had a key the formation of its ownintellectuals and in the weldingtogether of organic intellectuals of a given group and thetraditional intellectuals. The relationship between commonsenseand the upper level of must be philosophy is assured by 'politics'.An intellectual and moral bloc constnicted of intellectuals and masseswhich will make the intellectual must lead the progress of the massespossible. The revolutionary party members of creation of the intellectual and moralbloc. Intellectuals by being the party become otie of theintellectuals of the proletariatitself, its organic intellectuals. Gramsci did not see theintellectuals' specific function as giving the party, the working class is homogeneityand vision of the world. It was classes to become not the intellectuals,who would enable the subaltern hegemonic. The workers he saw asthe conscious and intelligentprotagonists of revolution. An important question forGramsci was how to overcomethe division between the leaders and the led?How can there be a hegemonicrelationship between leaders and led? How can areal, an organic unity, acollective will, Sassoon70 illustrates how the hegemony created bythe working be forged? the class movement must, according toGramsci, be democratic. She quotes following passage from his workentitled 'Hegemony andDemocracy': it seems to me that the most concrete Among the many meanings of democracy, In a and realistic one must be connectedwith the concept of 'hegemony'. hegemonic system, democracy existsbetween the leading group and the groups therefore which are led, to the extent that thedevelopment of the economy and legislation, which expresses that development,favours the (molecular) passage from the groups which are ruled to theruling group. He defined democratic centralismin terms of the creation of a true democracy as the only way torelate to a constantly contradictoryand changing reality. Also centralism , orthe citation of unity is onlyreal and democracy is effective to the extent that theorganisaton is democratic, and possible in so far as there is a processof discussion and debate which ensures level of the mass of a constant raisingof the intellectual and political 71Gramsci does not talk of preciseforms of organisation. He insists members. treated as that organisational questions arepolitical problems and cannot be which absolutes. He is critical of Bordiga'sschematic view of organisation in of organisation is assumed asuniversally valid. This he a certain pattern itself is relates to a mechanical view ofhistory in which the organisation abstracted from the historical process.He believes that there can be noabstract 98 Part : Community Adult Education

rules of organisation sinceorganisational forms are always relatedto a concrete,,,situaticn, to political questionsand crucially to a concept of politics." It is instructive to look at Grainsci's own practice in theFactory Council Movement in orderto grasp his ideas more fully both interms of organisation and education. Thiswe will now do. L' ORDINE NUOVOAND THE FACTORY COUNCIL MOVEMENT Gramsci with three others began publishing the journal L' OrdineNuovo in May 1n19. He had been totally immersed in the working classmovement of Thrin from 1917 where he had worked ceaselessly, had provedacceptable to the hard-line proletarians who ran its socialist section, and had builtup a close knit circle around his small-groupteaching. L' Ordine Nuovo was a journal directed to factory workersand militants. In June 1919 the article on `Workers Democracy' revolutionizedthe journal. It became the 'journal of the factory councils'. In this articlewhich was written `to stimulate thougot and action', Gramsci posed thequestion, 'How is the present to be welded to the future, satisfying the urgent necesIties of theone and working effectively to create and "anticipate" the other?'In answer to this question, he proposed that the internal commissions withinthe factories, and ward councils in the communities should be developedas organisations of workers democracy and proletarian power. They shouldinclude both representative and direct forms of democracy. He believed that wardcouncils and factory councils controlled by elected workers representingthe whole work process, could be 'a magnificient school or politicaland administrative experience'. The councils, through ongoing education by themost highly conscious workers, 'should increasethe readiness and capacity of the for the exercise of masses power, and diffuse a consciousnessof the rights and duties of comrade and worker that is concrete and effective,since it has been spontaneously developed from living historical experience'.14Workers were urged to examine colleclively and discuss the problems.The central focus was the ward council. This was in accord with the conception ofsoviets then current in Italy. The proletarian state power implicit in these institutionswas to become explicit within thefactory here and now. During July and August 1919,regular discussions builtup into an ongoing r,xchange through the columns of L' Ordine Nuovo. Thecirculation of the journal was channelled through working class institutions. Therewas strong ID msistance from the unions to the new plans. Gramsci didnot see them as appropriate institutions forbuilding the socialiststate. It was necessary to

9 6 Antonio Gramsci 99 organise an anti-state, a vast networkof proletarian institutions in a complex and articulated hierarchy which couldeffectively wage the class struggle. The Party he saw as remtining the'superior hierarchy of this irresistible mass movement', but he saw the need forrevolutionary spontaneity that was not crushed by either unionorparty"bureaucracy.75 A certain degree of autonomy which encouraged'energy and enthwiasm', wasrequired for the functioning of the Councils. The Party, he wrote,had the heaviest historical responsibility: and inter- to promote by incessantactivity relations of natural interpenetration dependence between the various institutionsof the working class that will enliven its discipline and organisationwith a revolutionary spirit. (12 June 1920)

In early 1920 over 150 000 workershad been organised in the council system in Turin. However themovement failed to extend itselfoutside the blizzard of area of Turin. It becameisolated and struggled to advance under a attacks from all sections of the socialistmovement. The bosses and the state fmally smashed the councils after amassstrike in April 1920. L' Ordine Nuovo and the Factory Coulicils were arenaswhere Gramsci developed his theoiy and hispractice of counter-hegemonicstruggle. Consciousness-raising amongst the workers throughthe journal and through small groupdiscussions and study circles, he saw as the first step.The workers needed to converttheir `commonsense' to `good sense'. Thedevelopment of working class organisations was the next important. partof the strategy. Through practicalinvolve- ment in the administrationand management of the councils,workers could learn both skills and could develop `a rulingclass consciousness' which would enable them to begin to visualise analternative socialist society, and the strategies to obtain it. The conflict within the revolutionarysocialist movement over the 'council strategy' was epitomised in thedifferences between Gram sci and Boncliga, another leading member of theItalian Communist Party. Gramsci concentrated minutely on V e mass base,its organisation and its incorpoiation into new institutions which were to bethe nuclei of the proletarian state. `Preparation' was the key word. Everyopportunity was taken to create a communist consciousness. For examplehe said, '...it is necessary that comrades realise that to hold a meeting is aserLus thing'; they had the duty to conduct the meeting so thatit `becomes an efficient momentof revolutionary education for the masses'.He saw no distinction between meansand ends. On the other hand, Bordiga's solution was arigid and purist communist party based on a narrowly defined proletariat,shunning alliances with other parties 9 3E9TCOPYAVAILAtiL, 100 ?art III: Community Adult Education

and groups, drilling the masses ina schematic form of 'communism'. The masses had to be delivered from a state of false-consciousness. '6Gramsci was more concerned with growth and development, andbelieved that without an active change in consciousness, revolution would bemere manipulation' I: If revolutioi comes by decree from above theworker simply changes his boss ... the factory will remain alien and work a slavery....

The differences between Bordiga andGramsci are more than simple opposition. They are central in thepermanent dialogue within the revolutionary workers' movement. Both stress the imperative of'living communist'. The centrality of Bordiga's schemewas the party. The basic differences stem from the definition of interactionbetween the party and the masses, the relationship of theory and practice, which inturn relate back to different theories of the state. Bordiga'sstress on individual conversion to the service of a class in an uncontaminated classparty reflects a strong sense of Marxism as a science. The danger is that the `science' will beperceived as a once and for all acquisition and become paralyzingsectarian dogma. Gramsci was committed to `creative intervention' andalive to the play of historically conditioned social forces. Gramsciwas exploring the essential problem of breaking the bourgeois hegemonyover workers' minds, the need for workers to think themselves into historicalautonomy without which no permanent revolution is possible. Bordigawas concerned with `conversion' while Gramsci was concerned with the'process of conversion'. In summary For Gramsci adult educationwas central to politics. He saw the struggle for a new working class culture as taking theform of a struggle for a mass philosophy able to make each partymember an 'organic intellectual'. Hesaw it involving a range of democraticactivities including modes of thinking, (including philosophy as acquisition ofa coherent vision of the world), modes of living and feeling. In orderto transform society Gramsci believed that people needed to know what thenew world could be like. The first taskwas therefore to `make revolution in the mind'.Thus, the development of coherent theory was central to Gramsci's theoryof social transition and his educational practice. The role of the adult educator, inthe form of the organic intellectualor the party, was clear. The educatorneeded to be directive in theprocess of 'connecting people's historical experiencedialectically with laws of history....' For Gramsci Marxism provideda correct theory which helped trans-

9 "' Antonio Gramsci 101 h4lfl `commonsense' to `goodsense'. However, Marxism was not used as a dogma which was outside of history.The pursuit of intellectual activity, he, argued, should occur in close linkagewith political practice and so be continually challenged and transformed bypractice. The educational relationship which acknowledged the superiorityof the teacher's knowledge was not necessarily authoritarian. The importanceof knowledge being generated through praxis (Gramsci and Freire appear tohave similar views on this) worked against the notion of an authoritarianteacher-learner relationship. Action and critical reflection werecrucial components of the educational process. Participatory democratic practices were also seenby Gramsci as integral to the educational process. Thedevelopment of working class organisations in the Council movement Gramsci saw as thepractical and political task of hegemony: to organise and unify the workingclass so that it would acquire from its own experience `a responsibleconsciousness of the obligations that fall to classes achieving Statepower'.78 At the core of Gramsci 's practice was the connection between destruction andconstruction. The councils were seen as the embryonic form ofthe new society in the womb of theold. He wrote that:79 A social group can, and indeed must,already exercise leadership (i.e. be hegemonic) before winning governmental power. Therefore the basis of his strategy was toorganise workers and peasants in order both to wage a frontal attack againstthe state, and to establish working class organisations as the foundationsof a new culture. Through democratic participation in the management and theoperation of the organisations theoretical and technical skills would beacquired. Gramsci, like the participatory democratic theorists, argued thatlearning occured through participation itself. Unlike the participatorydemocratic theorists, he also believed that the revolutionary party had afundamental role to play in the transformation of the society and in the educationof the masses. The relationship to the party therefore became animportant question for education. Gramsci's ideas were partially a critique ofthe prevailing economisrn amongst the orthodox Marxistsof the day. He expanded the conceptof `politics' to include economic, social, ideologicaland political factors. His expanded concept of hegemony has createdalternative possibilities for Mar- xists in their development of a theory andpractice of transition from a capitalist state to a socialist one. Theseinclude the rotion of widespread democratization of many aspects of social, politicaland economic life; the

9 d 102 Part III: Community Adult Education acceptance of community organisation asan important aspect of the workmg class struggle; and the creation of democraticinstitutions where workers can obtain a 'ruling class consciousness'through theoretical and practical experience. Thus, Gramsci has been one of the socialtheorists to have strongly influenced the elaboration ofan alternative Marxist theory of democracy. In brief, he emphasises the followingas crucial to educational and political action: education is integral to political practice. educational practice must be basedon a theory of the state and a theory of transition which have been developedout of an analysis of bourgieos hegemony within the capitalist state. It isconcerned with the development of organic intellectuals of the workingclass. education is concerned with the developmentof critical consciousness amongst the subordinate classes, whichmay include the proletariat, the peasants and the petit bourgeoisie. Criticalconsciousness is developed through political struggle, through fullparticipation in the management and the execution of work, throughthe study of history and political thought which promotesan understanding of the issues and problems, and the development of skills i.e.knowledge consists of theory and existential experience which is lo-..:atedhistorically within its context, and is based on action and reflection. education must be connected to relevantsocial and political movements so that it can take its lead from them, and itthen forms part of a broader collective of counter-hegemonic forces.The exact relationship with the movement would be dependent on the specificcircumstances, but the ideal would seem to bea dialogical relationship which allowssomc autonomy of action by the various groupings. education is about means and ends,process and content, where politics is defined to include cconomics, social, ideological and politicalfactors. education is involved in the creationof a vision of the future throughits daily practice i.e. it is concerned withdestruction and construction.

_ u CHAPTER EIGHT

CONCEPTUALTOOLS FOR THE ANALYSISOF SELF-EDUCAT1ONWITHIN VOLUNTARYASSOCIATIONS

study was elaboratedin The research approach thathas been adopted in this rather than a deductiveapproach is being followed. Chapter One. An inductive development of theory This implies that the empiricaldata is central in the theoretical formulations in rather than it being usedprimarily to test certain complex social reality as the literature. However, inorder to analyse the conveyed in the case studies a setof conceptual tools isneeded. after the review Possible analytical tools wereidentified in Chapter Four integrative or- of the literature on voluntaryassociations. They were four participatory ganisational processes i.e. action,critical reflection, theory and to their broader democratic practices, and onewhich related the organisations meanings of the historical, social and political contexts.The potential and the organisations were `tools' for analysis ofself-education within community Freire and Gramsci. At explored through discussionsof the work of Illich, discussions in thc previous this stage it is possible to saythat, judging from thc conceptual tools did highlightcrucial issues for their two chapters, the finally the potential educational theory and practice.But in order to assess their relevance in value of the analytical toolsit is necessary to reflect on data. This can be done byreferring to 'The relation to the emerging empirical Appendix One Checklist of Categories for theInvestigation of the Cases' in of the thesis. emerged through the processof participant obser- Six primary categories eighteen months. The vation within one of the casestudies over a period of categories were: 104 Part HI: Community Adult Education

bac kground and history- thisincluded the relationship of the organisation to the external context through itsmembers' social and political location; through its relationship to theeconomic and political circumstances;and through its relationships with otherorganisations. organisational structures, goals andstrategiesthis referred to the formal arrangements within the organisation forcarrying out its action plans. education, training and developmentof members this included approaches to informal and nonformaleducational practices within which the relationship between theory and practice and actionand reflection were highlighted.

internal processes ar,..; proceduresthis brought into focus the issues around the democratic practiceswithin the organisation. relationships with otherorganisations this related both to the organisation's action programme and to its relationship with thebroader social and politicalcontext. problems and constraints which affect the organisation'sfunctioning this identified the internal and external circumstanceswhich placed limitations on the organisation and which revealed thecontradictions imbedded within it. In considering the above categories it appears that thefive conceptual tools could provide the necessary instruments for the probingand analysis of the self-educational practices within the case studies. A diagrammaticpresenta- tion of the conceptual toolsis presented onpage 105. Before proceeding to the case studies it is necessary to reiteratebriefly some of the insights whichwere gained from discussions of the Illich, Freire and Gramsci works of in relation to the conceptualtools. A key issue which has emerged from the theoreticaldiscussions is the importance of the macrocontext on the formation of voluntary and the practices within associations them. All three theoristswere developing their theory and practice during periods of bourgeois hegemoniccrisis. Freirc stressed the importance of the 'transitional period from one epochto another' for the educational process. Gramsci argued that the forms thatorganisations took were influenced by the politicaland social circumstances needed to bc understood and therefore within their historicalcontext. While it is essential to acknowledge the importantinfluence of the broader context on thc internal processes within organisations, it isvery difficult to demonstrate this dialecticalrelationship. One way of attemptingto show the Conceptual Tools 105

for A diagrammatic presentationof the conceptual framework the analysis of self-educationwithin voluntary associations 'et

MACRO CONTEXT

action

MICRO participatory critical ORGANISATIONAL democracy reflection CONTEXT

theoretical knowledge

MACRO CONTEXT

ALt 106 Part III : Community Adult Education

linkages is through theuse of democratic theories as analytical tools. Ashas been mentioned previously, theoriesof democracy pertain to both theway relationships are orderedon a micro level and the broader ordering of society. Already the work of the three theoristshas been discussed in relationto the liberal, participatory and Marxistdemocratic theories. This helpedto identify the underlying theoreticalassumptions concerning society andits transition which were imbedded withintheir work. The democratic theorieshighlighted the attitude of the differenttheorists to relationships with external groupingsor political parties as part of their conceptions of social change.Thus, the 'action' component relatedboth to micro educational practices andto more explicit 'political action'. Peoplelike Kindervatter ark' the LBP theorists,referred to in Chapter Four, highlighted the internal educational processes and practices, while others likeFreire, Gramsci and Perlman all stressedthe integral role of political actionwithin the educationalprocess. In order for 'action', whichalso refers to experience,to become ar integral part of the educational practices it has to be accompaniedby criZleal reflection. Experience andconcrete social problems were stressedby Freire as the source for the educational focus. While Gramsci agreed with this,he also stressed the need for learners to be taught correct theory.Illich, on the other hand, did not discuss thepolitical nature of knowledge. The theoretical assumptions concerning knowledge influencedthe views on the role of the coordinators/facilitators/teachers.There was noticeable ambivalence within Freire's workbetween nondirective anddirective approaches. All three of thetheorists stressed the creation ofactive, critical thinkers who require help fromeither a politically more conscious or from an outsider, or member, peers. Illich appears to see the teacheras putting learners in touch with facts which the learners themselvesrequest and imparting of skills. Gramsci ismore clear about the role of the 'facilitator' having to connect people's as historical situation with lawsof history. The relationship does not necessarily have to be dialogical; therelationship should not be fixed but should be defined by the politicalpurpose. Freire insists on a particular relationship. The starting point for both of them is for peopleto know themselves as products of history. For Gramsci authoritylies with the political party as representative of the working class. ForFreire and Illich authority rests with individuals.80 Finally, the question of participatory democratic practiceshas been seen as integral to the educational processes by all three of the theorists. Freireand Gramsci described particular organisational forms in the CultureCircles and the Factory Councils they agreed that the oppressedshould participate in 1.14 Conceptual Tools 107 But the the administration and managementof their own organisations. precise meaning of `democraticparticipation' was not elaborated.However, likely to vary as discussed previouslyin Chapter Three, the meanings are according to the democratic theory ortheories which are most influentialin a given context. It canalso be anticipated that the meaningof `democratic participation' in a particular context iscontinually being negotiated and contested. Because of the different andcompeting `commonsense' notionsof democracy, particular tensions will exist amongstparticipants within a given situation concerning their differing assumptionsabout democracy. The conceptions of education's pole and the formthat education takes within the democratic process at a particularhistorical moment will inevitably be influenced by these ongoing negotiationsand contestations. Once more the imperative of having to locate thc educationalpractices within these broader questions is emphasised. In the next section, using the setof analytical tools which havebeen identified and elaborated, the self-educationstrategies of certain community organisations in Cape Town in the 1980swill be described and analysed. 108 Part III: Convnunity Adult Education

NOTES TO PART THREE Chapter Five 1. See for example E. Cohen-Rosenthal'Participation as pedagogy: quality of working life and adult education,' inCONVERGENCE vol. XV no. 1 1982; and a working paper by G. A. Wheale'Participation - in what sense educational?' University of Cape Town 26 April 1983. 2. All education is categorised into thesethree areas of operation by P. Coombs et al 1973 NEW PATHS TO LEARNING FORRURAL CHILDREN AND YOUTH. ICED. 3. Historical examples of educational activitiesare given in articles by W. Muras- kin 'The hidden role of fraternalorganisations in the education of black adults: Prince Hall Freemasonry as acase study ' in ADULT EDUCATION vol. XXV 1 np. 4 v1976; C. Kirkwood 'Communitydevelopment and popular participation', paper deliveted to the ScottishCouncil of Social Services'- Summer SchoOl in August 179; J.Lotz 'The Antigonish Movementa critical analysis'in STUDIES IN ADULT EDUCATIONvol. 5 no. 2 Oct. 1973 4. J. E. Thomas and G. Harries-JenkinsAdult education and social change'in STUDIES IN ADULT EDUCATIONvol. 7 no. 1 April 1975 S. See Note 39 in Partl\vo 6. C. Mercer 'Revolutions, Reformsor Reformulations? Marxist Discourse on Democracy'in Alan Hunt ed. 1980 MARXISMAND DEMOCRACY London: Lawrence and Wishart Ltd. 7. C. Mc Connell Defmi dons, methods,paradigms', and A. Barr 'Practice models and training issues', both in L. Bidwelland C. Mc Connell 1982 COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENT Scotland: Dundee Col- lege of Education. 8. This example will be elaboratedfully later in the paper. 9. K. Jackson and B. Ashcroft 'Adult education, deprivation andcommunity development - A criique', paper presented to a conference held by theNuffield Teacher Enquiry at University ofYork in April 1972. 10. T. Lovett 'Community development- a network approach' in ADULT EDUCA- TION no. 46 Sept. 1973; 1975ADULT EDUCATION, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND THE WORKINGCLASS Britain: Ward Lock; 'The challenge of community education insocial and political change'in CONVER- GENCE X I 1978a; 'Politics, conflict and community action inNorthern Ireland'in INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF COMMUNITYDEVELOP- MENT no. 39-40 Summer 1978b;et al 1983 ADULT EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ACTION London:Croom Helm. 11.Ibid. 1975 chap. 3 Notes to Part III 109

12.Jackson op. cit. n.9. 13.Lovett 1978a op. cit. n.10. SEEDS OF FIRE. THE STORY OF 14.See F. Adams 1975 UNEARTHING HIGHLANDER U. S. A.: John Blair, Winston-Salem. 15.See Lovett 1978a op. cit. n.10. and Lou op.cit. n.3. 16.Lovett 1983 op. cit. n.10. ADULT EDUCATION FOR A CHANGE 17.In Foreword to J. Thompson ed. 1980 London: Hutchinson. 18.See T. Jackson 'The influence of Gramsci onAdult Education'in CONVER- GENCE X V1V no. 3 1981. LlFELONG EDUCATION vol 1. Britain: 19.Ettore Gelpi 1979 A FUTURE FOR University of Manchester page 24. Chapter Six 20.C. Gerard 1976 REVOLUTION INTHE THIRD WORLD MYTHS AND PROSPECTS Britain: The Harvester Press, presents auseful synopsis of several of these struggles.. EXPLORkTORY LECTURES Britain: 21.R. Ruddock 1981 IDEOLOGIES FIVE University of Manchester Press. 22. A brief synopsis of the debate isincluded here: The development strategy whichdominated the United Nations first development decade (1960-1970) is oftenreferred to as the 'GNP- trickle down'model. Proponents of this model haveassumed that development is synonymous with western, particularlyNorth American, urban societies, and GNP gmwth. can be achieved throughcapital investment, industrialization and According to S. Kindervatter 1979 NONFORMALEDUCATION AS AN EMPOWERING PROCESS USA: C. i.e. University ofMassachusetts (chapter two) critics of the GNP growth or 'stagesof economic growth'model base their criticisms on: evidence of declining economic and social conditionsin many Third World countries; recognition that the world's resources are limited; an acceptance that Third Worldcountries are part of a highly integrated and complex system of unequal power relations; and the inappropriatenessfurelevanee of theimplicit assumptions of Western economic theory for the actual conditions in ThirdWorld countries. In contrast to the 'GNP-trickle down'modelother theories of development which were being debated stressed'pcJple'. The 'structural- internationarschool of thought (see M. Todaro 1981ECONOMIC DEVELOP- MENT IN THE THIRD WORLD USA: LongmanChapter 3) emphasise the 110 Part III: Community Adult Education

need fx structural and insthutional reforms in orderto eradicate absolute poverty, provide expanded job opportunities and lessen the income inequalities. Therefore, development strategies should be judged interms of what is hap- pening to poverty, unemployment and inequality. By the mid 1970s some of the 'pecle orientated'perspectives were captured in the term 'another development'whichwas defined by the Dag Hammarsjold Foundation 1975 'Whatnow: Another development'in DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE: Sweden. M. Nerfin 1977ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT: APPROACHES AND STRATEGIESSweden: Dag Ham- marsjold Foundation describes itas: need-orientated, endogenous, self-reliant, ecoloecally sound, and based on the transformation ofsocial structures. The causes of undemlevelopmentwere being redefmed by the critics of the GNP growth model. (Important neo-marxist criticswere P. Baran 1962 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GROWTH USA:Monthly Review Press; and A. G. Frank 'The development ofunderdevelopment'MONTHLY REVIEW 18 No. 4 1966) Whereas strategists of the firstdevelopment decade had generally assumed that the problem of underdevelopmentwas a matter of inherent deficiencies within the Third World which would besolved by these countries 'catching up'with the technologically advancedcountries, the critics linked the conditions of underdevelopment toa history of in, Anal power relationships based on a highly unequal international capita ist.3ystem of rich country-poor country relationships. Their analysis pointed toa two pronged approach to the problem of underdevelopment: the need to confront internaleconomic and social problems, for example, inadequate rural healthcare, and to change external relationships with technologically advanced countriesso that 'dependency'of poor countries on rich countries would be minimised. Examples of strategiesput forward can be found in Denis Goulet's work, 1975THE CRUEL CHOICE: A NEW CONCEPT IN THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENTNew York: Atheneum; 'An ethi1 model fcc the study of values'inHARVARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW 41(2) May 1971; also James Grant'Accelerating progress through social justice'in INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENT REVIEW XVI (3) 1972. The concept of self-reliance becamean important component of 'another development'. Self-Reliance was promotedas a development strategy by the publication of thu Aruslia Declaration inTanzania in 1967, and the Cocoyoc Declaration in Mexico in 1974- these declarations can be found in J. Galtung et a/ 1980 SELF-RELIANCE A STRATEGY FORDEVELOPMENT London: Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications Ltd. Generally 'another developmeneoutlinesthe features all societies require for development 'whether Northor South, whether centrally planned or market dominated, at a high or low level of productivity'.It defines the meaning of development as the actual improvemmt ofhuman lives rather thanmacro- economic and social growth. Mich and Freire I I were two of the voices which Notes to Part III 111

were calling for 'another development',although their analysis and their proposals for action differed widely from one another. 23.I. Illich 1973 CELEBRATION OF AWARENESSBritain: Penguin Education; and 1970 DESCHOOLONG SOCIETYUSA: Harper and Row 24.See the discussion under Note 22 25.Examples of the writings are in H. Sober and A.Salz 1972 THE RADICAL PAPERS: READINGS IN EDUCATION New York:Harper and Row publ. 26.Discussed in T. Ireland 1978 GELPI'S VMW OFLIFELONG EDUCATION Britain: University of Manchester Press, p. 11. 27.Ithch 1970 op. cit. p. 16 28.These are also discussed in M. Apple's `IvanIllich and deschooling scciety: the politics of slogan systems'in M. Young andG. Whitty 1977 SOCIETY, STATE AND SCHOOLING Britain: Falmcr Press. 29.Illich 1970 op. rit. Chapter 6 30.Ibid. p. 26 31.H. Gintis 'Towards a political economy ofeducation: a radical critique of Illich's deschooling society'in I. Liaer 1974DESCHOOLING Britain: Cambridge University Press. 32.I. Illich `The alternative to schooling'in JackNelson et al 1972 RADICAL IDEAS AND THE SCHOOLS US k Holt, Rinehart andWinston. 33.R. Barrow 1978 RADICAL EDUCATION Britain:Martin Robertson 34 H. Giroux 'Beyond the limits of radical reform:towards a critical theory of education'in GIROUX op. cit. No. 54 35.Ibid. 36.Examples are in P. Fordham, G. Poulton and L. Randle1979 LEARNING NETWORKS IN ADULT EDUCATION: NONFORMALEDUCATION ON A HOUSING ESTATE Britain: RKP 37.P. Freire 1973 EDUCATION FOR CRITICALCONSCIOUSNESS New York: The Seabury Press. 38.Ibid. p. 10 39.Ibid. p. 36 40.Ibid. p. 38 41.P. Freire 1972b CULTURAL ACTION FOR FREEDOMUSA: Penguin Books p. 21 42.Freire 1973 op. cit. p. 44 43.Mackie op. cit. Note 59 p. 43 44.Freire 1972b op. cit. p. 31 112 Pan III: ConinuinUy Adult Education

45. A brief elaboration of the phenomenological implications ofFreire's work will be given: A phenomenological perspective emphasisesa need to return to the nature of phenemena in everyday life, that is, to contextsas they are immediately and intersubjectively experienced by members of society. The phenomenological perspective in Freire's work rests on his attemptto derive meaning from theory and practice within the life experiences of thepoor, that is, sharing and understanding the meanings which they give to their predicaments.This perspective was strongly influenced by P. Berger 153INVITATION TO SOCIOLOGY - A HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE USA:Penguin. Berger believed in the dialectical approach of 'man in societyand society in man'. The primary focus for phenomenologists isan understanding of the meanings which define the social reality of the actors. A major critcism ofthis approach is that there is more concern for the 'how'than there is forthe'why'of the social world. Freire examines the obvious or 'taken for granted'assumptions which for many have become accepted as 'natural', and exploresalternative ways of 'seeing'. Three main factors could be identifiedas examples of reflexive thinking in Freire's writings. Firstly, he does not accept uncriticallythe currently accepted explanations of phenomena; secondly, his writingsemerge from his commitment to sharing the world of the 'dispossessed', and fmallyhis conception of 'alternatives'are constructed within, and through, theaction-reflection context of the method ology of conscientization. R. Dale'Phenomenological perspectives and the sociology of the school'in EDUCATIONALREVIEW vol. 25 no. 3 June 1973 argues that:

Phenomenologists see man not as a mere passive recipientof his world but an active interpreter and constructor of it. The phenomenologicalsociologist must therefore seek to elucidate theprocesses whereby wtors generate and maintain their view of the social world.

The importance of Freire's contributionto the sociology of knowledge rests in his popularisation of the alternative viewof man - man standing on his own two feet as an active enquirer, rather than passive receiverof the ideas of others. From the concept of a dialogically sharedinter-subjective world Freire advan- ces a methodology of cultural w.tion for freedom that is ".. the way in which we attack culturally our own culture. It is to take cultureas always problematic and to question it without accepting the mythsthat ossify it and ossify us. "For these reasons conscientization isa 'painful business'because it demands not only commitment but also a radicalre-examination of self in relation to others. Freire acknowledges the phenomenologicalorientations in his work when he says:

The more one acquires conscienlization themore one discovers reality, the more one penetrates the phenomenologicalessence of the object one has in Notes to Part III 113

front of oneself in order to analyze it. (Quoted in Denis Glecson 'Theory andpractice in the sociology of Paulo Freire'in HARD CHEESE Third edition. Nodate.)

46.Freire 1972b op. cit. p. 31 47.F. Youngman 1986 A SOCIALISTPEDAGOGY OF ADULT EDUCATION Britain: Croom Helm p. 61 and p. 62 (At presentbeing published) 48.Freire 1972a op. cit. Chapter iNvo discussesthe concept of 'banking'. 'underdevelopmene(another phase in the 49.`Dependency'is another term for development of the, debate). Partdf the force of Freire's theory derives from the fact that it is a 'micro version'of thedevelopment/underdevelopment debate i.e. once Third World states realised or sawthe conditions/relations of their underdevelopment and exploitation, they wouldbe able to release themselves of so also with communities andindividuals. But the theory takes no account why the world is as it is in the first place. 50.Youngman op. cit. elaborates this point. 51.C. A. Bowers 'Culture against itself:Nihilism as an element in recent educational thoughtla AMERICAN JOURNALOF EDUCATION Spring 1984. 52.Ibid. p. 36 53.See Entwistle op. cit. Note 63 for anelaboration of this aspect of Gramsci's thought. 54.H. Giroux 1981 IDEOLOGY CULTUREAND THE PROCESS OF SCHOOL- ING USA: Falmer Press, p. 136. PROTEST London: Lawrence 55.G. Rude 1980 IDEOLOGY AND POPULAR and Wishart 56.Freire I972b op. cit. p. 57 57.Freire 1972a op. cit. p. 83 58.Youngman op. cit. p. 183 59. .Gleeson op. cit., Giroux op. cit. and J.Walker 'The end of dialogue: Paulo Freire on politics and education'inR. Mackie 1980 LITERACY ANDREVOLU- TION; THE PEDAGOGY OF PAULO FREIREBritain: Pluto Press. 60.Ibid. Walker p. 139. 61.Freire 1978 op. cit. p. 146. CHAPTER SEVEN 62.See A. Showstack Sassoon `Glainsci: a newconcept of politics and the expansion of democracy'in Hunt op. cit. See P.Anderson 'The antinomies of Antonio Gramsci'in NEW LEFT REVIEWNo. 100, for a critique of this emphasis: he points out ambiguities in Gramsci'swriting. He believes that Gramsci's strong emphasis on superstructure wasperhaps a reaction to the

7 .t_ 114 Part III: Community Adult Education

dominant edonomistic line whichwas prevalent at the time of writing. C. Mouffe 1979 GRAMSCI AND MARXIST THEORYLondon: RKP analyses Grarnsci from a specifically anti-economistic pointof view. 63.M. Apple `Review of Entwistle's GramsceinCOMPARITIVE EDUCATION REVIEW Oct. 1980 has pointed out how Gramsciis used both by reformists and revolutionaries. H. Entwistle ANTONIO GRAMSCI:CONSERVATIVE SCHOOLING FOR RADICAL POLITICS Britain:RKP is an example of someone who stresses Gramsci's ideas on ideological struggleand neglects the importance of the economic base. 64. A Gramsci 1971 SELECTIONSFROM PRISON NOTEBOOKS OF AN- TONIO GRAMSCI London: Lawrence andWishart, p. 161. 65.Ibid p. 165 66.Ibid 67Some commentators find thecategory ef traditional intellectuals problematic. R. Simon 1982 GRAMSCI'S POLITICALThIOUGHT London: Lawrence and Wishart believes that this categorymay have had relevance in Italian society but it is not appropriate for England. Ashe asserts, 'All intellectuals have their class locauon. No-one can be neutraL'Theredoes seem to be ambiguity in Gramsci's category. J. Cammett 1967ANTONIO GRAMSCI AND THE ORIGINS OF ITALIAN COMMUNISMUSA: Stanford University Press,suggests that it is because he does notattempt to establish the exazt degree of coordination between traditional intellectualsand the social groups which dominate economic production. 68.Gramsci op. cit. p. 418 69.There is a striking similarity between A. Schutz's description ofcommonsense and that of Gramsci. See 'The Stranger'inAlfred Schutz 1964 COLLEC I ED PAPERS 11 The Hague: MartinusNijhoff. 70.Sassoon op. cit. p. 98 71.Ibid. 72.There is a discussion on Gramsci's views on organisations in S. Clegg andD. Dunkerley 1980 ORGANISATION,CLASS AND CONTROL London: RKP, p. 106 73.Quoted in NEW LEFT REVIEWNo. 51 p. 1 74.Ibid. p. 4 75.Some writers point to the ambiguity in Gramsci's writing on the Party. Inthe Factory Council days he was inclined to stress spontaneity, and he spokeof the very important role of the Councils. Hesaw the trade unions and the Party having a more limited role. Lateron, however, he emphasised the role of the Party - see, for example, R. Gombin 1978 THE RADICAL TRADITION:A

' Notes to Part III 115

THOUGHT London: Methuen STUDY OF MODERN REVOLUTIONARY and CO. Ltd; and Simon op. cit. Gramsci's move away from theconcept of 76.Rude op. cit. No. 55 describes false-consciousness. PROLETARIAN ORDER.ANTONIO 77.Quoted in G. Williams 1975 AND THE ORIGINS OFITALIAN .GRAMSCI, FACTORY COUNCILS COMMUNISM 1911-1921 London: PlutoPress, p. 149. 1910-1920 78.A. Gramsci 1977 SELECTIONSFROM POLITICAL WRITINGS London: Lawrence and Wishart, p.65. 79.Gramsci 1971 op. cit. p. 207. Bowers 'The priblem withindividualism and 80.This point is made by C. A. community in Neo-Marxist educationalthoughein TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD Vol. 85 No. 3 Spring1984

kJ) PART FOUR

THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT Part IV The South Afrtcan Context INTRODUCTION

The three case studies, which will be analysed in Part Five,are embedded within a network of voluntary associations which proliferated in Cape Town in the late 1970s. Within this network of organisations 'democracy' emerged as an important, distinguishing ideological concept. As we noted in Part Two, voluntary associations developmore prolifically at times of social upheaval, and at times of greater ethnic or group consciousness. They are often centrally concerned with democracy, which has a wide range of meanings. In developing the context for the investigation of educational practices within the case studies, therefore, the following questions will be posed: Why did new voluntary associations proliferate in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Cape Town? Why did democracy become such an important ideological concept for mis group of new organisations, and what did it mean? Before addressing these questions it isnecessary to give background information: firstly on the relationship of thesenew organisations to other voluntary associations in Cape Town; and secondlyon demographic and other pertinent information concerning Cape Town. Developments inCape Town will be related to the broader South Africancontext in the chapters which address the above questions. CHAPTER NINE

BACKGROUND TO VOLUNTARYASSOCIATIONS AND TO CAPETOWN

VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS Social service provision is an importantfunction of certain types of voluntary associations.1 In South Africa social services are suppliedby a ranv of statutory and non-statutorybodies. In the following synopticchartthe welfare structure is given. The voluntaryassociations which are the focus of this study fall within the 'independentorganisation' category. They are not they registered as 'welfare organisations' underthe National Welfare Act, and do not obtained any funding fromthe government. They are usuallyfunded from private, local or international sources,and are not necessarily registered under the FundraisingAct.3 There are no laws which directlyaffect the membership or activitiesof independent organisations, yet, asWollhcim4 points out, there are many which affect them indirectly. These includefor example, the Group AreasAct, the Movement of Black Persons Act, and manyothers which can mobilise the State repressive apparatuses in order to stoporganisational activities. Ex- amples of the latter, are the Suppressi Joof Communism Act (renamedthe Internal Security Act in 1976), whichincluded within the category of 'communist' any doctrine advocating political,social and economic change by disorderly means. The Act alsocreated the category of 'unlawful organisation' and permitted the banning ofpersons.5 There arc very few studies of voluntaryassociations in South Africa, and more specifically CapeTown.6 From an analysis of available directories of voluntary associations, which arc very limitedin their scope and compiled by different sources and at different times, andfrom studying the local community newsletters, the local newspapers i.e.Muslim News, The Herald,The 120 Part IV: The South African Context

Argus and the Cape Times, and the South AfricanInstitute of Race Relations (SAIRR) Surveys, it has been possibleto compile a preliminary list of voluntary associations whichweie established in the 1970s and early 1980s. (This overview of voluntary associationswill be published as a separate publication by the Centre for Adult Education, Universityof the Western Cape.) From this list of organisations certainpreliminary observations can be made which shows voluntary associationsin Cape Town to be similar to associations elsewhere i.e. they ariseat times of social crisis. Examples include several women's organisations whichwere established after the student revolt of 1976; Muslim organisationswhich responded to the Iranian revolution in 1980; and the organisations whichwill be discussed in detail later, which were responses to variouspolitical developments. One glaring gap in the informationon voluntary associations, is thelack of available data on the organisations inthe African townships. Webster has found in Soweto that the working classdevises all sorts of strategies tocope withtheir poverty and oppression. Manypeople are engaged in informal sector activities such as brewing beer,andhawking food, and they flesh out their inadequate income through smallself-help groups, like burial societies and credit societies. Dludla8 also found inhis survey of Nyanga in Cape Town, that a high percentage of peoplewere involved in a range of social institutions which helped to meet their variousneeds. As he points out 'Evena practice like a bus boycott can becomeinstitutionalized'. All these organisationsare, as Webster notes, defensive responses by theworking class to the crisis in which they find themselves. Molefe9 elaborateson some of the problems which they experience in the establishment of 'offensive'type organisations in African areas. Firstly, he believes that "first levelgrassroots organisation', which have recently proliferated particularly in colouredand Indian areas, are dependenton a degree of skill and expertise which isavailable to professionals and intellectuals. There are far fewer professionalsin African areas, and therefore, he argues, 'we sec less of a natural drift towardscommittees or formal styles of organisation'. His second point is thatthere is a far lower level of repression in the Indian and coloured areas, than has characterised the Africanareas. Organisations are therefore less vulnerableelsewhere. The level of repression also forces many Africans to the point of believing that the only viableform of struggle is a militaryone. This lends itself to recruiting for the liberation army, rather than to recruiting people for 'smallscale, relatively reformist community work'. His third pointis that the relatively greater degreeof material deprivation effectsorganisational possibilities. Thereare limited resources for pcoplc to draw on, and people whoare struggling for survival 121 Background People difficult to concern themselveswith political struggles. may fmd it time and inclination who have overcome thestraggle for survival have more struggles. This argument concurswith the literature, which to engage in other the petit previously, and which notesthe preponderance of we discussed sentiments expressed by bourgeoisie in voluntaryassociations. It also echoes United Democratic trade unionists in relation totheir participation in the new fully later. Front (UDF) structures.These will be discussed more

CAPE TOWN will be given very briefly tocertain distinguishing In this section background the context for the characteristics of Cape Townwhich will help to provide organisations. These willinclude later discussion on thegrowth of community the 'coloured labour details on population, on keypolitical groupings, and on preference' policy. 1970 census statistics The population of CapeTown as given in the according to race classificationis asfollows:10 Coloured 606075; White Asian 11086. Peopleclassified coloured and Asian 381775; African 108827; white and 10% thus comprise 56% of thepopulation, compared to 34% African. live in abject Although a large proportionof the coloured population than Africans. The areas poverty, they are legallyless discriminated against townships, although the they live in are not fencedin, as are the African housing position is often nobetter." They have some right to own property to them and and to trade in designatedGroup Areas. Skilled trades are open unlike Africans who were they have had the right totrade union organisation, lost the qualified excluded by the IndustrialConciliation Act of 1956. They introduced. This was franchise in 1956, and in 1952 theGroup Areas Act was implemented during the 1960s andearly 1970s, and with it122000 people lived for generations. were evicted from thecommunities in which they had had characterised Cape The relatively high degreeof racial integration which shattered.1" Town was declared a 'coloured A unique feature of theWestern Cape is that it was permanent labour preferencearea'.13 The Government plannedto have all Line.14 They wanted urban Africans removed fromthe area west of the Eisclin the industrial to reverse the flow ofAfrican urbanisation and to restructure first step, workforce into one composedprincipally of migrant labour. As a that no more funds would bemade available for the Government announced at the time. family houses in Langa, CapeTown's only African township 122 Part IV The South African Context

Instead only hostels for 'single'male migrant workers would beerected. By 1973, twenty-two years after the ultimate removal ofAfricans had been decreed, their number had all butdoubled. The pressureon housing facilities became unbearable and the 'squatter'camps grew even larger. In the 1970s new camps became established at Modderdam, Werksgenot, Crossroadsand Unibel, amongst others.15 During the 1970s there has been a noticeable degree of upwardsocial mobility amongst coloured people.16 There has been a decrease in thenumber of coloured people in the unskilled occupations, anda marked increase in the proportion of coloured peoplein the semi-skilled and skilled There is also a small, but occupations. growing coloured entrepreneurialclass. With the formation of the Department of Coloured Affairs (CAD)and the Coloured Persons Representative Council (CPRC) many opportunities foremployment were created. In 1970, 86% of thecoloured people employed in sional and managerial the profes- occupations were in fact employedby the State. These figures would have increased with the ruling in 1974 that31000 jobs were to be reserved exclusively for coloured persons, andtherc7was to be an increase in this protected employmentby over 9% per annum.' The political groupingswhich have historically played in Cape Town particularly an important role amongst coloured and Africanpeople are: the Non-European Unity Movement(NEUM); the Congress organisations were the African National which Congress (ANC), the SouthAfrican Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO), and the Congress ofDemocrats (COD); the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC); and the colouredpolitical parties, particularly the Labour Party, which arc integrated into the Apartheidstructures. The NEUM1 8 was established in 1943 and itadvocated the abolition of both colour bars and the capitalist mode of production.It drew its support largely from the intelligentsiaand it uscd the principles of and boycott as fundamental non-collaboration to its policy. It had beenset up to oppose the Coloured Affairs Commision established by the Smuts'Government, and had committed itself to light against the formation of theDepartment of Coloured Affairs (CAD). With the eventual.tablishment of the CAD,coloured politics became dominated by the conflict between thosewho advocated boycott of separate institutions and those who felt they coulduse the institutions to advance coloured demandsfor equality. In the 1950s with theincreasing attack on coloured and social rights, various political, economic organisations formed to fightthe inroads on their position. These includedthe Franchise Action Areas Action Committee Committee (1951), the Group (1950), and the TrainApartheid Resistance Com- mittee.The NEUM kept aloof from these organisationsand directed much 123 Background collaborators and as- polemic against them on thegrounds that they were coloured leaders sociated with the ' herrenvolk'.However for the majority of SACPO was formed tofoster the only hope lay in unityof all coloured people. the Congress Alliancein unity between moderatesand radicals, and it jpined Charteel), however, alienated many of 1955. Its acceptance of theFreedom association with the ANC. its founding members whodid not welcome a close involvement Arrests and detentions ofSACPO leaders and their consequent organisation. in the Treason Trial led tothe eventual demise of the of all coloured With the creation of the CPRCand the enfranchisement elections. They people over 21 years, politicalparties were formed, geared to CPRC as a temporary demanded equal franchise withwhites, and accepted the parallel institution, which would serve as aforum for a campaign against CPRC there development and improve colouredrights. In all elections of the Simons21 points out, is a reminder to theLabour has been a low poll,which as adheres to the Party that a large section ofthe coloured urban population tactics of boycott and disaprove;;of any form of participation. sizeable following In the African townships thePAC appears to have had a from the in the early 1960s. The PAC was abreakaway Africanist tendency ANC.22 The ANC appears to have been stronger inthe ruralareas.2 The PAC the 21 played a leadership role in theanti-pass campaign which began on ended with March 1960, the same day as thecampaign in Sharpeville which later they sixty-nine people dead and a hundredand eighty wounded. Ten days led a march of 30000 people tothe centre of Cape Town.People from several alliance and groupings were involved in theseactions, including the Congress turning point in PAC. The significance of thisperiod is that it represented a PAC were banned and the history of Africanresistance. The ANC and the military wings, Umkhonto weSizwe and Pogo, both of them established adopt 'a respectively. The NEUM whileit was not banned, decided to low-keyed, semi-undergroundapproach toorganising'.24 The political groupings which arosein the 1940s and 1950s have re- and community emerged as important forccswithin contemporary wbrker organisations. Their influence willbe explored more fully in alater section. CHAPTER TEN

WHY DID NEWVOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONSPROLIFERATE IN CAPE TOWNIN THE LATE 1970s ANDEARLY 1980s?

There was a proliferation ofindependent community organizations 1970s throughout the during the countrk They were mainly sponsoredby private enterprise or by church bodies.45The casestudies, which will be Part Five, were threcof presenttd in many which were established in CapeTown from the second half of thc 1970sonwards. In this chapter thepolitical, economic and ideological developments which appear to have influenced the growthof the ncw community organisationsat this time, will be explored there is not necessarily briefly. While a direct causal relationship betweenthe macro developments and the establishment of a particular organisation,an historical perspective of this kind gives a general background to thecase sbdies. The specific histories of each of the cases will be presentedlater.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT During the 1960s, the South African economy had expandedmore rapidly than that of any other capitalist country, exceptJapan, averaging an annual growth rate of, between six and eight percent.This boom gave way toa deepening recession in theearly1970s. By 1978,the country was facing the worst economic crisis in its history.The climate of insecurity by external political was accentuated developments. With the massiverise in the oil price in 1973, the relative importance of African oil producersas trading partners to Western industrial countriesgrew and South Africa's correspondingly diminished. More immediately,South Africa's immunity from gencies was substantially guerilla insur- reduced with thc collapsein1974of Portuguese Voluntary Associations in Cape Town 125 colonial authorities in Angola andMocambique, and the establishment of Marxist governments there. 13y themid-1970s, confronted both with an international recession and growingindustrial, political and economicin- stability within South Africa, the foreigncapital which had sustained the growth of the 1960s began to dry up.By 1976, it was estimated thatAfrican unemployment stood at 2,3 million workersand at the same time there was talk of a severe shortage of skilledmanpower.26 In response to the economic andpolitical situation in the early 1970s, there was a re-emergence of workingclass and mass political movements. These movements had been quiescentsince 1963 when they were brutally suppressed by the state. The re-emergenceof the independent black trade union movement and the growthof the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) marked the resurgence of massresistance to the State. From January 1973 to mid 1976, over200 000 black workers struck work in South Africa. This was the mostextensive strike wave since the early days of World War II and affected most of themain centres. The strikes started in Durban and from there an African tradeunion movement came to life once more. It had its nucleus inworker advisory organizations foundedmainly by radical, university students. This generationof African unions avoided any political orientation and constituted themselvesfrom the bottom up, factory by factory. This was in contrast tothe broad industrial mass movement approach adopted by the Council forNon-European Trade Unions (CNETU) and the South African Congress of TradeUnions (SACI11) in the 1940s and 1950s. There was a strong emphasis on workercontrol in the worker organizations." The BCM gained its irnpstus from thestudents on the newly established black university campuses." TheSouth African Students' Organization (SASO) was launched in 1969 to mobilisestudents, while the Black People's CDnvention (BPC) and the Black CommunityProgrammes (BCP) were evablished to work in the broader community.The BCM's primary aim was to liberate blacks frompsychologjcal oppression. It was concerned todevelop arid promote black theology, blackcommunalism, black community business enterprise, and a rejection of apartheid institutions.During 1972 to 1977, there was a proliferation oforganizations in South Africa which were related tothe BCM. They were concerned with literacy,health, building schools, clinics and community centres, home educationschemes, cooperative bulk buying, the establishment of factories andboutiques, and the promotion of black theatre. There was an upsurge in black drama, poetryand art which all helped to generate the aggressive atmospherethat was witnessed at the trials of the BCM groups.29 126 Part IV. The South African Context

The University of the Western Cape (UWC)in Cape Town had a strong SASO following and during this timeincreasing numbers of studentswere becoming involved in off-campus activities.They saw as important the raising of political consciousness of the blackcommunity and their mobilisation. In 1973 they boycotted classesas a response to conditions on campus and increasing harassment from security police.During the early 1970s, a new tradition of student politicswas developing which included active organisation on and off the campus. The NationalUnion of South African Students (NUSAS) was also involved offcampus. Through the Wages Commissions they were active in the promotion of thenew black trade union movement, and through the CommunitiesCommission (Com Com) they were active in community work. NUSAS had movedaway from its previouutrategy of protest politics to involvement with theoppressed communities."' In 1976 the South Africanstate was rocked by massive uprisings which started in Soweto but spread to all themain centres." I Started by school pupils, soon several sections of the black communitieswere involved. There was widespread support from organisationsand workers as the response to the call for a general strike indicated. Thepoliticizing effect of these timeson the community was apparentas resistance spread throughout the country. The African National Congress (ANC),banned in 1960, re-emergedas the political group ;,./,;th probably thegreatest degree of popular support within the townships.' Students andactivists turned increasingly to the studyof the history of resistance in South Africaand to Marxist literature in orderto understand the present and the future.33This latter development was similar to certain of their counterparts in WesternEurope and North America whom we discussed in Pan Two. (However it isbeyond the scope of this studyto discuss the. possible linkage betweenthe two.) Capital and the State'sresponses to the political and economic crises had direct consequences for communityorganisations. All the economic organisations of the capitalist class, except for organised agriculture,were united in agreement over the need for significantreforms in economic and political policy.' There was broadagreement over the nature of the desiredreforms which included the improving of thelegal and economic security of township residents through ameliorating influxcontrol, improving wages and job opportunities, providingmore and better housing with land ownershiprights and encouraging the development of a black middle class. Employers'organisations were also unitedon the need for some kind of State recognition and control of organisations of collective bargaining for Africanworkers. In the aftermath of 1976, the most overriding concern for capitalwas the need to secure immediate domestic stability.Particular emphasis was placedon the t) Voluntary Associations in Cape Town 127

class'. A position of the newly discovered'urban African' and 'black middle with the whole host of business-fundedorganisations sprang up to 'deal' problem. The most important ofthese was the Urban Foundation,jointly established and financed by manyof the major corporations in SouthAfrica. Some of Big business through theseorganisations began to press for reform. deperad- the new community organisationswhich emerged at this time became This created ent to some degree on fundingfrom these business initiatives. those divisions between organisationsparticularly in Cape Town between who would and those who refused moneyfrom thesesources.33 The Government, which wassubject to conflicting pressuresfrom the white population, adopted both cautiousreforms (for example the policyof limited accommodation of African tradeunions) and continuing repression. banning of The latter included widespreaddetentions of people and the organisations. In late 1977, nineteenorganisations which included mostof the remaining BCM organisations,the Christian Institute and the newspaper The World, were banned, and one ofthe founders of the BCM,Steve Biko, died while in detention. In 1977 thegovernment also introducedthree social welfare bills which were enacted in1978. These gave the governmentwide powers for the controlof welfare services (welfarebeing defined very The broadly). The most contentious of thethree Acts was the Fundraising Act. and Social Welfare legislation requiredregistration for fundraising purposes, they entrenched the principles of separatedevelopment.36 These Acts affected all community organisations. By 1977, people who had been activelyinvolved in community struggles, either through the BCM, the 1976uprisings or worker organistions,began wflecting critically on their part in those eventsand activities.3 Critiques of the BCM strategies were beingdeveloped. In 1976, theorists likeLegassik libera- and Wolpe38 who were exiledacademics linked to the South African tion struggle, were arguing that'class' not 'race' was the centralissue in This was coming to understand the dynamicsof State policy in South Africa. followed by theorists like Saul andGelb who argued that both 'class'and 'race' were criticallyimportant.39 They emphasised Gramsci 's argument concerning the importance of ideology as anelement in the ruling class maintenance of hegemony. At thistime, with the re-emergence of theANC as a political force,the theory of a non-racial rtat'ionaldemocratic struggle began to find favour with manyactivists, and a start was made torebuild a national democratic opposition movementwhich could unite and mobilise people regardless of race orclass.40 On the white university campuses, NUSAS began to adopt a moreinward looking policy which stressedthe importance of self-education. Whitestudents had begun to feel increasingly . 128 Part IV: The South African Context redundant in oppressed communities and hadwithdrawn to work on campus. In 1978, the NUSAS themewas 'Education for an African future' and the aim was to encourage white students to re-definea role for themselves in a future non-racial, democratic South Africa. Onsome of the white university campuses at that time, a nascent women's movementwas also emerng. This was strongly influenced by the InternationalWomen's Movement. By 1980 a more clearly identifiable'national democratic movement'was beginning to form. In Cape Town during1980 there were widespread school and consumer boycotts which had mobilisedthousands of school pupils, university students, parents,commuters and workers. Through these actions, the need for ongoing mass-basedorganisations was identified andnew organisations were established includingGrassroots Community Newsletter, United Women's Organisation (UWO),Cape Areas Housing Action Commit- tee (CAHAC), Azanian Students Organisation(AZASO) and numerous youth organisations. They supportedanon-racial, national and democratic struggle' as did other organisationslike NUSAS. 'Democracy' becameone of the unifying concepts within thisnetwork of organisations which included locally based independent trade unions.These worker and communityorganisations will be discussed in thefollowing chapter. In summary The reasons for the proliferation oforganisations in South Africa, and Cape Town in particular, appear toconcur with the findings in the literatum which was discussed earlier and which states that thenumber of voluntary associations increases rapidly at times ofsocial upheaval and/or increased ethnicor group consciousness. The membership andorientation of the organisations will depend on many factors suchas social class, local conditions and experiences. In the next chapterwe will address the questions concerning ideology and forms of organisations. Chapter Eleven

WHY DIDDEMOCRACY BECOME ANIMPORTANT IDEOLOGICALCONCEPT FOR THE NEWVOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS ANDWHAT DID IT MEAN?

contested In Chapter Three democracy wasdescribed as a negotiated and quoted ideological concept which has awide range of meaning. Therborn was ideologies are ongoing social processeswhich 'unceasingly as saying that anticipate that constitute and reconstitutethemselves'. Therefore we can has had a range democracy amongst the workerand community organisations being challenged and of contested meanings,which are continuously understandings of democracy amongstthe changed. The 'commonsense' forged by a members of organisations it isreasonable to assume, have been range of diverse andoften contradictory forces. complex question It is not possible to answerin absolute tcrms the very organisations. But it as to why democracybecame so important for the new distilled from a study is possible to offer certainpostulates which have been literature,42 from interviews with twelveactivists43 afid from my own of local organisations, and as a personal involvement as amember of three of these address this consultant /facilitator to anothersix. The three case studies will question in closer detail in PartFive. These postulates arc notall encompassing. They attempt to capturewhat seem the mostimportantinfluences. the The following postulates will beexplored in an attempt to address question: 130 Part IV: The South African Context

The emergence of the independenttrade union movement which called for the implementation of workers'democracy,contributed to the creation of the climate in which communityorganisations were developing. The growth of the Black ConsciousnessMovement (BCM), with the concomitant development of liberationtheology and new approaches in certain churches, helped promote radicalhumanist values, which in turn encouraged particular attitudes withinorganisations. The reemergence of the AfricanNational Congress as an important force within the country after 1976,encouraged the adoption of popular- democratic rhetoric and strategies bythe members of organisations. The community struggleson the ground provided activists withinorganisations with experiences andlessons which influenced howthey functioned. Important examples ofthese struggles are the 1976 student riots, the 'squatter' struggles, theFattis and Monis consumer boycottin 1979, the 1980 school andconsumer boycotts, the anti-SAIC campaign, and the DBAC in 1982. In 1983 the development of the UDF and NF, with CAL locally,created different conditions within whichorganisations functioned.

THE REEMERGENCEOF THE INDEPENDENT TRADE UNIONMOVEMENT In Cape Town the reemergence of the independent trade unionmovement, particularly in the form of the Western Province General Workers Union(later to become the General Workers Union), and the SACTU affiliated(A)Food an,1 Canning Workers Unions," made an impact on the wolkingclass and mass struggles from the late 1970s. CapeTown had been dominated, that time, by the conservative, up until registered unions, whichwere primarily concerned with the organisation of skilled and semi-skilledworkers. The Cape Town Municipal Workers Association (criviWA), whichhad some historic links with the NEUM, was one of the few to havea dominance of semi-skilled and unskilled worker members.45 The reemergence of theindependent trade unionmovement, has highlighted certain issues for activistsin both worker andcoma nunity organisation. These issues include: the relationship between politicsand economics; the development of working class leadership; and participationor non-participa-

Ie. 131 Why did democracy become soimportant? hotly debated tion in State structures. Theseissues have, and are still, being within the local community,worker and academicpublications.' relationship A useful overview of thetheoretical debate concerning the Hemson,4 and will not be between politics and economicsis given by pertinent elaborated here. (It was touched onin ChapterThree.) What is more implications is a discussion of the practicalmanifestations of the debate and its surrounding con- for organisations. These havebeen found in the questions overtly political sumerboycotts," work stay-aways,49 and affiliation to more organisations, like the UnitedDemocratic Front(UDF).50 Monis Within Cape Town, the consumerboycott in 1979 of Fattis and products,51 and the red meat boycott of1980,52 opened up new possibilities They also for linkages between workplaceand community struggles. unions. produced several lessons for bothcommunity organisations and trade discussed Analyses of the meat boycottillustrate these well; these will be briefly." The workers at the TableBay Cold Storage went onstrike for a other democratically elected non-racialworkers' committee. The workers at high level of meat factories also came out onstrike. At that time there was a for two activity in Cape Town, wherethe school boycott had been in progress for the months, and a bus boycott wasbeing mooted. A support committee organisations and the meat workers was set upof members of community WPGWU. There were two waysin which the communityorganisations the 800 supported the strike: firstly bycollecting over R100000 to support While striking workers, and secondly, theyorganised a boycott of red meat. all parties as the strike did not achieve itsspecific goal, it has been hailed by representatives from an important event,which led up to discussions by community organisations and tradeunions on how workers andcommunity organisations could cooperate. Thecritical analyses of the event highlighted aspects of democraticorganisation. committee. A major criticism centredaround the position of the support The WPGWU had attempted tokeep control of the committee, sothat workers members of would not lose the leadership ofthe struggle to petite bourgeois community organisations. However oncethe government had bannedall meetings in June 1980, and haddetained several of the tradeunionists, communications between the union andthe broader community brokedown. This left the way open for thosewhom the trade union described as 'opportunists' from certain communityorganisations to take contnol, and to support call off the boycott withoutconsultation with either workers or the committee.54 It seems that both the WPGWU andcothmunity activists 132 Part IV: The South African Context

diagnosed the problem as a lack ofdemocracy within the support committe5s. They believed that the committee neededto have been more autonomous: j

...we have also learnt the importance of the communityparticipating fully, and making decisions about theirsupport. This means that the community,as well as the union, must be able to control theirown activities in a democratic manner. In short, then thereare two lessons: Firstly unity in the struggle, secondly democracy in the struggle. Only democracywill prevent those inside the community who try to breakour unity, from succeeding.

Another lesson for communityorganisations came through thepages of the South African Labour Bulletin(SALB) which publically admonishedthe two organisations which they believedhad behaved undemocratically andnot in the interests of the workers. This public criticism had far reachingimplica- tions for the people and organisationsinvolved. On one level their credibility as community workers was called intoquestion, and secondly, accordingto the director of one of theorganiptions, their fundingwas put in jeopardy because of the negative publicity.'° Both the GWU and the (A)FCWUswere actively promoting workers' democracy within the factories andin the unions.57 By 1980 bothunions had been involved in important labourdisputes out of whichgrew new strategies for working class action.58 Both saw the struggle fordemocracy within the workplace and in the unions as integral to the struggle for democracyin the society. The development of workingclass leadership through their ment in the trade union involve- movement, was seen as crucial for thedevelopment of working class leadership more generally.59 However,through thecollective struggles with community organisations, the differencesbetween the forms and the functions of trade unions and other organisations,have come into focus more clearly. These differences have formedan important part of the debate concerning trade unionaffiliation of UDF.60 The independent trade unions which have argued againstaffiliating to the UDF have pointed to: the different class composition ofthe various organisations which make up UDF this they believe leadsto different possibilities for organisational forms and strategies; the importanceof trade union unity as a priority at this time; and the reality of a diverse membership oftheir unions, which includes both radicals and conservatives ofdifferent political groupings. Trade unionists haveargued that theyare accountable to their workers first and foremost, and that this dictates what ispossiL'.e. This does not however in theory inhibit cooperation on joint campaigns,nor does it inhibit members of trade unionsfrom joining other community in their individual capacities. organisations Why did democracy become soimportant? 133 has The independent trade union Movementhas been influenced by, and influenced both popular and workerstruggles. Amongst manyactivists within central community organisations, the questionof working class leadership is a issue. Therefore the theory andpractice of the progressive tradeunions informs their own practice in important ways.The public debates concerning for example, workers' democracy, ormembership of the UDF by certain unions therefore, contributes to theintellectual climate in whichcommunity organisations function.

THE BLACKCONSCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT AND THE CHURCH The BCM developed a strong basein Cape Town, particularlythrough SASO linkages with certain on the UWC campus, inthe early 1970s. It also had close church groups. The ChristianInstitute61 established. in 1963, appears to have of a played a particularly important role.It functioned as an important part and matrix of personal contacts for BCMand radical Christian individuals groups which facilitated thedissemination and sharing ofideas and approaches. The CI also played an importantrole in the redefinition of 'Christian comrnitment', which assisted the developmentof an indigenous liberation theology. This had a lot in commonwith black theology which wasbeing developed by Christians within theBCM.62 In this discussion we are notconcerned with detailing the history ofeither certain ideas or the BCM or the radical fringeof the churches, but more with activities which may have influencedthe later development ofdemocratic 'community organisations in Cape Town.In order to do this we will look very briefly at certain of the key characteristicsboth in the BCM and in the more radical Christian movement. It is notpossible to know how much theseideas is that have permeated contemporary practice,but an important consideration many of the people involvedwith the BCM and the radicalChristian groups during the 1970s arc still very activetoday in various of the community organisations. Interviews with seven ofthese activists, inform this discussion.'" The,historical parameters of the emergenceof the BCM are well documented,' and Lodxe points to the contradictory natureof existing appraisals of the movement.6° He also points tothe need to locate the growthof the movement within thc larger contextof social development in SouthAfrica, particularly the coming of age of a new black pettybourgeoisie at the end of the sixties. (The rapid social mobilityof coloured people in Cape Town atthis

1 3 134 Part IV: The South African Context

time has already been noted.) The BCM gained its initialimpetus from leaders like Steve Biko and Barney Pityana, who hadbeen members of the University Christian Movement (UCM) until itwas banned on black university campuses. In 1969 they formed SASO, which began espousing blacktheology and the need for community projects. UCM hadhelped to shape an essential part of the programme of SASO, as the Christian viewcontinued to be an important influence in SASO and associatedorganisations. While SASO was predominantly a student organisation, it also claimedto be an instrument for changing society and sought allies offcampus. In 1972 the Black People's Conventionwas formally launched. The aims of BPC were: tolibcrate andemancipateblacks from psychological and physical oppression; to create a humanitariansociety where justice serves all equally; to cooperate with existing agencies withsimilar ideals; to reorientqte the theological system with a viewto making religion relevant to the aspirations of the black people; to formulate andimplement an education policy of blacks, by blacks and for blacks; andto formulate, and implement the principles and philosophies of black consciousness.The BPC also committed itself to the establishment of and thepromotion of black businesson a cooperative basis, including the establishmentof banks, cooperative buying and selling, and the flotation of companies.All of these were to be designed as agencies of communal self-rtliance. It alsoidentified the need to work with trade unions, and established the Black AlliedWorkers' Union (BAWU).66 The BCM put unprecedented emphasison the political necessity to address directly the psychological andcultural degradation suffered by blacks on an individual and collective level. Suchan emphasis does have, as Couve67 points out, distant echoes withLembede's Africanist philosophy .ofthe 1940s.68 At thc end of the 1960s,as we have discussed in Part TWo, therewas a substantial body of literature, emanatingfrom western capitalist countries, which stressed the importance ofhuman agency in the struggles of all oppressed people. Gerhart" cites thedecisive influences of Fanon's analyses of colonialism and its psychological and cultural consequences, (e.g.1968 The Wretched of the Earth), the writingsof Afro-Americans like Carmichael (e.g. 1967 Black Power: The Politicsof Liberation in America), the negritude writers like Senghor, and toa lesser extent the declarations of Kaundaand Nyerere on African humanismand socialism, on the thinkingof BC ideologues.lt was not so mucha wholesale transposition but rathera selective importation and adaptation of ideascminating from heterogeneous African and Afro-American analyses of racialand colonial oppression. In CapeTown the Unitcd Statcs Information Service was actively promotingthe BCM by 135 Why did democracy become soimportant?

available fromthe U.S.A.70 making civil rights literature,films and speakers exclusive The BC ideologues likeBiko71 and Pityana72 reveal an almost and cultural oppression,and if economic and emphasis on the psychological ig,terms other than political oppression isrecognized, it is not understood and cultural oppression.Couvepoints out that those of psychological integrate his radical Fanon's influential work ismarked by an inability to inability is also reflected psychology and his own theoryof class struggle. This important influence in another local study which waspurported to have had an that of Rick Rimer/4 This on both the BCMand radical Christians,namely will be discussed later. of the BC ideology whenhe states that the Couve captures the essence believe in ideology of racial superiority is a meanswhereby blacks come to inferiority foisted upon them.An intrinsic part the psychological and cultural which the process of of the BC strategy was todevelop an ideology by of division could psychological and culturalinferiorization and the process representation of the black be combatted. At the centreof this ideology is the man reduced to the statusof an emptyshell.75 This representation provides a engendered formidable condensation of thevarious feelings and complexes their oppressed by racial ideology in whichblack subjects can recognize condition. restoration or The ideology however guaranteesand promises the which has been lost in thehistory of contact with the recovery of a wholeness shell', is a dominant white racist group. Incontradistinction to the 'empty his complicity representation of the black man whohas found himself, undone dignity. Thus a in his own misuse, a black maninfused with pride and representation emerges, of a black manwith his own positive,authentic community. attributes: humanist, communallyoriented, sharing in the During 1972-1977 there was aproliferation of organisations inSouth Africa which were connected toSASO, BPC and BCP/6 Each organisation of Churches had its own special programme.The South African Council financially, and with (SACC) and related bodies likethe CI assisted the BCM Froject (BCP) other material and human resources.The Black Communities like Biko and Pityana was a CI project whichprovided funds so that people could be employed to workfull-time. Within the churches in the early1960s, particularly afterSharpeville, of the church in the there was a great dcal ofdiscussion concemirg the role to move Apartheid society. Amongst a groupof Christians there were attempts society. In 1963, the church to become morerelevant within South African financed from under the vigorous leadershipof Dr.Beyers Naude and heavily 136 Part IV: The South African Context

abroad, the CI tried initially to influence white Christians bymeans of bible study and prayer groups. Disillusioned with whiteresponse, the CI gradually moved towards almost exclusive involvement withblack liberation. There were several steps in this evolution.It began with the organisation cal training for the ministers of theologi- of independent Africanchurches. This was followed by strong involvement in the compilation in 1968of a powerful challenge sponsored by the South African Council ofChurches (SACC) and supported by most of theEnglish speaking churches, People of South Africa. the M....ssage to the Out of the Mcssagegrew the Study Project on Christianity in Apartheid Society (SPROCAS) inwhich the CI also played leading role. Between a 1971and1973 SPROCASproduced seven reportson the situation in South Africa,including one which highlighted church. This was followed apartheidinthe by SPROCAS Two whichconsisted of the BCP. As this experience unfolded, the CI came to accept thatblack liberation would never come from white Christians but would have to be theoutcome of blact initiative. They therefortplayed a supportive role in initiative. the development of black There were several of the radical churchmenwho were strongly influenced by developmentsin the USA. One interview, the powerful churchman described inan influence a visit to the USAhad had on the growth of his ideas for the church'srole in SA. He motivated the Churches Urban for the establishment of Planning Commission(CUPC), on his itturn. This agency has played an important catalytic role in the growthof community work in Cape Town duringthe1970s.He and others77 fluenced by the works of were strongly in- Alinsky, Illich and Freire.The UCM had apparently played aramportantpart in the popularisation of activists:I' Freire's work amongst BCM Freire's ideas excitedthe students who felt they 'banking' type of education had suffered from the which Freire describedand the material offered concrete alternatives. Freire's work was banned in SouthAfrica but before UCM itself was bannedin1972, over 500 copies of Freire's workwere made and circulated. Courseswhich aimed to inform Freire's ideas were fellow black studentsof run informally at the blackuniversities and some students became involved in compilingcommunity surveys to later discussion. clarify critical areas for Various leadership trainingcourses were offered by different groups for youth organisations. church For example, the ChristianEducation Leader- ship Training (CELT)organisation, the Methodist Centre, and the CUPC, Christian Leadership all ran shortcourses on community organising leadership. Democratic and leadership, (rather thanlaissez faire or authoritarian 1 3 137 Why did democracy become soimportant?

stressed.79 Two of the interviewees recalledthe courses that leadership) was BC feelings. they had attended in the early1970s, in which there were strong these courses at that It appears that many blackyouth and students attended National Youth LeadershipTraining Programme time. One other course, the followed by work (NYLTP), was a three monthlive-in course, which was non-racial within a church. It aimed to createannicrocosm of a utopian radical children's community. One interviewee,who went on to establish a participatory democracy magazine in 1980, spoke aboutthe 'obsession' with had, she felt, had a stronginfluence on her on the course. The course par- understanding of 'good' organisationalpractice, which necessitated a ticipatorydemocratic structure andapproach. the BCM weta in It seems that both theradical Christian groups and Albert Nolan" as general terms, stressing similarvalues. These are given by dignity' and 'human solidarity'(within BC it the values of 'sharing', human integral to both would be 'black solidarity').These values appear to be liberation and blacktheology.81 Govern- In 1973 the CI was declared an'affected organisation' by the Members of the BCM and ment. This effectively cutoff its overseas funding. by the govern- certain radical Christians, werebeing harrassed and banned organisations, mainly ment throughout thisperiod. In October 1977 nineteen Steve Biko died while those linked to the BCM, andthe CI, were banned and in detention. of the As mentioned earlier, there arcdifferent views on the effectiveness in generat- BCM. There is agreement however onthe importance of the BCM people.82 In terms of the ing a new climate of resistanceamongst black in the late question relating to its contribution tothe climate for organisations and 1970s, some speculative comments arepossible: it stressed humanism needing the importance of people; itemphasised `the oppressed people', as for them to take thedecisions in the struggle for to be empowered, and leadership and freedom; it emphasised theimportance of black development, radical whites self-reliance. As a reaction to theBCM, some of the liberal and the importance of both inside and outside thechurch, were inclined to stress the ongoing non-racialism, and positivediscrimination in order to counter live-in discriminatory practices. Attempts weremade, as with the NYLTP training course, to begin to createthe 'ideal, hoped for' society.An antagonis- their analysis tic response to the BCM camefrom the NEUM, who rejected They stressed of the importance of thepsycholo&ical oppression of blacks. the importance of a classanalysis." Comment on the churches'contribution to the climate of thelate 1970s opportunities for black can also only bespeculative. Within the church i 138 Part P /: The South African Context

leadership became more available. Since the late 1960s, blackclergy like Manas Buthelezi, Desmond Tutu, and, more recently, AllanBoesak have become important religious and political leaders in blackcommunities. Within the youth organisations, and through the trainingprogrammes blacks and whites were exposed to different educational andcommunity work philosophies and approaches.Fmancial and otherresources have enabled organisations to develop. Organisations like CUPC have playedan important role in the development of the field of community workand comminity organising. Several activists who are still involved incommunity organising obtained their grounding in the CI and other churchorganisations. One reaction to the churches which was mentioned by four of theinterviewees as having affected their approach to organisations, was the church'shierarchy and bureaucracy. Interviewees mentioned the contradictionbetween the church's theory and practice, which led to a questioning ofthe possibilities for the church to play a significant role in changing theApartheid society. Rick Turner's book, TheEye of the Needle: Towardsa Participatory Democracy in South Africa,which was published in1972, is a matrix of ideological influences at thattime. He wrote itas a SPROCAS publication, and it is pugo.orted to have had an important influenceon the BCM and radical Christians. It is still regardedas an influential work.85 Ina very useful analysis of Turner's work Nash asserts that, `Wecan learn from Turner only by attempting to understand the limitations of his work,which were also the limitations of the time in which he worked, and thoughperhaps in different ways, the limitations of the timein which we live'.86 The central philosophical question which Turneraddresses is: how is the historical reality of thepast to be recognised without of men and denying the creative will women to choose theirown future anr; make that future accordance with their choice? in In attempting toanswer this, he is unable to resolve the tension betweenindividual moral commitment political action. His and collective argument for a utopian democratic,socialist state in South Africa is influenced by Existentialism, Marxism,Humanism and Christianity. His argument dependson the Sartrean concept of 'Man has no "nature" consciousness, which is: because the structure ofconsciousness, a continual project into the future, is such that it cannever be bound to anything, and always doubt any value. can It is this structure ofconsciousness to whichwe are referring when wesay man is free. He transcends the given towardsa goal, a value which he constitutes himself.'"Nash argues that within South Africa in 1972, its the context of argument required a concept ofconsciousness which was only contingently historicaland thus excluded the coherent concept of the possibility of any historical process thatforms our consciousness.It 1 3 5 139 Why did democracy become soimportant?

historical conditions, that the13CM was was at the sametime, under the same developing. contradictions tit this work isthat between in- One of the unresolved of working class dividualism and collectivism,between the importance change based on moral leadership in the struggle forchange, and individual the reemer- commitment. Turner was veryactive in attempting to encourage organisations in Durban at thattime.88 He recognised the gence of worker both Existen- importance of the working class.In his book Turner draws on work (which impressed tialism and Marxism, whichis reminiscent of Freire's Turner). there needs to be For change to occur inSouth Africa, he argues that relationship between changein consciousness and recognition of the intimate people see the organisation. Effective organisationmust relate to the way three essential world and it must help them to seeit differently. He notes elements in this new wayof seeing theworld:89 to see myself I must come to see the world asable to be changed. I must come And I must see that my as having the capacity toplay a part in changing it. with other people. To grasp capacity to do this can berealised only in cooperation fundamental shift in psychologicalattitude towards these three facts involves a Such a shift the world, rather than a simplechange of intellectual awareness. only occurs once I find myselfinvolved in action. organisational The process of political changethrough the development of .... to become solidarity must itself be aparticipatory experience if people are conscious of thepossibilities of freedom. he turns to a Having acknowledged theimportance of collective action, have internalised a discussion of the problems ofwhites. He asserts that they that they fight to particular human model, and arevictims of the very system the evil of their ways and preserve. He issues amoral appeal to them to see points out, is based on to adopt the 'Christianhuman model' (which as Nash explanation for resistance to thedominant ideology in an individualist outside of the capitalist society). Turner alsospeaks of blacks as being internalised historical context: he argues thatit is possible that they have not be able to build the consumer values of theindustrial society; that they may traditional tribal life. He assumes, a future based onthe communal values of notes,90 that black South Africans have notonly a relatively full as Nash society in which understanding of the society inwhich theylive, but also of the Africans are they would choose to live.Precisely because black South excluded from excluded from the dominant patternsof socialization, they are 140 Part IV: The South African Context

the historical process which isidentified with that socialization. (This view influenced the BCM at the time butwas severely challenged by 1976.) Turner's book was written ina clear and accessible way, with a directness and a clarity of purpose, whichappealed to many activists of the day. Nash points out that it is stillone of the few attempts to developa scenario for a future socialist society for South Africa.Nash argues that the socialist political culture which is emergent today, and which is often fragmented andrudimen- tary,'is characterised by itsreliance on the reality of the past, whichhas not produced a vision of the futuresociety which might be given clearerform by the struggles to create it.'91It is in this area that Thmer'swork still has relevance today. The centralparadoxes in his work have yet to beresolved. They can still be identified within community and workerorganisations and in the debates concerning the importance of race or class in thestruggles for a socialist future.

THE REEMERGENCEOF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESSWITHIN THE COUNTRY AFTER 1976

The history of the ANC is well documented.92The purpose of this section is not to elaborate it.% history, but to consider its possible effectonncommunity organisations in the late 1970s.Davies, O'Meara and Dlamini"in a very recent book, provide a succinctoverview of the ANC and its influence today. apparent The ANC is the leading force in the national liberation strugglein South Africa. Based principally on an alliance of class forcesamongst the nationally oppressed, the ANC seeks to forge a broad non-racialmovement of all democratic elements pledged to the overthrow of the ApartheidState. Within this alliance it recognises the 'special role' of theworking claw as the guarantor that the form of nationalliberation achieved in SouthAfnca is a democratic state in which thewealth and basicresources are 'at the disposal of the people as a whole'. The ANC was formed in1912; for almost 50years it followed a strategy of non-violent resistance. However, in 1961 it adopted thearmed struggle as its principal strategic method of struggle. Its militarywing, Umkhonto we Sizwe remains controlled by the political leadership ofthe organisation, and armed struggle is combined with other forms ofmass organisationboth illegal and semi-legal. Thelast five years haveseen a rapid upsurge of ANC ijI-%i

P' 141 Why did democracy become soimportant?

The programme activity in South Africa, both atthe military and mass levels. Charter, adopted in of demands of the ANC iscontained within the Freedom land and wealth of 1956. It basically calls for ademocratic state in which the the people. The present stageof the South African the countryare controlled by largest and most revolution is define(' as 'thenational liberation of the people'." National liberation from colonial oppressed groupsthe African the 'special role' oppression is 'bound up witheconomic emancipation'. Here pmgression from of the working class is seen ascrucial in securing a 'speedy precise nature formal liberation to genuine andlasting emancipation'. (The has been and of ANC policy on for examplesocialism, private ownership etc. is being hotly debated.) the ANC has In the period since 1976,and particularly after 1978, combined military actions with massmobilisation. The military strategy economic and appears to be concentrited onsabotage attacks against strategic installations.9' As a complement to the armedstruggle, a number of military mass support forthe recent semi-legalcampaigns have again generated open displayed at mass rallies ANC. In recent years, ANCflags have been openly significant the and ANC slogans havebeen widely used. Perhaps most been adopted demands of the ANC programme,the Freedom Charter, have for a future democraticSouth Africa by a largenumber as a basic blueprint Sash,96 open of diverse groupings and classforces, ranging from the Black 1985 is the thirtieth trade unions, studentorganisations, to church bodies. several organisa- anniversary of the drawing upof the Freedom Charter, and popular, as the dons are using this opportunity tomake the Charter even more testifies. This does not meanthat these are ANC 1985 Grassroots Calendar which the basic controlled bodies, but ratherdemonstrates the extent to opposition demands Of the ANC have come tocrystallise a broad democratic This has also been reflectedin the increasing to the Apartheid system. revolutionary force in international recognition of theANC as the leading South Africa. The reemergence of the ANC as aleading force in the struggle forchange, look back and has been one of the factorswhich has encouraged people to resistance has been learn from the struggles ofthe past. The history of the ANC put on rediscovered by activists, andacademics. The emphasis that Congress which relied the need for organisation, asopposed to the Pan African in- more on spontaneity, aspart of the processof mass mobilisation, has approach to fluenced the approach of someorganisations. The participatory 'Mandela Plan' for the the drawing up of theFreedom Charter, and the creation of street committees andcells,97 are two examples which have been sations.98 The drawn on as ' good' organisationalpractice within certain organi 142 Part IV. The South Afrtcan Context

non-racial approach of the ANCwhich encourages class alliances, has provided a basis for a strategy adoptedby the UDF in the 1980s. (This will be discussed later.) It has given theradical white petty bourgeoisiea place in the struggle against the Apartheidstate, which the BCM denies them.

THE COMMUNITYSTRUGGLES IN THE LATE 1970s AND EARLY 1980s

Important strands which have beendiscussed so far as having contributedto the climate of the late 1970s, andwhich have been developing simultaneously, include the reemergence of theindependent trade union movement withnew strategies which link workplace andcommunity struggles, the growth of the BCM and radical churchgroups, and the reemergence of the ANC after 1976, all of which were responses to theorganic crisis' of the state. In thissection emphasis will be given to the strugglesin the community as opposedto those at work, although as we haveseen in the consumer boycotts, the relationship between the two is complex anddynamic. The sources whichare used here are limited. No indepth and systematicstudy has been made of the various collective activities. Each of thestruggles was very complex, and theeffects which each may have hadon individuals and groups arevery difficult to discern. The aim here is to giveexamples of lessons whichseem to have effected the general understanding ofcommunity organisati-On amongstmany of tlx activists. The most important watershedaction came with the revolt ofstudents in 1976. All the particular political groupings of the oppressedwere forced to reconsider their strategies." Theuprising which beganas a protest against flantu Education, soon became a mass revolt against the Apartheidsystem. The uprising assumed a national character with similaroccurrences in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape andNatal. The State responded byusing its repressive machinery inan attempt to halt these uprisings. At theend of this period, many people lay dead,thousands ,of students had fledacross the borders and had joined the liberation army,mleaders were jailed andas we noted earlier, nineteen organisationswere banned in 1977. One of the lessons of 1976 isdescribed by Francis,101 whostates that although the mass nature of theuprisings cannot be doubted,a substantial grass roots infrastructure was absent. Asthe upheavals of the 1970sgrew more violent the lack of effective organisationamong the mass of workers and students became increasinglyevident. The 'resistance energy'of the masses could only be channelled in the formof isolated skirmishes which 13J Why dui democracy become so unportant? 143 were quickly suppressedby the State. Towards the endof the uprisings students tried to become moreworker and communityorientated.However existed given the repressive reaction of theState and the disorganisation that of popular at that time, such initiativesfloundered. Hence, with the demise leaders and the banning oforganisations, an organisational vacuum was created leaving little room for theelaboration of structures that wouldsustain the momentum of active politicalconflict. The experiences of theseuprisings needed. generated a feeling among activiststhat grassroots structures were and spon- There had been criticism of theBCM line of 'conscientisation' taneous uprising. There was ashift towards the need for theoreticalunder- link the standing rather than blind activism.The student leadership began to student struggles with the strugglesof the workers, and they recognisedtheir limited role in the struggle for socialchange. They believed that theworkers not the students should bein the lead. Marxism providedthe theoretical framework within which activistsreflected on their experiencesa critique of BCM was developed. Blacks were nolonger seen as a homogeneous group.102Social class and not race, manyblack students realised, was the crucial issue. Amongst radical whitestudents, and some members of the NEUM, who had been using westernMarxist critiques unquestioninglyin their analysis of South Africa , the revoltof 1976 offered a challenge. Amongst some, the importance ofboth class and race wasacknowledged, and Gramsci's theory became important intheir analysis of the State. In line with Gramsci's theory of transition somepeople saw the need to establish 'proletarian institutions' in the fonnof worker and community organisations, which could help to develop 'organicintellectuals'of the workingclass. With the emergence of the ANC in1977 and 1978, the Freedom Charter encouraged a non-racial stance, and raisedthe issues of class alliances.BCM elements regrouped within the AzanianPeople's Organisation (AZAPO) in 1979.104 At this timeitseems that the State had changed its strategytowards organisations; nand AZAPO has beenallowed to function in an explicitly political way.' One reason for this apparentchange could be the recognition by the Government that banningorganisations had not lessened the organised opposition to Apartheid policies. TheGovernment has continued harrassment of the leadership of organisations likeAzapo, but has not as yet banned the organisations. State repression throughout the 1976uprising made activists question the issue of leadership. The leadership was thefirst to be detained and harrassed, therefore collective leadership, which wasless visible and which could rotate, was necessary for thestruggle to be able to continue. Thelevel of State 144 Part IV: The South African Context repression also taught students about the need for absolutecomr&ment to their political goals, and to accept the possibilities ofState action.' In the period from 1977 to 1979 therewere no widespread campaigns. Community organisation was low keyed and mainlycentred around `squaner'struggles. There was a growth in the number of communitywork agencies and community workers.107 Itseems that the emergent field of community work,which we discussed in Part Two, and which hadgained a strong impetus from the BCM and the radical churchgroups, was being explored as a possible strategy within Social Work for thepromotions! social change. The works of Alinsky, Illich and Freire,amongst others'', were being studied both at university Social WorkDepartments and within the agencies themselves. The CUPC tre.Iningprogrammes, which was mentioned earlier, were part of the more rad;cal vanguard withinthe community work field. Community workers were helpingto establish residents associations in various parts of the Cape Flats. For example, inBishop Lavis the UWC students were working with the Foundation for SocialDevelopment (FSD) to promote organisation; SHAWCO workers helped establishthe Duinef9n- tein Tenants Association; and in Vrygrond studentsworked with CAFDA. A09 Their aim was to promote collective action bythe communities in their demand for civil rights, very much along the lines of,for example, the CDPs in Britain and Alinsky in the USA. The community workers from the various agenciesalso played an important role within the squatter struggles. Squattersettlements have been a permanent part of Cape Town's history. Very little work has beendone on the history of squatter settlements in Cape Town, io although this is changing. Colelusefully places the development of thesquatter camps within the political economy of the Western Cape. Thesquatter camps which were struggling for survival in the late 1970swere the Modderdam, Werksgenot, Unibel and Crossroads camps, and in the early 1980s,Nyanga Bush, No Name camp, amongst others. Through these struggles arange of lessons was learnt by both the outside agents and the inside activists.Most apparent are those learnt by the outsiders. These have beendiscussed in ad hoc community publications and in the communitynewspaper,Grassroots.The central concern and criticism seems to relate to the impact of the outsiderson the levels of participation by the members of the communityat large, and the related issue of community control. The role of the 'expert'was seriously questioned. Underlying the criticisms seems to bean assumption about the need for participatory democracy, and collective leadershipby 'the people' of each camp. The educational value of the struggle for the members ofthe camps is another underl ying assumption. Communityworkers and other outside people 1 /I 11 Why did democracy become s, important? 145 who encourage the community tofight legal battles through the courts, are depriving the community of oRportunities tolearn through controlling the themselves.1" It is argued that the members of the collective action 112rn- munity obtain a false sense of the neutralityof the State apparatuses. By the end of the 1970s, and with theactions of community workers in the Meat boycott, there was aserious reassessment of the roleof corn- munitvwork amongst radical activists.This critique is well presentedin WIP1r3,and is also presented in the first few editions of Grassroots.Argu- ments were being made forcommunity organisation, as opposed to community work, which is conducted by thepeople themselves. One of the possible results of the antagonism whichdeveloped towards community workers by 1980 is a lack of recognition given tothem for their contribution to the growth of the network ofcommunity organisations in 1980 by contemporary historians.Many:1114 for example argues that community organisations only started in )950, thus ignoringthe numerous community organisations which were given impetus bycommunity workers in the 1970s. In 1979 the first national stirring since 1976 wasdiscernible, and it ushered in an intensified period of popular andworking class activity. Two strikes in 1979 set the tone for later developments.In April workers at the Fattis and Monis plant in Cape Town went on strike and weredismissed. As discussed earlier, this led to a seven month long nationwideboycott of Fattis and Monis products which ended in the reinstatement ofthe workers. Shortly afterwords, stevedores on the Cape Town docks wonrecognition for their union, the GWU, through strike action. The year 1980witnessed an upsurge in factory- based worker action in various centres. TheFattis and Monis struggle again emphasised the need for more permanent formsof organisation. 1980 saw intensified political activity in theWestern Cape. The two most important events were the meat workers strike andthe student boycott. Both were played out in the same arena.The studentboycott115 differed somewhat from that of the students in 1976. Whereasthe events of the 1976 uprising revolved around the students, in 1980 studentsactively attempted to gain the support of their parents and of theworkers. They realised that while student protest plays an important part in thewider struggle for democratic rights, it is only a constituent part of such a struggle.Hence 1980 saw an acknowledgement of the importance of community andtrade union organisations and a greater emphasis on jointaction with parents and teachers. Student-parent organisations were formed, and they spited to link upwith broader political actions in the form of busboycotts11°, the Free Mandela campaign117 and community struggles over issues such as rentincreases.118 This time the students' goals were more clearly defined and aprotracted boycott was

2 146 Part IV: The South Afrkan Context

avoided. They, through the mediation ofthe broader community, saw the boycott as a tactical weapon. One themethat was reiterated throughout the boycott was that the mass strugglewas an ongoing process. Thus, after the boycott, students were able to continuethe process of struggle within the communities in which they lived. Before the build up to the boycott,students at most of the coloured schools were unorganised. Within a few days of the beginningof the boycott most students had an SRC whichwas elected by the student body. Many student leaders stressed the need for democracywithin the movement. The boycott was controlled fiDIT1 the outset by a Committeeof 61, which later became the Committee of 81. The SRCs eachelected two delegates to the Committee. In a document of 14/5/80 the Committee of 81stated that:119

We as students should decide inour meetings at schools and our representatives must then go to the Committee of 81 meetingand give reasons for us making certain decisions. We must havemore MASS DEMOCRACY. In 1980 the schoolswere seen as an important site of struggle. The struggle for democratically electedSRCs was seen as part of the struggle for democracy more broadly in the society.These struggles have since been taken up by other organisations such as COSAS.120At this time several organisations which concentratedon particular constituencies and particular issues were emerging. These included UWO andthe Women's Front on women's issues, CAHAC and the Federationof Cape Civics around housing,and the WCYL and CAYCO to coordinate youth, also AZASO foruniversitystudents. In addition to organising around immediate demands, they haveput forward long term programmatic demands, which have been inspired either bythe Freedom Charter, the BCM,or the NEUM Ten Point Programme. The explicitly `political' campaignsin this period were the anti-Republic Day, anti-Management Committees and Anti-SAIC actions.121 In theAnti- SAIC campaign in Cape Town, the reemergence of the traditionalpolitical antagonisms between traditional groupings became a feature. Thiswas one of the first signs of the political regrouping which was tooccur in 1983, and which will be discussed in thenext section. The local literature which describes and analyses this period ofcommunity organisation in theGreater Cape Townarea, comprises ad hoc publications, newsletters published by certain specific organisationslike the Federation of Cape Civics, CAHAC, or the Western CapeYouth League (WCYL), and Grassroots Community Newsletter. The latterpublication is the onl y one which was established to facilitate communicationamongst different

143 Why did democracy become so important? 147 organisations, rather than as an internalpublication for an organisation.It position. In 1982 supports a non-racial asopposed to a BC or NEUM Grassroots had a hundred localcommunity organisations asmembers.1" An the analysis of the content of Grassrootsprovides important insights into dominant views on organisationalissues amongst this rapidlyexpanding Grassroots are written group of communityactivists. Most of the articles in organisa- by the full-time workers who areactive in a range of community circulation tions, or by leading members withinthe other organisations. With a of between 15 and 20000 copies peredition, and a distributionnetwork newsletter primarily through the communityorganisations, the impact of the been important. on the the developmentof community organisations has Grassroots has had a very clear messagesince its inception: UNITE and ORGANISE! The underlying assumptionswhich appear to underpin the message, are very similar tothose stated by Turner, (who wasquoted previously), and others concerned withparticipatory democracy. The questions accountability, participation andeducation are of leadership, authority, of answered in paru.alar ways, whichemphasise the participatory character A few democracy, although there areexceptions to this dominant view. examples will be given to illustratethese observations. LEADERSHIP, AUTHORITY ANDACCOUNTABILITY The idea of collective leadershiphas been promoted through thenewsletter. One example of this is that thepolicy has been not 'to build upindividuals considered into leadership positions'.Ideasconcerning organisation were more important than theindividuals behindthem.123 The authority was seen In an article to lie with 'the people' or themembers of particular organisations. advising readers how to start anorganisation, itstates:124 It is important that the communityspeaks with one voice; that individuals without a mandate do not claim to speak onbehalf of the community; that individuals do not make demands exceptthrough their organisations. After the 1982 Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM) Grassroots policy was restated as having 'to encourage collectiveleadership'. Accountability was to the membership of an organisation. After the formation of UDF inSeptember 1983 some changes canbe discerned concerning these issues. Themajor emphasis has been on more explicitly political campaigns, ratherthan very parochial questions oflocal organisation. The leaders of UDF, such asOscar Mpetha and Rev. Allan Boesak, have been given extensive coverage.The activities of UDF have been widely reported. It seems that people artbeing encouraged to participate behind the leadetship of the UDFrather than around the immediateissues in

1 4 148 Panty:The South African Context

their communities. The tendencymay also be for there to be accountability to the movement rather than toa local organisation, although this is difficult to state with any certainty. PARTICIPATION AND EDUCATION Participation seems to have beenpromoted for several reasons. Onone level, people have been encouraged to become involved in the struggle forcivil rights. In a number of articles the idea of 'the expert' has beenchallenged, and the slogan 'we speak for ourselves' has been prominent On anotherlevel participation has been viewedas a strategy to develop members' self-confidence and their leadership ability. The idea that all people should beinvolved in decision-making and in allthe activities because of its educationalvalue, has been promoted. An article'What is democracy?' 125states: In a Democratic Organisation All members are workers andmanagers. Everyone has a say in planning, organising and controlling what happens.All share in the thinking and thedoing. Everyone in the organisation makes the rules. Rules are also changedby calling a meeting of everyone. People learn as much as possible about running the whole organisation.People who have special information share it with others. Peopleare helped to get the skills so that they can do the wholejob. Everyone in the organisation discusses the problems and does thework. In this way people are teaching themselves allthe time. They do not need formal certificates.

Information is shared by allmembers as much as possible. the information Only with all can people make the right decisions.In contrast to this article,and others which havepromoted the idea of a collectivist which is non-hierarchical, organisation, and participative,some articles have concentrated on democracy as a formal mechanismwhich is concerned with representation. These articles on, forexample, the drawingup of constitutions, and on meeting procedures,126 havebeen of a more legalisticnature. This comparison and contrast is mentioned as an example of the differing, andsome- times competing and contradictory views which are conveyed,and which seem an inevitable part of a projectsuch as Grassroots. The sharing of skills, participation in planning and decision- making,and the importance of evaluation so as to learn from mistakes, have allbeen stressed in numerous articles. The functioning of Grassrootshas also emphasised these values. From 1981 to 1983 Grassrootsactively encouraged participation in the bi-annualassessments through surveys, questionnaires, public meetings and workshops for organisational representatives.The 1984

't) 149 Why did democracy become soimportant? annual evaluation, however, did not seeactive participation by many or- including ganisations and individuals. Participationin many organisations, been Grassroots,had decreased; one reason wasthat the organisations had effected by the establishment ofUDF.127 The way that democracy was spoken these about within community organisationsappeared to be changing with changing conditions. The popular, participatory democracticrhetoric of certain organisations, appears to be in stark contrast tothe dominant views within,for example, the to the NEUM tradition. The theory andpractice of the NEUM is unknown majority of peoplevitio are not a part ofthe affiliatedorganisations.128 In two interviews with persons who have had close contactwith this tradition, it was said that: After the repressive state actions in theearly 1960s the NEUM took adecision Although the or- to operate in a verylow-keyed, semi-underground fashion. ganisation was not banned, it couldn'tafford to operate openly. Democracy which meant broad and open participation wasconsidered a luxury. Experience meant had taught people that measuresfor survival had to be adopted. These trusting the leadership, and not expecting tobe a part of the decision-making. We had to accept that we could not knoweverything. There are many people within the newcommunity organsiations who have had experience in the 1950s,1960s and 1970s either withinthe NEUM legal political or the banned politicalorganisations. While there has been no have had party for people to belong to,community and worker organisations to fulfill many diverse roles.This as Gramsci has pointed out,is inevitable in therefore a repressive society.Community organisations in Cape Town can be expected to hold within them adiverse range of experiences whichwill present differing views on thetheory and practice of democracywithin organisations. THE FORMATION OFTHE UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT ANDCAPE ACTION LEAGUE The transition from the relative quiet of the1960s to the industrial and political As turmoil of the 1970s put the SouthAfrican State under mounting pressure. Francis129 explains, traditionally the State has absorbed thestruggle of the black masses through a two pronged strategyof division and repression. In response to the crisis the Stateretained these twin elements, albeitin a more for refined form of mass disorganisation.Repression has been intensified 150 Part IV: The South African Context

instance, from 1977-1980, 743 peoplewere charged in 216 'terrorism' trials and in June 1980 therewere at least 330 people in 'preventative detentions'.130Insofar as division is concerned, thecooptive element has become more pronounced. Themass resistance to Apartheid in the 1970s increasingly took on an openlyanti-capitalist form. Consequently by 1978 virtually all sections of the organisedcapitalist class and leaders of the SADF, and 'verligte' elements of theGovernment were demanding reform. In 1977 Mr. P. W. Botha, then Minister ofDefence, announced aprogramme of a 'total strategy' to meet what he termed 'thetotal onslaught'. Its fundamental aim was 'a guarantee for the system of freeenterprise'. A major initiative of the programme is the attempted creation ofa black middle-class, who would obtain a material stake in thesystem (and then presumably would be prepared to defend it), and which would dividethem off from the blackmasses. Thus, the new State strategy hopedto maintain and strengthen the basic capitalist system, while at the same timestrengthen elements which maintain the division amongst the disenfranchised.State initiatives to this end included the development of the Tricameral Parliament to incorporate colouredand Indian people, the `Koornhof 'Bills whichwere the Black Communities Develop- ment Bill, the Black Local Authorities Bill and the Orderly Movementand Settlement of Black Persons Bill. The primary aim of these bills isto divide permanent urban residents from otherAfricans in the urban areas.131 In response to the 'New Deal' of the Government, severalorganisations began to meet to discuss possible actions. The first to meet in CapeTown was the Federation of Cape Civics132 in June 1982, then in Septembcrthe Women's Front held a meetingand this led to he calling ofa general meeting of all community and worker organisations to consider jointaction to oppose the Orderly Movement and Settlement of Black Persons Bill.This was the start of what became knownas the Disorderly Bill Action Committee (DBAC). It included members from organisations within theNEUM, and from BC and non-racial tendencies. It was not long before thiscommittee ran into problems because of theirpolitical differences. Forexample, a key issue became the presence of thewhite student organisation,NUSAS. There were also personal antagonisms, and inefficiencies which ledto problems in the comm ittee.133 At about this time ideas were being mooted for a national campaign,and a meeting was called to this end in Johannesburg in January 1983.At this meeting Rev Allan Boesak called for a united democraticfront to fight the Government's initiatives. Certain organisations in Cape Townresponded positively to this call. They were primarily those who adopted theFreedom Charter. They withdrew fromthe DBAC. Others remainedin the weakened 14 -1 151 Why did democracy become soimportant? Action League. They DBAC and later formalisedthemselves into the Cape Forum which met inmid-1983 were to alignthemselves with the National those who followed and which attracted organisationswith BC tendencies and line.134 a more explicitlysocialist the local or- The formation of the UDF wasdiscussed extensively in 135 These discussions crystallised into aconference on the 12 May ganisations. part of UDF 1983, which was attended by someof the organisations now a and a second and all the major unions. Thediscussions were inconclusive held on 21 July 1983 withoutthe unions. (Some of round of discussions were previously). At this the reasons for trade unionwithdrawal have been noted This later became meeting it was decided to formthe Cape Democratic Front. launched in Cape Town on a regional branchof the national UDF which was this time in Cape Townthe atmosphere was the 26 September 1983. At debated politically charged, as activists onall sides of the political spectrum, front, and their membershipof it. The formation the pros and cons of a popular clearly, and for of UDF and CAL has delineatedthe political groupings more political structurts have the first time since the early1960s, more explicitly need to relate. This developed to which communityand worker organisations Cape Town, particularly has made an impact oncommunity organisations in be examined more with regard to the questionof accountability. This will closely through the case studies. 152 Part IV: The South AfricanContext NOTES TO PART FOUR Chapter Nine 1. See Part iNvo for typologiesof voluntary associations 2. The chart is taken from F. Lund and E. L.van Harte 1980 COMMUNITY WORK FOR DEVELOPMENTAND CHANGE Cape Social Development Town: Institute for 3. Registration under the Fundraising Act is onlynecessary if the organisation collects money from thepublic. 4. Dr. 0. D. Wollheim 1978 ORGANISATIONS Cape Town: group Studies Centre for Inter- 5. See Southern AfricanCatholic Bishop's Conference ing Paper' June 1984, `Pastoral Planning Work- for a useful summary ofthe important Acts. 6. Some of the studies whichare available, but which did of voluntary associations not deal with the breadth which is necessary for thisstudy, are: S. van der Horst 'Systems of Public Assistancein the Cape Peninsula' M. M. Wilson and A. Mafeje A. Thesis U.C.T. 1931; 1963 LANGA Cape Town:OUP; H. W. van der Merwe et al 1980 TOWARDSAN OPEN SOCIETY IN THE ROLE OF VOLUNTARY SOUTH AFRICA: M. E. Dludla ORGANISATIONS Cape Town:David Philip; socio-cultural communitysurvey of the township Nyanga' M. Soc. Sc. Thesis U.C.T.1983; E. Horn 'A in greater Cape Town' survey of community social agencies M. Soc. Sc Thesis UCT1983. There are certain directories available which were useful: SPROCAS Directory1974 gives lists of Black Consciousnessorganisations, Human Awareness tory 1983 of a range of Project has a direc- organisations, but it is farfrom comprehensive; SALDRU publisheda directory on rural organisations in 1984, the authorwas B. &reek; Lifeline 1984directory provides detailed organisations, and service lists of local self-help agencies which arepredominantly in whiteareas. The directoriesare of limited use as they cover very different ground fromone another which makesany comparisons impossible. 7. D. Webster 'Nature ofthe crisis in South Africa' in BEYOND REFORM:THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGECape Town: NUSAS 8. Dludla op. cit. No. 6. He does not elaborateon the voluntary associations which people belong to- over 87% of his respondents associations. belonged to some voluntary 9. P. Molefe 'Responses to Statd Strategy' in NUSAS1983 op. cit. 10. Taken from 1. Goldin `Thepoverty of Coloured Labour and ideology in the Preference: Economics Western Cape' SALDRUWorking Paper No. 59 II.This point is made by CapeTown Labour Research Committee1983 THE LOCAL STATE CAPE TOWN: A CASESTUDY Cape Town: LRC

I t) Notes to Part IV 153

works: Exunples of the effects of the GroupAreas are given in D. Pinnocks' 12. THE 1980 ELSTES RIVER Cape Town: UCTInstitute of Criminology; 1984 BROTHERHOODS: STREET GANGS ANDSTATE CONTROL IN CAPE 1983 TOWN Cape Town: David Philip; alsoin United Women's Organisation CLAREMONT: A PEOPLE'S HISTORYCape Town: UWO repealed this Act. 13.Goldin op. cit. In 1985 the Government north from a point on the coast,just west 14.The Eiselin Line extended almost due of Port Elizabeth to the Orange FreeState border near Colesburg. For example, D. Homer ed. LABOURPREFERENCE, INFLUX CONTROL 15. Work- AND SQUA1TERS: CAPE 'DOWNENTERING THE 1980s' SALDRU ing Paper No. 50 Cape Town; J. Cole'When your life is bitter you dosomething: Women and squatting in the WesternCape tracing the origins ofCrossroads History and the role of women in its struggle'Long Paper in Dept. of Economic UCT Sept 84 NYANGA BUSHFIGHTING FOR OUR RIGHTS, no date, no author. 'Recent occupational mobilityof 16.Social mobil ity is discussed by W. Beinart coloured people in Cape Town' in H. W. vander Merwe and C. J. Groenewald COLOURED ed. 1976 OCCUPATIONAL ANDSOCIAL CHANGE AMONG PEOPLE iN SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town:Jutas; and by Goklin op. cit. 17s. Goldin p. 43 op. cit. political movements' in VAN DERMERWE 18.M. Simons 'Organised coloured AND GROENEWALD op. cit.discusses the NEUM ; also R. Gentle'The NEUM in perspective' 1978 13. Soc. Sc. Hons.Thesis UCT, he argues that the NEUM is not Trotskyist. Congress 19.T. Karor 'Vryheid nie op 'nskinkbord nie: The Coloured People's and National Democratic Struugle in theWestern Cape 1951-1962' 1983 B. A. Hons. Thesis Economic History UCT - Hediscusses the mass mobilizationof people in Cape Town in the'50s will be discussed more fully in alater 20.The ANC and the Freedom Charter section. 21.Simons p. 229 op. cit. SOUTH AFRICA SINCE 1945 Johan- 22.T. Lodge 1983 BLACK POLITICS IN nesburg: Ravan Press, discusses the ANC andthe PAC in Cape Town. G. Gerhart 1978 BLACK POWER IN SO=AFRICA: TIM EVOLUTION OF AN IDEOLOGY USA: University ofCalifornia Press, also deals with the history of the PAC extensively. 23.See W. Hofineyer 'Rural popular resistanceand its problems: struggles in the Western Cape 1929-1930' in AFRICAPERSPECTIVE No. 22 1983 N. This point was made by an ex-memberof the South Peninsula Education Fellowship(SPEF), an NEUM linked organisation, in aninterview on 25/1/85

1.1 154 Part IV: The South African Context

Chapter Ten 25. Lund and van Harte op. cit. Averyrecent study by M. Matiwana and S. Walters 1986 THE SMUGGLE FORDEMOCRACY: A STUDY OF COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS IN GREATER CAPETOWN FROM THE 1960's TO 1985 CACE: University of theWestern Cape, which is a by product of this research project, gives themost comprehensive picture of these organisations to date. See Appendix Three 26. D. O'Meara 'Muldergate and thepolitics of Afrikaner nationalism' in WORK IN PROGRESS No. 22 1982; L.Chisholm 'Redefining Skills: Black Education in South Africa in the 1980s' in P. Kallaway 1984 APARTHEID ANDEDUCA- TION. TUE EDUCATION OFBLACK SOUTH AFRICANS Johannesburg: Ravan Press 27.Lodge p. 328 op. cit. 28. The Extension of UniversityEducation Act of 1959 led toa sudden expansion of student numbers with theestablishment of two new African University Colleges, one for Indians andone for coloureds. C. Bundy 'Street Sociology and Pavement Politics: Some Aspects of the 1985 School Crisis in theWestern Cape' Paper delivered at the Centrefor African Studies Conference 16-18July 1986 at UCT, gives the figures for university student numbersat black campuses as 1960: 1,871, 1984: 36604. 29. The BCM is discussed by Gerhartop. cit. and B. Hirson 1979 YEAR OF FIRE YEAR OF ASH. THE SOWETOREVOLT: ROOTS OF A REVOLUTION Britain: Zed Press. The growth in cultural organisations, whichwas largely as a result of the BCM, can be seen in AppendixThree. 30.S...e South African OutlookJan. 1974 31. An tlyses of the Soweto revolthave differed according to the premises of the writers. For ideological example. J. Kane- Berman 1978SOWETO: BLACK REVOLT, WHITE REACTION Johannesburg: RavanPress, saw the most important factors being theinfluence of BC ideology and thecrisis of rising expectations. On the other hand Hirson's argument playsdown the importance of BCM as instigator, and he places at the centre of thehistorical stage the reassertion of African working class militancy which instilleda new feeling of self-confidence in the urban community. Undoubtedlythe occurren- ces both inside and outside the country which contributed to theevents which began on the 16 June 1976 included the development of the BCM,the reemergence of working class militancy, theeffects of political arrests, detentions trials in 1974 and 1975, the and liberation of Mozambique andAngola on the borders of SA, and the conditionsin the schools. 32.Lodge p. 339 op. cit. 33.Hirson p. 328 O. cit. Naes to Pan IV 155

Gramscian concept of an'organic crisis' has been 34.O'Meara p. 5 op. cit. The Gelb see Note 39. usefully applied to contemporarySouth Africa by Saul and for community organisations werevia church 35.The usual sources of funding organisations, like the SACC, overseasfoundations either linked to govern- enterprise. There was deep ments, churches orcorporations, or local business which related both to itsorigins and its suspicion of the Urban Foundation the one hand, and on modus operandi. The UF wasborn out of 1976 revolt on much 'mileage' as possiblefor its sponsorship. the other it seemed to want as critical of Organisations not dependent onthis source of funding were very and hostility the UFengendered appears to be those who were. The divisions careful study if we are peculiar to the greater CapeTown area, and it requires time more clearly. to understand the responsesfrom organisations at that Relations (SAIRR) Survey1978 p. 480 36.South African Institute of Race UCT on 'CommunityOrganisation' on 28/9/82, it was 37.In a talk by T. Manuel at detention to discuss suggested that activists who weredetained, used the time in strategies. Murpheson Morobein 'Situating the and reflect of their previous experience of educational snuggle' in NUSAS1983 op. cit. mentions the with different students jailed for seven years onRobben Island, who returned perpeetives on strategy. accumulation and violence' 38.For example, M. Legassick'South African capital August 1974, and H. Wolpe'Capitalism and in ECONOMY AND SOCIETY SOCIETY vol. 1 no. cheap labour power in SouthAfrica' in ECONOMY AND 4 1972. For example, J. S. Saul andS. Gelb 1981 THE CRISISIN SOUTH AFRICA: 39. New York: Monthly CLASS DEFENCE ANDCLASS REVOLUTION Review Press these issues; the establishmentof the UDF,the 40.There is ongoing debate around divisions National Forum and the Cape ActionLeague demonstrates the deep amongst the left aroundthese questions. in an interview There is no written history ofthe UCT Women's Movement; 41. by a leading with an ex-member, she stated that avisit to the campus in 1975 important North American fern inist, JulietMitchell, had given the movement an 1974 impetus; and the members read thefeminist writers like S. Rowbotham WOMEN, RESISTANCE ANDREVOLUTION USA: Penguin. Chapter Eleven and student For example material alreadymentioned, plus local community 42. NATIONAL and SASPU newspapers likeGRASSROOTS, and SASPU hoc publications. FOCUS; also UDF and CALnewsletters and other more ad involved in worker The word 'activist' is used todescribe a person actively 43. interviewed during and/or community organisations.The 12 activists have been 156 Part IV: The South African Contirct

the last part of 1984 and in early 1985. Six of the intervieweeshad had links with the churches during the 1970s this included the Catholic,the Moravian, the Methodist and Anglicanchurches, with one working for the Institute, and another attending Christian the NYLTP course. The classificationof the interviewees was as follows: 5 coloured, 5 white and 2 African. Threehad had previous links with the NEUM, 3 had had strong links withthe BCM and at present 8 would align themselves with the UDF, and 3 with CAL/BC,while 1 is no longer involved inpolitical organisation. 44.The background to (A)FCWU is given in WORK IN PROGRESSno. 22 1982, while the history of GWU is given in a paper by J.Mare 'Democracy and Oligarchy in the Independent Trade Unions in the Transvaal andthe WPGWU in the 1970s' in SOCIALDYNAMICS 1982 45.D. Lewis 'Trade Unions and Class Stratification: Apreliminary analysis of the role of working class organisationsin the Western Cape' in H. W. 1976 op. cit. van der Merwe 46.For example in WIP, SOCIAL REVIEW, SASPU FOCUS,SOUTH AFRICAN LABOUR BULLETIN, andGRASSROOTS 47.D. Hemson 'Trade unionism and the struggle for liberationin South Africa' in CAPITAL AND CLASS 1978 48.For example, SASPU FOCUS vol. 2 O. 1 June 1983 'Ina class of their own' p. 18 ; WIP no. 12 April 1980'Consumer boycotts: an assessment'. 49.For example, WIP no. 25 1983 `Stayaways:mass strike or demonstration?'; WIP no. 26 1983 `Stayaways: Soweto 1976'; WIP NO, 191981 'The support alliance: trade unions andcommunity'. 50. WIP no. 30 1984 `Lekotaon the UDF'; WI? no. 32 'Unions and no. 33 1984 `MAWU and the UDF'; WIP UMMAWUSA fight for factories';'FOSATU will not join the UDF' CAPE TIMES20/10/83. 51. This is described by LizMcGregor 'The Fattis and March 1980 Monis strike' in SALE 52.This is discussed in WIP no. 13, also in SALB vol. 6no. 5, and GRASSROOTS Oct. 1980 53./bid. 54.SALB ibid. 55.GRASSROOTS op. cit. 56.Interview with Rev. Des Adendorf, the director oftwo of the organisations involved (15/8/84). 57.This is discussed in Maree op. cit.; NUS AS 1980 THE UNIONIS STRENGTH: THE RESURGENCE OFBLACK TRADE UNIONISM Town: NUS AS; SASPU IN THE 1970s Cape NATIONAL no. 9 Doc. 1981,and no. 7 Sept. 1981 Note.s to Part IV 157

STRUGGLE FOR also in R. Davies, D. O'Mearaand S. Dlamini 1984 THE SOUTH AFRICA VOL. TWOLondon: ZED Press. 58.Lodge op. cit. interview with Dave Lewis. 59.For example in WIP no. 29, an 'Debating alliance politics'. 60.Ibid., also see WIP no. 34 1984 CHURCH VERSUS STATE TNSOUTH AFRICA. THE 61.See P. Walshe 1983 Co. CASE OF THE CHRISTIANINSTITUTE London: C. Hurst and 62.Ibid. involved in various churchorganisations during 63.The seven interviewees were the 1970s. 64.Op. cit. No. 22 65.Lodge op. cit., see note no. 35 66.Hirson p. 84 op. cit. and black consciousness in SouthAfrica: The work 67.C. Couve 'The psychologist Paper UCT 5 Sept. of N. C. Manganyi' a Centrefor African Studies Seminar 1984 is any direct link betweenthe past Africanist 68.It is not proposed that there nature of formulations and the BC. Lodge op.cit. has shown the misleading attempts to force the linkbetween BC and its precursors. 69.Gerhart op. cit. 70.Mary Simons reminded meof this fact. 71.S. Biko 1978 I WRITE WHATI LIKE London: Heinemann der Merwe B. Pityana 'Power and socialchange in South Africa' in H. W. van 72. SOUTH AFRICA and David Welsh ed. 1972STUDENT PERSPECTIVES ON Cape Town: David Philip 73.Couve p. 9 op. cit. PARTICIPATORY 74.R. Turner 1980 THE EYE OFTHE NEEDLE: TOWARDS DEMOCRACY IN SOUTH AFRICAJohannesburg: Ravan Press 75.Biko p. 28 op. cit. 76.See SPROCAS Directories1974 Education Officer went toIllich's centre at 77.David Poyntan, an Anglican Cuernavaca, Mexico; Anne Hope, achurch worker spent time withPaulo me Freire. Both were influential inspreading these ideas. Tony Morphet gave this information. movements for blacks on theWitwatersrand 78.A. Bird 'The adult night school 1920-1980' in KALLAWAY op. cit. 79.Interview op. cit. No. 56

1 5 158 Part IV: The South African Context

80.A. Nolan 1982 BIBLICAL SPIRITUALITY Springs, SA: Order ofPreachers (Southern Africa) 81. See for example articles inSOUTH AFRICAN OUTLOOK Vol.110 Sept. 1980, by Nolan, Goba and Boesak. 82.In a study in Soweto by P. Frankel 'Status, group consciousness andpolitical participation:Black consciousness inSoweto', presented to the Frstory Workshop, University of Witwatersrand,on 3-7 February 1978, it was found that a high percentage of respondentshad been influenced by BC. 83. See M. Poswa '3 Black Consciousness:A reactionary tendency' Jan. 1982 printed by THE EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL. One of the intervieweeswho was actively involved in SPEF at the timementioned that this document seemed to reflect the general NEUM feelingsconcerning the BCM. 84.The influence of Turner's work on the BCM is discussed by T. Morphet inthe introduction to Turner's book. Turner'sinfluence was also mentioned inan interview with a former CI workeron 13/12/M. The interviewee, Jim Cochrane, believed that the impact of Turner'swork on those in the CI had been nificant. sig- 85.A. Nash 'History and Consciousness in South Africa today: Anessay on the political thought of Richard Turner' An unpublished workingpaper 1984. He argues that Turner's work is still influentialtoday. 86.Ibid. 87.T. Morphet in the introductionto Turner op. cit. 88.Turner helped to establish the Institute for Industrial Education andthe South African Labour Bulletin,see SALB vol. 9 no. 8 July 1984 89.Turner op. cit. p. 87 90.Nash op. cit. p. 19 91.Ibid. p. 12 92.See Lodge op. cit. 93.See Davies, O'Meara and Dlaminiop. cit. 94.Ibid. p. 284 95,Oliver Tambo in an interview in June 1982, said that a new phasewould permit 'more direct confrontation withthe enemy forces', ibid..p. 284 96.Black Sash is a protest organisation of white, middle classwomen, which was started in the 1950s. A history of the organisation has beenwritten by C. Michelman 1975 THE BLACK SASH OF SOU' AFRICA: A CASESTUDY IN LIBERALISM Publ. for theSAIRR by the OUP 97. The Mandela Plan is explained inLodge op. cit., andconcerns the formation of tight organisational structures on the street and neighbourhoodlevels. Notes to Part N 159

and it genesis have beenheld in several 98.Discussions of the Freedom Charter in Grassroots Jan. 1985,the story is retold. community organisations, and actually was in the Lodge op. cit. questions just howmuch participation their final drafting of the document affiliate member (29/1/85) 99.Interview with an ex-NEUM crossed the borders to join 100. Lodge op. cit. givesthe numbers of students who the liberation army as in thethousands p. 339 is theirs, the future is ours -A study of the United 101. M. Francis 'The past B. A. Hons. at Democratic Front in the WesternCape' A paper presented for UWC Nov. 1984 102. Montsitsi in NUSAS1983 op. cit. makes this point. cit. 103. See Bloch, Webster and vanden Heerden in NUSAS 1983 op. in 1979: it was an importantcontributor to the National 104. AZAPO was formed discussion of a recent Forum in June 1983, seeNATIONAL FORUM 1983; a AZAPO conference is in WU' no.30 1984. 105. This point is made byPaahla in NUSAS 1983 op. cit. 106. Montsitsi makes this pointin NUSAS 1983 op. cit. lecturer in the Dept. of SocialWork at UWC, it was stated 107. In a discussion with a increased dramatically that the numbers of trained,coloured, social workers during the 1970s. 108. References to internationalliterature were given in Part 2 workers is described in FSDAnnual Reports from 109. The work of community UWC STUDENTS 1977; also in E. van Harte1977 THE INVOLVEMENT OF Development IN COMMUNITY WORKBellville: Institute for Social 110. Cole op. cit. No. 15 June 1981, 'Legalism and 111. This argument is putin an article in WIP no. 18 democratic organisation'. struggles in NYANGA 112. A critique was done ofoutsiders involvement in squatter BUSH op. cit. 113. See WIP no. 11 1980and WIP no. 15. 114. Manuel op. cit. No. 37 'The schooling of black SouthAfricans and the 1980 115. See D. F. Molteno's study 1983 M. Soc. Cape Town students' boycott: asociological interpretation' April Sc. Thesis UCT 1980' in A. P. Hare 1983 THESTRUGGLE FOR 116. See R. Roberts 'Bus boycotts Intergroup DEMOCRACY TN SOUTHAFRICA Cape Town: Centre for Studies. 117. See SASPU NATIONAL 1982 p. 12 118. See for example SASPU,STATE OF THE NATION Aug. 160 Part IV: The South African Context

119. Molten° op. cit.p. 199 120. COSAS history is given in GRASSROOTS June 1982.The organisation VIP!! banned by the state in 1985. 121. This is discussed in SOCIAL REVIEW Issue 16 Nov.1981 122. GRASSROOTSAGM 1982 123. GRASSROOTS April1982 p. 14 124. Ibid. p. 11 125. GRASSROOTS June1983 P. 13 126. GRASSROOTS Oct. andNov. 1981 127. This point was discussion at GRASSROOTS AGM in 1984,and in several other organisations at the time. 128. B. Kinkead-Weekes 'A history of local resistanceto Apartheid in the period 1948-1960' presented at a workshop convened by the Centre forAfrican Studies and the Centre for Research in Africa at UWC, makes thispoint. 129. Francis op. cit. 130. Ibid. 131. Ibid. 132. Cape Federation of CapeCivics pamphlet May 1983 133. Francis op. cit.; also confirmed in interviews withtwo people who participated in the DBAC at one stage the secretary lost the minutes,there was also on occasion a lack of clarityas to who was to chair the meetings. 134. See SOLIDARITY the CAL newsletter, and NATIONALFORUM 1983 135. As a member of UWO Claremont Branch Iwas involved over several months in discussions within theorganisation. PART FIVE

CASESTUDIES

153 162 Part V: Case Studies INTRODUCTION The three case studies are all service and resource agencieswhich were established in Cape Town in thelate l 970s. Each of thecases has both instrumental and expressive goals,which as we discussed in PartTwo, implies a concern with both 'content andprocess' within the organisatton. The presentation of the empiricaldata from the threecase studies will occur in Part Five. Detaile2nalysis and discussion of the data will be given in Part Six. The research approach and procedures for the collection ofthe empirical data were described inthe Introduction to the dissertation.Details pertaining to the particular research relationship with each agency will bebriefly given at the beginning of eachcase study. The data were gathered and categorised initially accordingto the checklist (see Appendix One) whichwas grounded in the participatory periences with the first research ex- case, Zakhe. In summary the sixcategories which provided a framework for thecollection of the datawere: Background and History Organisational structures, goalsand strategies Education, training anddevelopment of members Internal processes andprocedures Relationships with otherorganisations Problems and constraints which affect the organisation'sfunctioning The presentation of the case studies will follow a set formatThis format is influenced by both the categories which have emergedthrough the research process and the conceptual 'tools' which have been identifiedin the literature reviews. It will be as follows: 1.RESEARCH PROCESS 2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MACRO ANDMICRO OR- GANISATIONAL CONTEXTS this will include the originsof the organisation, a descriptionof the membership, and changes in the structures, an account of the goals and strategies. Itwill also follow the changes to the theory andpractice of 'democracy' within during its lifcspan. the organisation

I 1.:"J Zakhe 163

SHARING RESPONSIBILITYthis will 3. INTERNAL PROCESSES: information and include participation in planningand evaluation, sharing relationships skills, education, trainingand-development of members, and of internal and with other organisations (thiswill highlight the question external accountability). HINDERS THE SHARINGOF RESPON- 4. WHAT HELPS OR within the SIBILITY? This section willhighlight particular tensions graphically in Chapter cases. The analyticaltools, which were presented and micro Eight, and which consist of: therelationship between the macn, in- organisational context; participatorydemwratic practices; and the knowledge, tegrated processes of action,critical reflection and theoretical will be used to probe the data. Chapter Twelve

CASE STUDYONE: ZAKHE RESOURCESFOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Researchprocess The data for the investigation of Zakhel was gathered ina number of ways. The participatory research relationship was mentioned brieflyin the Introduc- tion to the dissertation, as were the other research procedures.While the case study is informed primarily by the intense contactover the two and a half year period, I have been associatedwith the organisation since its served on one of its first inception, and Executive Committees. Thisrelationship will inevitably also inform the study. The specific researchprocedures included: The formalising of the research relationship through the formationin June 1982 of the 'democratic processes group' consisting of themembers of Zakhe and myself (I willrefer to this groupas the 'Participatory Research Group or PR group');

studying primary documentsfrom the establishment of 1984; Zakhe in 1978 to indepth, individual interviews with all present staff, firstin September 1982 and again in September 1984; interviewswith two of the key initiators of the project; intensive periods of participant observation in September 1982and in January 1984;

regular informal weeklymeetings with staff from 1983; June 1982 until May Zakhe 165

monthly meetings of the PR group,where there were discussions on current community organisationalissues; informal, periodic contact. In Part One of the dissertation Ipointed to similarities between the tensions andcontradictions2 experienced within the Participatory Research Approach and within the case studies themselves.While the PRA process has not been a focus for the investigationitself, examples of the tensions within the 'PR group' will be mentioned brieflyin order to illustrate what is meant. The issues raised here will be discussed inthe case study itself and in Part Six. The,PR group went through several phasesduring its two and a half year history.' The first phase covered the first six months,during which time the group worked intensivelytogether. Monthly seminars were held,starting with a discussion on social researchand moving on to discussions of contemporary organisational issues. During this time three of thesix members of the group were actively involved in theDBAC. (This was described in PartFour.) The monthly meetings provided a place forcritical reflection on involvement in the D13AC. During the first phase data wascollected and analysed for the Zakhe case study. Weekly informal informationsharing meetings were also held. The second phase began in January 1983with the reconstitution of the PR group after the summer holidays. At this stage oneof the members had become very involved in the KTC squatterstruggle, and other community campaigns were underway. Zakhe memberstherefore decided that all of them could not afford the time to be involved inthe PR grouptwo of their members would represent them. One other personfrom outside the organisation joined the group. A decision was taken toconcentrate on short term projects in order to give a more practical focus tothe group. At this stage thc theoretical and reflective work of the group lessened.Theory was discussed, if at all, in the context of practical tasks, such asduring the writing of two articles for theGrassroots Newsletter,and organising a workshop on 'Self- Management in Community Agencies'. It wasduring this time that the establishment of the UDF was being mooted,and the DBAC was being reconstituted as CAL. 'Democracy' was beingdebated vigorously in relation to 'the nationalquestion'.4 The PR group decided to use the word'self-management' rather than 'democracy' for the workshop as we were consciousthat the workshop might be misconstrued by some activists in theheightened political climate. We felt we could legitimately run a workshopconcerned with internal organisational 166 Part V: Case Studies

practices, but not concerned with 'the nationalquestica'. Within and amongst the progressive5 community andworker organisations at that time therewere various behavioural norms whichwere contested and negotiated continuously. One of these whichwas considered important at the time, was the need to obtain a mandate from 'relevant'organisations and individuals before under- taking a project.6 The PRgroup went through several processes in order to obtain an adequate mandateto run the workshop. These includedamongst others: letters and proposalsto the agencies; individual interviews with members of agencies; consultationmeetings with representatives of interested agencies to discuss the proposedcontcnt of the workshop; and the circularisation of minutes of consultationmeetings. The PR group wasvery conscious in the planning of the workshop of the polarisations which was occuringbetween groups and individualson the broad left as a result of the formationof UDF and CAL. We were allat that time members of organisationswhich were tending to align themselveswith UDF. The agencies whichwere approached for the workshop were those with UDF leanings, or who at leastwere not antagonistic to the UDF position. During this phase of the PRgroup's work the tensions which Perlinan (see Chapter Four) identifiedbetween participatory democracy andaction, and between theory and practice,were experienced. The distribution of responsibility for the organisation ofthe workshop was unequal. I found myself coordinating thearrangements. Possible reasons for thiswere: that the national launching of the UDFwas being coordinated from Zakhe offices; one of the members, which we didnot realise at the time, had becomea member of CAL andwas therefore winding down his involvementin the group; and I was the only member of thegroup working full-time on the PR project, which included theworkshop. I was very conscious during this phase of strict accountabilityto the PR group. I was particularly sensitive ofmy role as white academic at this time because it had been the role of the white student organisation, NUSAS,which had been a key issue in the riftswhich had developed in the DBAC.On the day of the workshop everyone in the PR group and all the Zakhemembers were involved in the running of theprogramme for fifty-three representatives from fifteen agencies. At the workshop a decisionwas taken to record the proceedings of the day. Volunteers were invited to join the PR group. Three additionalpeople joined, one former member whohad become a member of CALleft, and this marked the third phase in the lifeof the PR group. The most important development during this phase of thegroup from the perspective of the research project,was the growing awareness of the political Zakhe 167

had been diversity which existed amongst themembers of the group. There commitment to par- a naive tendencywithin the group to assume that a ticipatory democratic practices withinorganisaitons was a sufficiently strong common bond to unite the group.Thus members tended to believeincorrectly, Five, that certain as did the communityeducators discussed in Chapter organisational forms `belonged' toprogressive political groupings. The PR group in its third phase consistedof two tendencies, thosewho emphasised the importance of participatorydemocracy because of the 'personal freedom' it guaranteed formembers of organisations, andothers who tended to stress the collectivistimperative imbedded withinparticipatory democracy. The latter group emphasisedthe importance of bothinternal accountability and external accountability tothe progressive political movements. The members of the PR groupwho were more concernedwith collectivism than individualism, stayedtogether as a group until early1985. The other members in time withdrew.

IN SUMMARY The PR process has highiighted keytensions which will be explored more thoroughly through the cases and in thediscussion in Part Six. They arethe tensions between; participatory democracyand action; theory and practice; collectivism and individualism; and internaland external accountability. Similar tensions were also identified in thediscussions in Part Three of Illich, Freire and Gramsci's work.

THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN MACROAND MICRO CONTEXTS In order to explore the relationshipbetween the macro and micro contexts, the history of the Zakhe will be given, themembers will be described, and the changing goals, structures and strategiesfrom Zakhe's inception will be analysed. In analysing the changing goals,structures and strategies, I anticipate that the ongoing developmentsconcerning the theory and pracuee of democracy in the organisatiors will also beidentified. Origins Zakhe is a small, private community resourceand servir..... agency which operates from its offices in HanoverPark, a sub-economic colouredtownship. It was initiated in June 1978 by four localcommunity work agencies, the Churches Urban Planning Committee (CUPC),Caminploy, the Cape Flats 168 Part V: Case Studies

Committee for Interim Accommodation (CFCIA)7 and theFoundation for Social Development (FSD)after a general meeting calledto discuss unemployment and possible responses to it. The aim was to establishan organisation to promote the development of self-help productiongroups through the provision of education and other services. Variousmotivations and interests are discernible amongst the group of people who formedthe first Executive Committee. All the committee memberswere involved in forms of community work and were employed by community work agencies. Threeof the four agencies were sponsored by the Church and worked under theWestern Province Council of Churches (WPCC),which is affiliated to the South of Churches (SACC). African Council The fourth agency, FSD,was sponsored by the Chairman's Fund of Anglo- American Corporation (AAC).The interests of, the members in self-help production groups possiblycan be traced to the involvement of three membersin the 31ack Consciousness (BCM), to the Movement concern of the SACC in unemployment,and to involvement by local community workers in the squatterstruggles. The formation of Zakhe occurred about 9 months aftermost of the BCM projects had been banned in October 1977. The BCM,at the Black People's Convention (BPC) launchedin 1972, had committeditself to the establishment and promotion of black business ona cooperative basis. This included the establishment of banks, cooperativebuying and selling and the flotation of certain companies. All of these were to bedesigned as agencies for self-reliance for black people.8 In addition, as part of theBlack Com- munity Programmes (BCP),self-help schemeswere launched to promote 'means of economic existence' by the establishment ofhome industries. The aim of the homeindustries was stated as:9

not only to provide gainfulemployment to destitute people, pcopI but also to train mastering certain basic productionskills and also management It is also hoped that skills. through this form of livingexample many people will be encouraged to exploit theirnatural resources where hard to come by. opportunities for workare

The BC members ofthe Committee apparently Zakhe as an opportunity saw the establishment of to continue unects of thework of the BCM.1 0 The SACC at that time began to focus their attentionon the escalating numbers of unemployed. They attempted toformulate a response to the question of unemployment."In Cape Town, Caminploy under WPCC auspices was established as an employmentagency to focus particularly providing a service on to the unskilled andsemi-skilled workers. However, Zakhe 169 in because of the scarcity of employment,in addition to placing workseekers employment, it aimed to try and creatework by encouraging clientswho came to the office to formself-help production groups.Caminploy members, this process. therefore saw the establishment ofZakhe as a means of assisting working in At FSD at that time, several ofthe community workers were this invol- the squatter communities of Unibeland Werksgenot.12 As part of which vement they were encouragingthe establishment of production groups was could provide an opportunity forthe learning of skills. A crafts centre Out of this established at Unibel from wherevolunteer skills trainers worked. of work ideas developed for a'materials depot' which could service a range self-help production groups. Theidea also grew for using self-helpproduction groups as an 'entry point'for educational work whichincluded skills training raising.13 and political consciousness of At that time, there was a convergenceof interests in the promotion self-help production groups. They were seen as: ameans for the development survive of skills and self-confidence amongstblacks; a means for people to economically; a means of raising the levelsof critical, political consciousness amongst participants; or acombination of all three. All the membersof Zakhe work who came out of either the BCM,the radical Christian, or community traditions, were acutely aware of theneed to develop black leadershipskills. done. As can There were different opinions,though, on how this should be be anticipated, all three traditionsinfluenced theory and practicewithin Zakhe. Tensions between those whoespoused the BC positicn and thosewho supported non-racialism ran through theorganisation for the first four years. (This point will be taken up againlater.) From the outset there was a strong push to make it a 'black organisation'(Minutes 516/78).

Membei-ship The initial committee of volunteerscomprised seven community workers.Of these one was a white, minister ofreligion who was director of two of the participating agencies, and who had been veryinvolved in the radical Chris- tian movement of the late 1960s. Hehad played an important role instimulat- ing the growth of community workin Cape Town. The others weremuch younger, in their twenties. Two werecoloured, (one of whom was a co-director of FSD); three wereAfrican community workers; and one,who became the first coordinator of Zakhe, was awhite woman. AII the members, except the first temporary coordinator, hadbeen influenced by the BCM. In 1978 and 1979 they were all involved incommunity work in one form or another. 170 Part V: Case Studies

In the first eighteen months of itsexistence, Zakhe employed part-time people who were preparedto work for very low salaries because ofvery limited funding. During 1979two white women, who were in a positionto work for little pay, were employedto assist the coordinator on a part-time, short term basis. In the initialstages the contradiction between the goal of training blacks within a 'black organisation'and the harsh reality of only being able to appoint whites who wouldwork for very little pay addedto the tension between certain black and white staff.15 It was only in 1980 that longerterm financing was secured which enabled Zakhe to employ a full timesecretaryThookeeper and a fieldworker. The fieldworker, Bil1,16 who isa coloured male, is still employed in Zakhe. Heis a trained artisan who comes froma working class home. He had beenvery involved in the Moravian Church youth activities and was influenced bythe BCM during the early 1970s. He had attended Christian leadershipcourses run by the Moravian and Methodistchurches during this time. In 1979 he had chaired the Fattis and MonisBoycott Committee. During 1980a white male student, Dave, from the Universityof Cape Town (ucT) also joinedthe staff in a part- time voluntary capacity. He worked for Zakhe until early in1984. He described himself as `a radicalised hippie' who was influenced inthe 1970s by the New Left in the USA. He was involved in ecologicalissues through student organisations, whichwere concerned with rural development and intermediate technology. The white Zakhe staffat this time all came from middleto upper middle class homes. All had university education and were influenced by theNew Left in the USA and Western Europe. The dominant ethos withinthe organisation reflected the radical humanism of the New Left, whichwas described in Part Two, and which tended to emphasise the importance of 'thepeople' as 'actors in the world'. During 1981, Zakhe ran a course for 'Co-op Initiators'. Threeparticipants from this course joined the staff in 1982. 'No were Africanwomen, Nomhle and Sindi, am onewas a coloured male, Alan. At thesame time a coloured woman, Jeanette, was employed inan administrative capacity. While all had completed high school, theycame from working class homes. Alan had been involved in the Methodist Church youth, inChristian leadership courses, and in theBCM, during the mid-1970s.When he joined Zakhe, he was a member of one of the new civic associations, and theWilson Rowntrees Boycott Committee. Nomhle and Sindi had both gainedex- perience in the independent trade union movement in the late1970s, and in the two, new women's organisations, UWO and Women'sFront. Jeanette had been at school during the 1980School Boycott. She hadno experience of 171 Zalche

Jeanette, were cornmunit; or trade union work. By1982 all the staff, except organisations, which was part of the emergirwmovement of community discussed in hi:: "rout dif- Zakhe was composed of peoplefrom different class backgrounds, ferent educational levels, different raceclassification, and differentgender. majority The staff were on the whole youngerthan the Executive with the being in their twenties. Themajority of staff and executivecommittee members were actively involved inother community or churchorganisations. competing and Zakhe therefore contained withinit, a range of sometimes The internal conflicting historical, political, socialand ideological influences. the organisational practices were inevitablyaffected by, amongst other things, organisa- bioigaphies, and the ongoing involvementsof members in outside tions. Examples of the externalinfluences on the internalpractices within Zakhe will be given in the next section. Goals, strategies and structures and In order to continue to investigatethe linkages between Zakhe's macro micro contexts, this section willfocus on the changes in goals,strategies and structures during theorganisation's history. The competingdemocratic theories operative at different timeswill be highlighted. Zakhe was initially established as aservice agency for self-helpproduc- the tion groups. It was envisagedthat a small core staff would encourage development of basic skills within groups,for example bookkeeping,wood- work and sewing. It would establishand maintain a depot formaterials for groups, and wouldprovide an outlet for the saleof the groups' products. Training of group members in skillsboth for production andadministration have different was seen as an importantfunction. Different members tended to priorities. As mentioned above, theBC members stressed theimportance of the establishment of a 'blackpeople's shop', and the coordinatorstressed the educational objectives which includedthe teaching of skills and theraising deep of political consciousness. Thedifferent priorities were related to political differences, which resultedin a power struggle developingbetween clearly the BC members and thecoordinator. The power struggle is most illustrated in the changes made to theorganisational structure in early 1980. Initially with the establishment of Zakhe, anexecutive committee was set agencies. The executive up comprisingrepresentatives of the four initiating committee was the policy-making body.The first full-time worker ofthe organisation was also a full member ofthe committm. As other staffmembers were employed, theyalso joined the committee,although this was only 172 Part V: Case Studies

officially adopted as policy at the end of 1979. On the executivecommittee there were tensions between the BC members and thecoordinator. One illustration of this is recorded in the minutes of 4/12179 wherethere was a heated exchange concerningthe visit of anoverseas funder to Zakhe. A black member of the executive wanted to know why he had not beentold of the visit. He made the pointthat certain whitesare known to monopolise the funders; the funders themselves att 'often racist'and happy to deal with whites. The executive asked to be informed in thefuture of any visits by funders. The coordinator, Merle,recalled in an interview(24/8/82) that during 1979 there was an ongoing 'wrangle' amongst certainmembers around the establishment of a black people's shop. Merle believed thatthe shop should emerge as a cooperative venture with productiongroups; it should not be developed by the agency for the groups. She stressedthe essential learning processes for potential participantsin such a venture. The BC line with BCM policy, members, in were emphasising the establishmentof a shop as a first priority. They were not concerned with theprocess, but the end result, which would be a shoprun for and by black people. This tension between theBC members and herself ledMerle to attempt to shift power from the BC members by proposinga changed membership structure for Zakhe. This was accepted at the second AGM.(Feb. 1980.) The !` new structure allowed forrepresentation on the controlling mittee by 'cooperative Executive Com- self-help groups'. Therepresentatives were to be elected at the AGM. Staffwere automatically on the committee, their nominees and they and were to be in the majority. At theAGM the Executive gained three new members: two ministers of religion,one from the African areas and another from the ruralareas, and a coloured community Minutes 25/2/80). worker (AGM The new structureeffectively concentrated the Zakhe staff. The more power in the hands of power of the BC memberswas broken, and while constitutionally Zakhenow had a representative structure, in practice thenew structure proved to be unworkable.One of the reasons for this were very few 'cooperative was that there self-help groups' in CapcTown who were able to participate in thestructure. The result of the power. new structure was greater staff With the structural changeswithin Zakhe, there also (Minutes of Executive was a shift in policy. Committee Workshop 25/3/80.)In early 1980 Zakhe's policy was re-orientatedto the establishment and rather than 'self-help promotion of 'cooperatives' groups'. This meant thatthe organisation became concerned more explicitly with cooperativeorganisational process, which Zakhe 173

equal meant the promotion of cooperativeprinciples such as: the principles of with the produc- pay, equal participationand say in decisica-making, concern tion of socially useful products, and acommitment to the collective development both of the members of theindividual cooperatives, and abroader cooperative movement. They wereconcerned witii the process of collective work, which imcluded the individualand collective development of the group. Rather than encouraging the developmentof private business entrepreneurs in self-help groups, which they saw as supportfor individualistic and com- petitive values, they wanted to encouragethe principles of 'self-help and communal good' amongst members of thecooperatives. The organisation therefore shifted its emphasis from anemphasis on offering material help to any self-help production group,to one which offered help to groupswho wanted to operate according to cooperativeprinciples, as defined above. The shift in policy orientation isrelated to the shift in power within the organisation from BC executive Members tothe coordinator and new staff. It also is a reflection of the work experiencesof staff. Through both the practical work with self-help groups, and deepertheoretical understanding of the structural causes of unemployment,staff came to be more cridcal oftheir workthey believed that their role was not tohelp a few people to survive economically, but to promote politicalconsciousness by raising critical questions with the cooperative groupsconcerning the capitalist relations of production. This change in policy is reflectedin the Second Evaluation Report March 1981 and in the co-op initiators' coursewhich they ran in 1981. Through the promotion of collectivistprinciples, they hoped to encourage people in the groups to begin to build avision of an alternative society which was based on greaterequality, and collectivist rather thanindividualistic values. During 1980 the limitations of their workwith co-operatives also began to be questioned, once theyhad acquired more practical experience.One example of the difficulties they and alocal wood-workers co-op were experiencing was described in the March 1981Half-Yearly Report. Zakhe staff were finding that all theirenergies were going to help the group justsurvive. There was little time or opportunity forpolitical educational work. The staff had helped the group organise theirwork: through structuring their time, developing administrative systems, teachingskills such as bookkeeping, meeting procedures, marketing andfundraising strategies. They had also helped with equipment, transport, andinterpersonal problems. The co-op had many insurmountableproblems which constantly threatened theireconomic survival. For example, the co-op had noworking capital, it was unable to provide customers with hire-purchasefacilities, and the members lacked 174 Part V: Case Studies

certain crucial skills e.g. driving.The co-op also found that therewas a scarcity of suitable people to jointheir cooperative group. They foundthat it was difficult to integrate people who hadnot shared in the growth process of the group. Zakhe staff found thatmembers of the group easily slipped into traditional roles, where theywere workers working for a wage, not willingor able to take joint responsibility forthe cooperative. Zakhe staffspent most of their time trying to cope with thepractical problems of thegroup. There was little time to spend on the educationof members in 'collectivist principles'. It was during 1980 that theschool and consumer boycotts dominated community and worker activity inCape Town. Bill had chaired the Fattisand Monis Boycott Committee in1979, and was active in othercommunity campaigns in 1980. In June 1980many protesting school students had left school to seek work. Zakhe staffat this time began to explore the possibilities of working with politicisedpeople, including students. Theybegan to place growing emphasis onconsumer cooperatives, whichwere not as complex as producer cooperatives, and whichthey hoped could functionas part of the emergins network of communityorganisations. Zakhe staff stated ina publication:1'

All over South Africa peopleare forming strong organisations to fight for their rights. Workers form trade unionsto fight for higher wages and better working conditions. Communities form civicassociations to fight for better houses and services. Consumer co-ops are a way in which communities can organiseto fight against the rising cost of living.

Zakhe's policy was becomingincreasingly orientated to workwith more politicised groups. The staffwere beginning to see co-ops asa part of the emergent radical grouping of organisations.There was a close link between Zakhe's policy formulation and the external developmentsamongst worker and community organisations. During 1980 Zakhe was wanting to employ additional staff,but was unable to locate suitably trained people(Stcff Minutes10/11/80). This led to another rthange in strategy. Theydecided to concentrateon the development and implementation of their own training programme for 'co-opinitiators', rather than the servicing of individual cooperatives. The aim was bothto train and identify potential staff for Zakhe, and to train people whocould promote cooperatives from within thenew civic, youth or women's organisations.The course was run over eighteen weekly sessions, during 1981, for whichaset of training booklets, 'Cooperative Education Materials',was produced. The course materials illustrate Zakhe staff'smore explicitly anti-capitalist, collectivist orientation at this stage. They were encouragingco-op initiators to 175 Zakhe

For example, develop a theoretical critique ofthe capitalist economic system. they say: in one booklet 'Training Coursefor Co-op Initiators' (p. 3) society. We In this session we will look at thecapitalist economic system in our for profit causes manyproblems such as will see that the capitalists' search later to sce how unemployment, inflation, health problems,etc. This will help us the role co-ops can playin co-ops are differentfrom capitalist businesses, and solving the problems in our society. Executive In March 1981 (Minutes16/3/81) differences between some The members and staff over Zakhe's structurewere beginning to reemerge. goals for conflict over the structures illustrated adivergence of opinion on the Zakhe should the organisation. Two of theexecutive members believed that that the repre- continue to service and promoteindividual cooperatives, and should become sentative, democratic structure,agreed to at the 1980 AGM operative. While this proposal wasagreed to at an executivemeeting drew up a (19/6/81), it was never implemented.The staff in the meantime, structure.' In it document 'Towards a considerationof Zakhe's constitutional they argued that Zakhe was not amembers organisation andshould therefore 14/8/81). The staff rcassess its structure inthe light of this reality (Minutes of a federation were arguing for Zakhe'slong term goal to be the development membership structure. of co-ops. The federation wouldhave a representative Co-operative principles which the staff werepromoting in the training coarse, another, included the idea of co-ops workingtogether in solidarity with one believe and with other 'democratic communityorganisations'. They did not The that a membership structure could orshould be imposed on the co-ops. if it was structure, they believed, wouldonly be able to function properly decided on and implemented by the co-opstheniselves. At about this time, the majorfundert8 of Zakhe had requested an for a evaluation of the organisation. An externalevaluator, who was working staff-controlled community resource andservice agency in Johannesburg, presented a report in October 1981. Init he recommended that: 'Zakheshould have a cooperative structure, which meansthe responsibility for management have a should be shared by all its members....'He went on: Zakhe should staff-controlled structure in which staffhave equal voting rights andequal salaries.' Staff and the funders accepted the reportbut there were no records of available of a decision by the ExecutiveCommittee. The first record was take place because an executive meetingscheduled for 11/2/82, which did not of a lack of a quorum. Staff, however, weregoing ahead with the drawing up The next of constitutional amendments inline with the recommendations. 176 Part V: Case Studies

record of an executive meetingwas on 26/4/82. Two of the members were unhappy with the proposed structure. Theybelieved that Zakhe had a responsibility to co-ops and that staff shouldbe accountable to some external committee. Staff at this stage wantcdto operate in accordance with the cooperative principles they were teachingto others, which meant a staff-controlled structure. 'INvo competing theories of democracywere operational at this point. Staff were promoting a participatory democratic structurewhile certain executive members were emphasising the importanceof a representative democratic structure. Even with the opposition fromsome of the executive, staff members went ahead with the adaption of the constitutionin accordance with the evaluator's recommendations. They felt theycould do this, as the funders had accepted the idea of a staff-controlled,cooperative structure. Withoet the funders support the executive committeehad little power. In time thecom- mittee became moribund. During the course of 1981 Zakhesaw the need for the promotion of cooperatives as having to contributeto the general process of community organisation in communities. In its evaluationreport of September 1981 it is stated:

As we now see it, the overall goal of Zakhe'swork is to help establish a strong, united, democratic cooperativemovement, which will work alongside other progressive movements such as trade unionsand civics. They saw a big difference betweena cooperative movement and groups of isolated cooperative projects. Amovement implied commitment to the growth and development o. otherco-ops. They also believed that members' commitment to thc basic pi 'nciples ofco-ops would have a spill-over effect into the community as a wh ic. They feltthat, 'Since the basic co-op principleis that economic life shot& be organiseddemocratically, a co-op movement would naturally work with movements fighting for democracy in otherareas.' (Evaluation Report 1981p. 2.) The use of the term 'democracy'by Zakhe staff also demonstrates the influence of the external context on its practice. 'Democracy' was referredto explicitly in Zakhc documents for thefirst time in early 1981. Thiswas at the time that 'democracy' was being promoted very actively through,for example, the community newsletterGrassroots. As the year progressed, in Zakhe 'democratic' and 'cooperative'principles seemed to become increasingly synonymous. Thus theyinterpreted 'democracy' tomean participatory democracy. Inthe new proposedconsititution drawn up after the 1981evalua- I '."1 Zakhe 177 lion and during 1982, emphasis wasgiven to democratic andcooperative forms of organisation. It stated theaim of Zakhe to be: principles of cooperatives andcooperative and To promote awareness of prin- democratic forms of organisation; Tofollow cooperative and democratic of co-ops ciples in the organisation of Zakhe;To promote the development through the provision of resources andassistance; To undertake research as may which can be necessary; To promote theformation of a Federation of Co-ops aimed at the take over Zakhe's function; Toparticipate in and support activities promotion of cooperatives and democraticprinciples in society. Zakhe had moved within four yearsfrom aiming to help organise unemployed people in income-generatingself-help groups, to an organisation principles on which was aiming to promotecooperative and democratic organisa- various levels of society, by workingtogether with other democratic number of tions and groups. These changes appearto have occurred for a gained mutually reinforcing reasons. Theseinclude the practical experiences capitalist system by the staff, their increasedtheoretical understanding of the within which they were operating,the developments within thebroader community, and their changing views onstrategies for social change. During the course of Zakhe's workin 1982 and 1983 priority wasgiven increasingly to servicing and supportingcommunity organisations such as civics, women's organisations, andyouth organisations, rather than cooperatives, in order to achieve itsbroad objectives. Support forthe nascent democratic movement, rather than aspecific cooperative movementbecame co-ops' in the priority. To this end, Zakheestablished a number of 'service consultation with community andworker organisations. Theyincluded provision of transport, loans, printingfacilities, and the bulk purchasing of paper to community andworker organisations(Minutes Book1982). A final change to Zakhe's structurewhich will be mentioned andwhich illustrates another development in theirunderstanding of `democratic' structure was accepted by thestaff in the amended constitution ofOctober 1982 and implemented in mid-1983. This wasthe reintroduction of a representative structure, in addition to theparticipatory democratic staff structure.They established a `consultation committee',comprising representatives from cer- invited tain invited community organisations.The organisations which were were those with whichstaff had close contact, such asUWO and CAHAC. They were also the organisationswhich supported a non-racial, asopposed than executive to a BC political position.This committee has advisory rather functions. Although in the case of'irresolvable conflict' amongst staff, orthe fmal dissolution of the organisation,the consultation committee hasexecutive 178 Part V: Case Studies

authority. This is the presentgructure of Zakhe. The motivation for this change was explained by Billas follows:19

The consultation group issuecame out of the vacuum between the Executive and the staff. I felt it wasn't healthy for staffto have that power. We're sitting with resources which we're using to develop organisations and theyare not having a saythis was the reason. Alsowe know that agencies can be wiped out by the system. What happens to equipment and otherassets in that case? We needed an external committee.

Bill, in the above quote, explainsthe structural change in termsa particular view of 'good' practice. He believesthat staff should be accountableto the organisations they serve througha representative structure. This is a change from the staff's argument fora 'cooperative structure' in 1980. Onereason for the change relates to thepressure (as described in Note 5 of the footnotes) on organisations like Zakhe to be accountableto a broader grouping of progressive organisations. In addition,he argues that the possibility ofrepres- sive State action, demandsan external structure of representatives from sympathetic organisations which couldredistribute any organisationalassets if necessary. Therefore thecombination of a participatory anda representative structure has been adopted. Summary In this section the linkages betweenthe internal organisational practicesof. Zakhe and the external context have been demonstrated througha discussion of the history of Zakhe,a description of its membership, anda discussion of the changing goals, strategiesand structures. While theexact relationship between the nature of the membershipand the changing goals, structures and strategies has not been rigorouslypursued, adequate evidence of the importance of the influence of themacro context on the micro practices has been given. In addition conflicting interests within thc organisationwere illustrated, and these were seen also to be reflected in different,competing theories of democracy whichwere operative at particular times during Zakhe's history and which reflecteddiffering views on strategies for social change. This point will be elaboratedlater. 179 Zakhe

INTERNAL PROCESSESSHARING RESPONSIBILITY analysis that were developedfrom the literature for the The theoretical 'tools' of four integratedinternal of self-education withinthe case studies, consists reflection, theoreticalknowledge and participatory processes: action, essential for the democracy. It was arguedthat all four processes were for the concomitant development of leadership involuntary associations, and 'empowering' of members. is to describe the internalmicro organisational In this section the aim The Zakhe according to thecategories described earlier. processes within As I have argued in analytical 'tools' will be used toprobe the data further. from the macro context the previous section, theseparation of micro processes however it is being donehere for analytical con- is in practice impossible, highlight the venience. The discussion onaccountability will inevitably linkage between the microand macro contexts once more. The categories, which weredescribed earlier, are: Participation by Members inPlanning and Evaluation. Job Rotation, Job Sharing of Skills andInformation. This includes Specialisation, Coordination,Nonformal Education. relationships with Accountability, internal andexternal (this includes other organisations). has helped or hindered Barriers to the Sharingof Responsibility. What the process? Each of these categorieswill be discussed separately. Participation in planningand evaluation highlights the problems An investigation of planningand evaluation in Zakhe theory and practice, that the staff have had inmaintaining a balance between reflection. At times actionhas proceeded with little and between action and The more incollective planning beforehand,and evaluation afterwards. political action, the less able volved staff have becomewith more explicitly democratic decision- making they have been tomaintain the participatory the espoused collec- practices within thc organisation.The tension between has also been high- tivist values and the, attimes, individualistic actions, lighted. Examples will be given toillustrate these problems.

0 180 Part V: Case Studies

From the establishment ofZakhe, staff have participatedon the Executive Committee, where, in theory at least, policy was decided. Withinthe daily functioning of the organisation, a non-hierarchical structure existed.Ongoing planning theoretically has occurred in weekly staff meetings.However, for the first year (1979) there was only one full-time employee,with others on a pan-time or short term basis. Therefore the coordinator caniedprimary responsibility for developingplans and bringing themto the Executive Committee for decisions. By1982 the constitution had staff in committee became been amended so that the highest decision-makingbody. Planning occurred at fortnightly work planning meetings of all thestaff and at weekly staff meetings. Responsibility for the chairing of thesemeetings rotated systematically to all members. On another level planning and evaluation have beenclosely related to half-yearly reports which have been required by themajor funders. Detailed reports were compiled by thecoordinator in consultation with 1980 there had been staff. Since an attempt to share the responsibilityfor the report writing. Most often it has been written by a couple ofthe most active members after discussions and some written contributions fromother members. In Zakhe's reports and minutesthe importance of evaluation ly been stressed. (e.g. has frequent- Minutes Dec. '78; Dec. '79;Nov. '80, Dec. '82, Jan. '84) An example of the importance given to evaluation,was the appointment in 1980 of a part-time voluntary worker, Dave,to be the evaluator/researcher in the organisation. Hedrew up two evaluation basis for future planning. reports which provided the However, this positionwas difficult to maintain, Dave soon found himself as drawn into other activitiesin the organisation. In October 1981 the funderrequested an external evaluater work. The evaluator to assess Zakhe's spent three weeks with thestaff and his assessment laid the basis for their futureplanning. During 1982 as part ofthe in-service training, members of organisations trainees interviewed to assess their opinions ofco-ops, and possibilities for Zakhe's role. Thismethod of assessmentto gauge the responses of 'important others' to proposed plans, has now been usedseveral times by Zakhe (January, 1983; February, 1984; September,1984). In addition, two week evaluation sessions one to have been held periodicallyby staff to assess the previous year's activities and to plan for thenext year. The planning and evaluation however has oftennot re fiected actual practice. been a wide gulf between At times there has what was planned andwhat was done. A graphic example of this lack of congruence between theory andpractice was revealed during participant observation in Zakhe in thesecond half of 1982.

4 Zakhe 181

Weekly and fortnightly planning sessions wereheld by the staff with regularity. The plans most often described activities topromote different forms of cooperative activity. Many times these planswould not materialise. It was at this stage that the staff were mostconcerned to link cooperative activity into other community organisationalactivity. The new staff, Sindi, Nomhle and Alan, had been appointed partially becauseof their membership and involvement with other community organisations.Part of their job was to explore the possibilities for theestablishment of co-ops through the emergent women's or civic organisations.They spent much of their time responding directly to requests from organisations,thus practising a reactive strategy. Their main aim seemed to be towin credibility for Zakhe by being available and offering relevant services to assist theseorganisations. Thus, at this stage plansto encourage the development of co-ops weremade, but in fact most time was spent on community organising. The lack of consistency between what was plannedand what was done was of concern to certainstaff.20 The funders were being told of proposed co-op activity and staff were seldomengaged in such activity. It seemed that they did not know how to resolve the lack of congruencebetween their theory and their practice. They were mom stronglycommitted to the political action of the moment than to building co-ops. As discussedpreviously, co-ops had become a means to political educational activityrather than as ends in themselves. In the January 1984 staff evaluation theyfinally resolved to abandon 'talking about' co-ops as their focus and to concentrateboth their theory and practice on the f.cilitation of 'collectiveaction' through the provision of services. It was at this time that Dave resignedfrom the organisation. Dave stated that he felt that he no longer had acontribution to make as he was not actively involved with other communityorganisations. He was critical of Zakhe's reactive approach. He in his part-timecapacity had been most involved in policy formulation in Zakhesince 1980 through the writing of key policy reports. The involvement of staff in community campaignsand in other organisations, at times severely inhibited the possibilities forcollective decision- making, and the maintenance of a balance between action andreflection. One example is when in January 1983, Sindi, with the agreementof her colleagues, and as a member of UWO, became very involvedin the KTC squatter 21 struggle.She was effectively out of the office for four months.During this time it was impossible for her to consult other staff andvice versa on important decisions. The authority for decision-making lay withthe ad hoc organising committee. Zakhe staff had given Sindi a mandate towork with the committee as she saw tit. During this period, andduring other political campaigns, which 182 Part V: Case Studies

all the staff except Jeanette were periodicallyengaged in, participatory democratic practice amongst the staffwas not feasible. Decision-making was done by the individual staff members with thespecific ad hoc committee formed for the purpose. During 1982 and 1983 staffwere frequently involved in various campaigns. Therefore in the evaluation by staff inJanuary 1984, they described the previous year as 'chaotic' from Zakhe'spoint of view. Planning had occurred often in an ad hoc way, with Billbeing most actively involved in exploring possibilities for new projects withmembers of other community organisations. While all staff acknowledgedthe importance of planning and evaluation,22 theyfound that the reactive nature of much of their workmade consistent planning and evaluationvery difficult. In January 1984, two weekswere set aside for an in-depth evaluation.23, An agenda was drawn up by all the staff, andareas allocated for each member to research beforehand. The agenda included backgroundperspectives on organisations in the Western Cape, projects,interpersonal relationships, administration and management. During this timestaff discussed several of the tensions within their work. The staff highlightedtensions they experienced with the interpretation of democraticpractice they questioned the tension between individualism and collectivism, andthe issue of authority. The unresolved tension in Zakhe betweencollectivism and individualism is best captured in the following dialoguewhich occurred during the evaluation, and which is concerned withparticipation of the members in the evaluation itself:

SW: It seems from the evaluation thatgroup dependency is a potential problem. Bill: Contributions can be mechanical. Group dependencyis equally bad or worse than individual dependence. It canstop growth and initiative. You get to a point whenas an individual you don't want to take a line. Alan: ... it's definitely a danger. Later on the discussion continued:

Jeanette:A lot has been said about mechanicalparticipation and response, but what other way is there togo about things if everyone is to get a turn? SW: This is an important question. Bill: There's no initiative taken. Wemust have a meeting first. We mustn't let democracy choke ourselves. Wemustn't focus too much on the education side while the outside world'sgoing on.

t, Zakhe 183

Jeanette:Also if you don't bring things to meetingsthere's uneasiness. but we must also do things. Bill: We need meetings, we must bring things, The norm within the Zakhe staffmeetings, which was also reflectedin the evaluation sessions, has been ageneral reticence on the part ofindividuals to take the lead, to asserttheir opinion. While participationby everyone was lack of far higher in the 1984 than thc 1983evaluation sessions, there was a initiative by individuals, and a dependence onthe group as a whole. This group dependency is also related to the questionof the allocation of authority. clearer Two of the staff during the evaluationargued strongly for a much allocation of responsibility amongst thestaff. In the previous two yearstasks and responsibilities tended to beallocated at thc weekly orfortnightly planning meetings. Individuals did nothave a clearly demarcated areaof work. In practice it worked out thatcertain people consistently were responsible for particular tasks, such asthe bulk purchasing of paper,but in the planning no overall authority was given toindividuals. There seemed to be a concern to avoid specialisationin the organisation. After theevaluation in 1984 tasks were allocated more specifically. In an interview with Sindi in October1984, she expressed relief at the greater clarity both in terms ofcongruity between theory and practice,and in terms of the allocation ofresponsibility: The clarity between our goals and funders'goats is better. (sic) We said to funders work we would not work with co-ops.This has affected my work in that I can more freely. In 1982 and1983 I was unsure'Is this supposed to be part of Zakhc's work? Am I supposed to beestablishing co-ops?' This year I wasgiven responsibility for the Signature Campaign,Township News and work broadly in community organisations.... I am able now toplan ahead. This doesn't mean you'll carry it through though, because thedecision lies with the project committee.... The question of authority in Zakhe relates tothc authority of individuals, the collective authority of the group,and the authority of outside committees. In the quote by Sindi, she refers to theauthority which she hit.s, and the authority of the 'project committee'.Several projects, such as the Township News referred to by Sindi, arc jointprojects Zakhe is engaged in withother organisations and individuals. As Sindi points outdecision-making authority lies with the committee. This inevitablydetracts from the authority of the Zakhc collective, and as with staff'sinvolvement with ad hoc campaign committees, raises questions about the degreeof pamc:patory democracy possible within Zakhe. 184 Part V: Case Studies

The discussion on planning andevaluation within Zakoe revealsa high degree of ambiguity in theirpractice. On one hand there isa concern for collective decision-making withinthe organisation, which has resultedin a degree of group dependencyin the meetings and limited delegationof authority to individuals. On theother, the reactive, specifically political action, has resulted in individualsacting in concert with outsidegroups, with little collective internal decision-making. Consistent and regularplanning and evaluation has not occurred althoughthe staff have all acknowledgedthe importance of 'action and reflection'to be a part of their ongoing practice. Sharing of skills andinformation The common concern of all thepeople involved in the establishmentof Zakhe was the development of skillsamongst black people. Thisconcern carried through to the development of staff skills, particularly after thefairly early realisation that there were very few appropriately trained blackswho could be employed by Zakhe. In 1982the organisation's commitmentto 'the sharing of skills and information among the members' was written into itsconstitu- tion. There were certain structural arrangements whichwere developed to help achieve this end. These included the co-operative,staff-controlled decision-making structure, andthe rotation of functions in theorganisation. In order to investigate the sharing of skills and informationin in Zakhe the following aspects will provide the focus: Job Rotation,Job Specialisation, Nonformal Education, andCoordination. JOB ROTATION The development of skillsto assist self-help productiongroups, was initially one of Zakhe's primary goals. However, there was a fairlyearly acknowledgement of the lack of adequately trained people withinthe organisation and outside it who could help achieve its goals, hencethe organisation's decision to train its own staff. In an internal evaluationreport (September, 1981) two types of skillswere seen as necessai:v for Zakhe staff: 1.Skills to maintain theorganisational infra-structure. 2.Knowledge and theoretical understanding of the broadercontext, of the role of co-ops and the roleof Zakhe in the wider socicty. Different strategies have been employed at differenttimes to attempt to develop these skills. An attempt to develop administration skills occurredthrough rotation of certain tasks, like typing, bookkeeping, correspondenceand report writing. 185 Zakhe

correspondence was For example, in 1982 a systemdeveloped whereby bookkeeping rotated amongst staff members everymonth, and accounts and of these tasks has rotated amongst staff every twomonths. The sharing out in some instances such astyping and the continued to be done, although Chairing of preparation of the fmancial statement,specialisation has occured. meetings and minute takinghad continued to berotated systematically Jeanette, she ex- amongst all staff. During aninterview (Sept. 1982) with pressed the view: much more confident That by being fomed to take a turnat chairing, I'm now along, and when to in meetings. I know more now asto when to move things give people a chance to s the lack of skills The sharing of certain taskshas been inhibited by driving skills amongst the amongst some members.For example a lack of that male staff were oblig61 to carrya particular female staff members, meant that the lack of workload. The male staffresented this, but acknowledged 'it reflected the these skills was a political issue; asAlan (Sept. 1982) put it, it should be chal- oppression of black women'.They therefore decided that A vehicle was made lenged. It was decided that allstaff should learn to drive. Sindi and Jeanette available and staff were encouragedto take driving lessons. like language skills obtained their driving licenceswithin a year. Other skills, learn. Therefore particulartasks which required a were more difficult to continuedv be done higher proficiency of English,Xhosa or Afrikaans have of' the report writing by those with the most skill.For example, the sharing English speakers which for funders has been limited tothe more proficient has meant that the Xhosaspeakers have been lessinvolved. tasks and the commitmentof staff to the The rotation of administrative all the development of skills has facilitatedthe acquisition of skills amongst and report writ- staff such as printing, lay-out,typing, driving, bookkeeping Bill ing. However in some areas somestaff expressed dissatisfaction continued inability to expressed frustration at whathe perceived to be staff's plan. He said in an interview(Oct. 1984): find that if They have gained the theory, butthey can't put it into practice. I still to the I don't raise certain things theyjust won't get done. Like this latest report funders and assessing Zakhe's future.... problem in all the He went on to say that he hasfound the lack of planning a organisations.24 Sindi disagreed with Bill. She progressive community of believed that she had learnt toplan and project ahead in her own areas 186 Part V: Case Studies

work. She felt that the positions of responsibility thatshe has held in corn- munity organisations suchas UWO had forced her to takea lead in planning and initiating.25 JOB SPECIALISATION Job specialisation hasalways occurred in Zakhe.In 1980 two people employed as the fieldworker were and secretary respectively.However, there has also bccn a desire to break down rigid specialisation,and in 19251 the secretary was encouraged to do a community work trainingcourse and to start a co-op in Mitchell's Plain, while the fieldworkerwas involved in some secretarial functions. (M inutes 16/3/81)This was in line with the that prevailed at the time. anti-specialisation ethos Another example of specialisationwas the appointment in 1980 of Daveas evaluator/researcher. This fell away, although specialised function soon Dave, who was a universityacademic, did continue playing an important rolein the conceptualisation of Zakhe's policy. Hewas mostly concerned withpolicy formulation and drawing up of the was largely responsible for the constitution in 1982. Hewas not very involved in the practical implementation of policy. (Dave'sspecialised role, althoughnot acknowledged as such, mighthelp to explain in part the the organisation's plans incongruity between and practicesas described above. This will discussed later.) be In 1982 three of the staffwere employed as general workers their interest in because of co-ops and their interest andexperience in other community and worker organisations.One member was skills. She became employed for her secretarial primarily responsible forcertain administrativefunctions. As mentioned abovethe other staff didnot have clearly demarcated work. Work was allocated areas of at the work planning sessionsin a fairly ad hoc way, except for the workwhich related to staff's organimtions. membership of specific Over time certainpeople did become ticular areas. For more involved with work inpar- example, the paper-bulkbuying and printing responsibility of two staff was the members. However, thespecialisation thatwas occurring was not readilyacknowledged. In a meeting preparing for the in August 1983, when Self-Management Workshop,the reality of twomembers being 'high profile' and'at the barricades' who carried out as compared to the othertwo staff maintenance and back-upfunctions, mainly based office, seemed to at the come as 'a revelation' to thestaff (Diary note: 23/3/83). As mentioned above,by March 1984, staff of work to specific had allocated the majorareas members. Two of thestaff were mort responsible administration and for organisational maintenance,while the other threewcrc 187 Zakhe

campaigns (Minutes most centrally involvedin services, projects and do a training course, 13/3/84). By June, two of thestaff had resigned one to tasks therefore had aad the other to join a union asfull-time organiser. Work this into account. to be reallocated to take the ambiguity in The question of specialisationin Zakhe again highlights of specialisation the organisation. The actualpractice reveals that a degree acknowledged. One has been necessary. Butspecialisation was not readily specialisation did not concurwith a popular view of reason could be that that 'everyone 'good' participatory democraticpractice which advocated also resonates with theviews expressed should do everything'. This argument role of the within the works of Illich andFreire on the non-directive 'teachee/leader, who is not toimpose views on the learners(see Chapter Six). assumption that Superiority of knowledge is notacknowledged. There is an everyone is equal.

COORDINATION alive in Zakhe, and is The issue of overallcoordination has always been above. While shared related to the question ofauthority, which has been raised (Minutes coordination by a staff team had attimes been seen as desirable by one person. 29/7(79), the reality was that inthe first year coordination was In 1982 there was an attemptat collectivecoordination which occurred staff decided to through regular meetings.However, by the end of that year, this develop- institute a rotating overall coordinator(0.C.). The rationale for ment was recalled atthe evaluation in January,1984: Sindi: Why did we institute overallcoordination? found one person who had Alan: When we were evaluating last year we been working long (sic). That personwas acting ascoordinator share although we didn't put himthere. We decided to officially coordination. tried The issue of coordination wasalive when I joined in 1980. We Bill: motiva- dual coordination, singlecoordination... Part of the idea for tion of an 'overall coordinator' wasskills and sharing. This came out also of the training course. We sawthat skills for working in Zakhe the related to skills for coordination.It was highlighted in 'democratic processes study'where we looked at participation, decision-making and all that. Pressureof work was the other factor. coordina- I think overall the pressure onZakhe necessitated shared tion. 188 Part V: Case Studies

Staff recalled the reasons for the implementation of thefunction of 0. C. It was an attempt tostructure the distribution of responsibility of work. Bill who for coordination was the longest serving staffmember found himself coordinating the work most often. They also believedthat the type of work Zakhe engaged in requiredthat all memberswere able to manage and administer activities i.e. coordinate. Through the rotationof this function they hoped the skills would be learnt and the responsibilityshared. The role of the 0. C.was supposed to include financial budget control, liaison planning and with financial partners,contact with the consultation group, maintaining an overview ofdirection and strategy for the and ensuring that major organisation, commitments of the organisationwere carried through. By the time of theevaluation in January 1984, as 0. C. However they expressed two staff had acted serious problems with theirrole. In general they experienceda lack of clarity and a lack of the 0. C. function. cooperation from staff with There had beenno specific training for the jobnor evaluation of it. Itappears that in practice the staff the 0. C. the authority were not prepared to give that the job required. Thisagain is an example of the the ambiguity concerning authority in the organisation,and the incongrous relationship between theoryand practice. The role of responses from the members the coordinator and the to this positionseems to reflect, as with the question of job specialisationmentioned above, ship. It seems that in a particular view of leader- theory everyone in theorganisation is assumedto be equal, although in practice,as mentioned above, the longest in fact provides the serving member leadership. There isno open acknowledgement thatcertain members may have superiorknowledge on certain issues. During the evaluationstaff felt that it function of 0. C., but was worth persevering with the a clearer understanding ofthe job and a development of specific skills wouldbe a prerequisite. This commitmentwas partially carried through witha one day workshop in particularly on questions March 1984, which focused of finance and relationshipswith funders. In interviews with the OC inOctober 1984, he explained involved in carrying that he has been most out the administrativefunctions during the than with overall direction year, rather of the organisation.The job had also rotated, as two staff had not been resigned and the othertwo staff were more involved with fieldwork and did not want to do the 0. C.job. The result has beenthat the 0. C has takenresponsibility for certain not giving overall direction. administrative functions, while The lead in thisarea has still been given by Bill, the most experiencedstaff member. 189 Zakhe

NONFORMAL EDUCATION and nonfonnal form.The Self-education within Zakhehas taken an informal occurred through forexample the rotationof tasks, informal education has planning and evaluation through tne decision-makingstructures, and through usually taken the formof specific, processes. Thenon-formal education has been run for and by staff.Examples programmes andworkshops which have far, are the systematicstudy of 'democratic which have been mentionel so planning. The most processes', and a workshop onfundraising and financial the three monthin-service ambitious educationalproject, however, was programme for newstaff. education prograrnm,!s It was in this programmeand in other non-formal confront theoretical issuesin a systematic way. that staff have been able to initiators. As mentioned During 1981 staff had run acourse for co-op potential staff for Zakhe asthe above, one of the primary reasonswas to train difficult to find appropriatelytrained people. organisation had found it very began an joined the staff at thebeginning of 1982. They Three of the trainees in February 1982. The intensive three monthin-service training programme train them to work withconsumer co-opsand credit unions course aimed to worker organisations. It within the progressive movementof community and work in a cooperative structurein which they also aimed to train them to conscious attempt to shared responsibility forthe organisation. There was a with morning sessions oftendealing with theory, integrate theory and practice, people in on action.Trainees had to interview and afternoons concentrating the possibilities organisations on the role of co-ops,they were to investigav; unions, and they were to for the establishment of consumerco-ops and credit become integrated in therunning of Zakhe straight away. view in interviews (Sept.1982) that they had Trainees expressed the concentrated. This they found the course verystimulating, although very of the many new ideasdifficult. Unfortunately, found had made absorption points again to the evaluation of the coursehas been done. (This no thorough the organisational con- difficulties of balancingaction and reflection within there were some support text.) Once the three monthcourse was completed practices. For example, structures for traineesbuilt into the organisational introduced where staff sharedinformation daily 'feed-back sessions' were held once a month from the previous day.'Interpersonal discussions' were interpersonal feelings. Other supportwas providedin the for the sharing of certain of the structures weekly staff meetings.After a few months however actively involved incommunity became moribund asstaff became more the priority. campaigns, and action ratherthan reflection became

Ju'''4 - 190 Part V: Case Studies

Experience within the PRgroup, which was described above, the problems with the illustrated maintenance of a balance betweenaction and reflection. It also highlighted the specialisation within theorganisation amongst those more involved with the development of theoretical analyses ofthe issues, and others more involved inaction. The PRgroup had been a stnictured forum for reflection on action. But after a while actionhad prevented certain staff from continuing to be involved in theprocess. From the outset I had played a role which had been negotiated and which specialised in the the majority of theoretical provision of input, and the facilitationof theoretical analysis of events. Dave had also providedimportant theoretical ing as an academic. Action insights from his train- and reflection increasinglybecame specialised functions with somemore involved in the one than the PR group provided for other aspect. Yet the over a year a structured andfocused strategy for reflection on action for themajority of Zakhe members. In Zakhe theoretical knowledge has been acquiredin occasional nonformal programmes, and in informal ways. Zakhe hasmaintained a library of current, locally produced materials and these have been circulatedamongst the staff. It has also beencustomary for the daily work by staff. This latter newspapers to be read at activity has often ledto discussions of political events. Other similar discussionshappen informally most often Zakhe or in the other either in community organisationsto which Zakhe members belong. Through staff involvement in the preparationof nonformal mes for others, such as the Co-op program- Initiators Course in 1981and the Self- Management Workshop in 1983, theoretical knowledgewas acquired most consistently. It had not beenpossible to structure regular basis over theoretical discussionson a any length of time except in thecase of the PR group. Involvement in action has usually taken precedence.In the PR group the presence of an outsider seemedto assist the process of structured input. One member enrolled theoretical to do a formal diplomacourse in Adult Education as he felt the need for a structurededucational programme sion Oct. 1983). (Informal Discus-

Accountabilityinternal and external An investigation of accountability within Zakhereflects the competing democratic theories which have gained predominanceat different times in the organisation's history. For example, as describedabove, at particular times participatory democratic a theory, a representativedemocratic theory combination of the two, has or a gained predominance.The organisational tures which have been struc- established to reflect thedifferent theories, have

1 ti 191

structure which hasstressed internal accountability included a staff-controlled which has included a repre- by staff members to oneanother, or a structure which staff are externallyaccountable. sentative committee to external accountability The question of greateremphasis on internal or issue for the staff.Some in Zakhe has become animportant organisallonal importance of accountabilityto an staff at different timeshave stressed the whilefor others accountabilityto the members external political grouping, This discussion of account- internally has remained aprime consideration. between internal andexternal ability in Zakhe will concentrateon the tension particularly in the periodprior to accountability which hasbeen highlighted of the UDF. (See PartFour) and during the formation staff-con- 1981 Zakhe staff hadadopted a cooperative, In the latter half of collective. placed executive authoritywith the staff as a trolled structure which for four new staffmembers. In 1982 an in-servicetraining course was run all staff for theadministration and This course stressedjoint responsibility by organisation. Trainees wereintegrated into the collective management of the All decisions werein decision-making processesof Zakhe immediately. theory to be taken 'incommittee'. 1982, the staff concentrated on From February 1982until around August sharing information andin their own education. Alot of time was spent for cooperative functioning.There was a high degree developing procedures describing the climate within of accountability to oneanother, with members daily feed-back sessions,weekly the organisation as'warm and caring'. The tasks were describedabove. The reports, and rotationof administrative theoretical understanding development of each member'spractical ability and was a priority. to win credibilityfor itself It was during this timethat Zakhe vas wanting community and worKerorganisa- amongst the emergent,radical grouping of cooperatives through theseorganisations, but tions. It aimed to promote they would have to be before this would becomepossible, staff believed that They therefore spentmuch of accepted by the peoplein the organisations. services for the civic,women's and studentorganisations. their time providing opportunity for the In September the emergenceof the DBAC provided an the broad grouping of com- Zakhe staff to becomecentrally involved with munity organisations. involved in the From September 1982,Sindi and Nomhle were very positions on the executivecommittees of UWO and DBAC through their finance committee andthe Women's Front. The oneserved on the DB AC for the first fcwmeetings. Bill was alsoinvolved other served as secretary committee. Through their directly through hismembership of the media 192 Part V: Case Studies

involvement, Zakhe's resources such as their printing, shortterm loan and transport facilites came to be usedmore widely, and the Zakhe staffbecame better known amongst activists. Zakhe'sresources began to be heavily used from this time on, and staff were drawn into severalcampaigns which were running simultaneously. From staff's direct involvementin community and tions, Zakhe was able campaign organisa- to assess the needs of theorganisations and devel9p services accordingly. They did this in consultationwith the organisations and activists with whom they hadmost contact With each service aimed to establish project they a committee composed ofrepresentatives from useror- ganisations to control theproject For example, the Printing Co-op (PABSCO) Driving Co-op and the were established with theirown committees. However in reality thesecommittees have not ended up taking responsibility functioned. Zakhe FAaff have for the paper,transport and loan services. Participants appear to have been concerned touse the serv:ces but not to administer them. During 1983 Zakhe's pattern of involvement withcommunity organisations continued with the heightened political activityas UDF was formed to fight the Government'snew constitutional proposals and ment Bills. At this time, the Orderly Move- as previously discussed, deeppolitical cleavages reappeared amongst the left-wing organisations. TheCape Action League formed in Cape Town was as an alternative structureto the UDF. The formation of the two umbrella structures divided people andqiganisations into clearer political camps. The Zakhestaff, except for Jeanette, UDF affiliated organisations were all members of the with one also beinga member of a non-aligned civic. The staff at the time were supporters of the non-racialrather than the BC political line. Zakhebecame most clearly identified offices were used with UDF when its as a UDF base for the organisingof the national launch of the new body in August1983. The outcome of the increased community activityand Zakhe's active participation in it, led to itsresources being severely stretched. busy responding to Staff were very requests. Time becamevery limited for maintenance within the organisation. work The education and trainingof staff, the commitment to skills sharing, interpersonal relationships, evaluation andplanning (all elements which had beenrecognised as important for tion) were neglected. a democratic organisa- Externally, the developmentof political camps in Zakhe's services being resulted used primarily by the UDFaffi Mated organisations. Only occasionally would organisations from the CALor other tendencies approach Zakhe to use its services. Onone occasion Zakhe staff refused Zakht 193 permission for a CAL affiliate to use itsfacilites because of what they believed printed. to be 'slanderous anti-UDF' contentin the pamphlet which was to be Zakhe established a ConsultationCommittee in mid-1983 in order to formalise its accountability to UDFaffiliated organisations. It had undertaken in its constitution in October 1982 to set up acommittee. It invited repre- 3entatives from what staff saw assix key community organisationsand one trade union. The Committee has met onaverage every three tofour months for consultation. The committee has experiencti someproblems which have limited its effectiveness. (This was discussed at theEvaluation Jan. 1984) It has several full-time community organisers on it.who are members of both UDF committees and the committees of affiliateorganisations. They have limited time point of to get involved in detaileddiscussions. Thetefore frrm the staff's view the committee has been animportant formal mechanism whichprovides legal arrange- a channel for officialcommunication when necessary, and as a ment if Zakhe, for some reason,is dissolved and its assets have tobe distributed. In October 1984 staff foundthat the committee provided a useful forum for a discussion of Zakhe's futuredirection. During 1983 and 1984 Zakhe staffhave actively developed projects together with other organisations. Examples arethe Township News, and the Unemployment Project. The project.s havebeen established with their own controlling committee. Zakhe hasprovided resources and staff, butthe projects are autonomous. Si ndi, whoworks on two of these projects explained Zakhe's role.23 Zakhe doesn't have the power to changedecisions. We can give advice. I realise if that we can influence the committeebecause we have resources, but I think you are aware of this, it canbe prevented.... I have seen whathappened to another agency (sic) who tried topush their ideas down people's throats.Maybe that experience has made me aware of the dangers, orelse I might fall into the same trap.... Certain of the staff, particularly Sindiand Bill, have be m most involved in the projects, while Alan, Jeanette andDave have been more involved in the provision of services from the office and inthe maintenance of the organisation. A division appears to have developedbetween those mainly in the office and the field workers. Thc 1ieldworkershave come to feel more accountable to the external groupings. Theyhave stated27 that they 'feel moreaccountable to projects and organisationsthan to Zakhe itself'. Those in theoffice have, on the other handperiodically expressed frustration at, forexample, their inability to mak e collective decisions and toshare certain tasks, when

-I*rt. ki 194 Part V: Case Studies

fieldworkers are involved in projectsor campaigns out of the office. They have wanted a higher commitmentto internal accountability. In Zakhe it would appear thatas its political affiliation became clearer and its services becamemore clearly defined, accountability to the political grouping has become stronger thaninternal accountability to one another. This development has importantimplications for organisationalprocesses, and indicates a change insome of the assumptions concerning democratic practice. Democratc practicenow includes more clearly, accountability toan external gyouping while maintainingaccountability to the members internally. To some members, itappears, that there is more commitment to the external authority, and to others, the questionof accountability to the other members remains a prime consideration. The tensionbetween internal accountability and external accountability hasnow become an important and, as yet,unresolved organisational issue. It raiseskey questions about the location of authority both inside and outside theorganisation. It is reasonable toassume that both developments in theexternal context and developments within Zakhe, particularly relatingto who is employed in Zakhe in the future,will have a central part to play in howthese issues are negotiated, contested,and resolved within the organisation.

WHAT HAS HELPEDOR HINDERED THE SHARING OF RESPONSIBILITY?

Within this section the major issues which have helped or hindered thesharing of responsibility within Zakhewill be highlighted. Several ofthe issues have been discussed above, othershave been alluded to. This section willserve also as a summary of the case study. The specific issues which will beraised here and which relate to the analytical tools are: theory and practice;action and reflection; theoretical knowledge; consensus and conflict;the macro context; and internal and externalaccountability. A full discussion of these issues will occur in Part Six once all three case studies have beenpresented. CONSENSUS AND CONFLICT In the description of Zakhe'smembership the differences inrace classification, class, educational qualifications,language, gender, and political affiliations, were pointed out. In the above description of the internalorganisational processes no reference was made tomechanisms developed within the organisation to deal with the inherentconflict of interests. This is because there were no formal stmctures in the organisation to deal withconflict. Zakhe 195

Conflict has been dealt with in adhoc ways. It has seldom beenopenly acknowledged. The norm has been to assumeconsensus amongstmembers people in the of the organisation. It isnoteworthy that coaflict amongst organisation has rarely been minuted. Zakhe There is a fundamental contradictionbetween the conflict witl-An democratic and its cooperative ideals. Withinthe cooperative or participatory and trust is structure which Zakhe hasdeveloped, a high degree of openness required in order to share responsibilityfor the administration and manage- that conflict ment of the organisation.Therefore it is reasonable to assume share respon- within the situation will inhibitthe ability of the members to sibility. Two examples will begiven to illustrate the inherentconflict. Zakhe One illustration of conflict which has notbeen openly addressed in racism has been is the issue of 'race'. In theSouth African context where institutionalised, 'race' has been acontentious and sensitive issue.One example of racism in Zakhe willillustrate its presence. after Merle, the original coordinator ofZakhe, resigned in March 1982, of the conflict with Bill. She believed thatBill had always wanted her out organisation because: I, as He believed Zakhe would never havecredibility with the community while a white person, was there. She was very conscious of herdisadvantaged position in decision-making as a white woman. Shecontinued:28 he always got I realise now on reflection that the two yearswe worked together, know.... I his own way. I was made to feel thatthere were things that I couldn't don't know let him into my confusion, but Iaccepted my second class position. (I whether being white or being a woman wasthe most influential factor inthis acceptance).... Officially she agreed to resign 'forpersonal reasons', but in theminutes (18/3/82), there was a cryptic notementioning 'racism'. There was no elaboration in the minutes as to what this meant.However when interviewing correct. the staff, they acknowledged thatMerle's interpretation of events was in Merle was the last white person to beemployed in a permanent capacity Zakhe. Another example of conflict withinthe organisation Mates todifferent the BC political affiliation. An illustration ofthis was the difference between members and the coordinator,which was described above, andwhich manifested in a change to the organisationalstructures. 196 Part V: Case Studies

Conflict within Zakhe has beendifficult to identify beyond scattered examples, such as those described above. Within Zakhe thenorm has been to assume consensus. Discipline hasoccurred in ad hoc ways rather than according to set procedures. The differences which relate to class, genderand race classification have not been openlyaddressed. The question of 'race'was 'resolved' by emp!cying onlyblack staff members. While certain differencesamongst staff have not been openly acknowledged, others such as the differences in educational levels,skills and experience have been actively confronted. This has occurred,as described above, through structural arrangements such as the rotation of tasks,weekly staff meetings and fortnightly planning meetings. Thesestructures have ensured that responsibility forcertain administrative tasks has be sham', although continued to increasingly they have been doneby those who are more office-bound. Onc of the reasons for Zakhe's active attempts to eliminatethe educational and skills differences, is that from the outset thedevelopment of black leadership had been an important 'expressive' goal for theorganisation. Learning by participationhas been a taken-for-granted strategy. organisational THEORY AND PRACTICE On several occasions in the above discussion ofZakhe's organisational practices, references were made to the lack ofcongruence between the stated plans and the actual practices of the staff. This incongruencewas particularly noticeable during 1982 and1983 when the stated goalswere to establish cooperatives, and the actual practice consisted of involvementwith other organisations in community campaigns and the provisionof services to community organisations. Inearly 1984 the staff had decidedto acknowledge that they were no longer attempting to establisha cooperative movement, but were facilitating 'collective action'. As previously reported certainstaff had found the lack of clarity between their stated goals andtheir practice debilitat- ing in the execution oftheir work. The reasons for the differences between the stated goals andthe practices at that time are not immediately obvious. It is only possibleto draw speculative conclusions from theevidence. One reason couldrelate to the developments in the external context. Another could relate to thetendency amongst staff to develop idealistic theoretical plans whichwere out of touch with actual conditions. Zakhe was established soon after the State had banned theBC and other opposition organisations.There were very few community active at that time with organisations which it felt it could work.In 1980 Cape Town Zakhe 197

'exploded' with community and worker action,which led to the emergence in the following two years of hundredsof new community organisations. Zakhe staff were keen to link into the nascentmovement of radical organisations. 1982 and 1983 were dynamic, experimental yearsfor the new community organisations. Zakhe struggled to relateits policy, which had been developed under different circumstances andfor which funds from an overseas donor had been recei,!ed, tochanging conditions. By 1984, according to staff, they had obtained a significant amountof experience and self-confidence which allowed them to propose alternativeplans which reflected their practice more accurately. Another possible reasonfor the incongruity between Zakhe's plans and practices, was the staff's acceptanceof 'ideal-type' theoretical models of 'good' organisational practice.For example an organisational strategy was developed in accordancewith a theoretical view of cooperative practice which staff believed shouldbe propogated amongst co-op groups. The theoreticalorganisational model which was beingproposed had not been developed from practice, neitherhad it been analysed in relation to the specific social and politicalcircumstances which prevailed locally. Zakhe staff seemed to make the mistake ofassuming that particular forms of organisational practice had a universal applicationwhich would inevitably contribute to a more 'progressive', egalitariansociety. They were uncritically Uying to apply an organisational conceptwhich had developed in other historical times and places to the contemporarySouth African context. After struggling for five years to develop cooperatives,they finally changed tack by incorporating some of the cooperativeideals into providing services to facilitate 'collective action' amongst the newprogressive organisations. The theory of cooperatives had acted as a 'materialforce', along with all the other factors elaborated above, to determine the practiceswithin Zakhe. The incongruence between theory and practice canbe seen in another example taken from Zakhe's practices whichrelates to the question of specialisation. During 1982 and 1983 the participatorydemocratic principles according to which they were operating discouragedspecialisation. However in reality specialisation was occurring all the time.In fact Zakhe's long term plans were developed with major input from'specialists', i.e. those members with academic training. From 1980 Dave hadplayed an important role as a conceptualiscr of Zakhe's strategies. The incongruity between theory and practicehas hindered the sharing of responsibility to a degree within Zakhe. Theposition of the overall coordinator, described above, shows this mostgraphically. 198 Part V: Case Studies

THE TENSION BETWEEN ACTION ANDREFLECTION The tension between action and reflectionwas discussed above, and can be most clearly observed in the description ofparticipation in planning and evaluation. Several illustrations have been givenof the difficulty Zakhe staff have had maintaining internal organisationalpractices at times of heightened activity. Specialisation has tendedto occur where some staff are more office- bound and others are 'in the field'. Thisdivision has frustrated efforts to share responsibility, as attempts to rotate the0. C. job have illustrated. The office:bound people have tended to retaina sense of the importance of process, while the fieldworkers have tended to becomemore task orientated in relation to other Zakhe staff. Theimportance of critical reflection and evaluation, has been recognised by allthe staff, but it has proved difficult to provide an infrastructure toensure that this is implemented consistently. The 'action' component of the organisation'swork has changed over time as was discussed above in relation to changing goals,strategies and structures. More recently the action has changedfrom the development of cooperatives to the involvement in more explicitly politicalaction. The change in 1982 in the definition of 'action' indicateda change in relationships to external groupings, a change in strategies and withthese a change in organisational structure.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNALACCOUNTABILITY Organisational practices in Zakhe havereflected different democratic theories at different times. The interpretationof democratic practice has been negotiated and contested continually.The emphasis given to internalor external accountability at different timeshas mirrored the democratic theories of the members at a particular historic` moment'. The changing interpretations of democracy have also indicatedchanges in their strategies used to contribute to social change. For example, during 1982 therewas a climate which emphasised the notion of internal accountabilityamongst the staff members; this led toa focus of activity which wouldensure the sharing of responsibility for the organisation. Thc participatory democraticpractices were based ona cooperative structurethere was an attempt to developa model of 'good' organisational practice and the goal was topropogate the cooperative ideals ina network of c000peratives and community organisations.Zakhe's goal was to achieve through ideological strugglea change in attitudes towards conventional, hierarchical organisationalarrangements. Once members became involved in more explicitly political action, and joint projectswere established with othcr organisations, accountability to externalgroupings became more important 199 Zakhe

directly involved. Theorganisational structure was particularly for the staff others'. A representative changed to reflectaccountability to 'important participatory structurereflected these structure togetherwith an internal high degree of externalaccountability has detracted changes. But in practice a members. As for internal accountabilityamongst staff from the possibilities staff as to the relative described above, there aredifferent views amongst accountability. Thesedifferences importance of eitherinternal or external emphases given tothe competing mflect differentinterpretations and also increased concern withexternal accountability democratic theories. The moved to join understanding of socialchange. Zakhe had showed a change in and sought change forces with the emergent`progressive' political movement `move' demanded greaterconcern for by supportingcollective action. This external accountability.

MACRO CONTEXT evidence was ledwhich showed the In the first section ofthe case study, context on theformation of the goals,structures importance of the external the staff to share the organisation.Therefore the ability of and strategies within of Zakhe has been responsibility amongst oneanother for the management circumstances at differentpoints in determined to a large degreeby exteinal addition to the political,social, its history. Throughthe discussion, in in factors which haveinfluenced the practices economic and biographical instance the also given to the impactof theory (in this Zakhe, recognition was force. theory of cooperatives) as amaterial and determining

THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE of its work andstrategies Zakhe has developedtheoretical understandings circumstance, throughreflection on experience, or most often in response to enrolled in a formaluniversity through a study ofliterature. One member the work. Atparticular points in its course to gaintheoretical insights on of have had the opportunity, aswith the preparation history the staff of Zakhe to focus on the the co-op initiators course orthe in-service training course, knowledge. In 1981 withthe preparation of the course gaining of theoretical adopted in the theoretical there was a cleareranti-capitalist perspective sections. circumstance rather than As described above,action in response to in the organisation.There theoretical knowledge hasusually predominated the PR group forcertain people has been a tendency inZakhe as illustrated by others in theoreticalanalysis. Zakhe has to be moreinvolved in action and practice, and maintain a balancebetween theory and found it difficult to outsider during the PR between action and reflection.The participation of an 200 Part V: Case Studies process did seem to help correctthe balance to a degree for the project. the duration of In Part Six the datawill be discussedmore fully in relation to the theoretical tools elaborated through discussions of Illich,Freire and Gramsci's writings. Judgementswill be offered as to the tools for the analysis of usefulness of the self-education within communityorganisations. Chapter Thirteen

CASE STUDYTWO CAREERSRESEARCH AND INFORMATIONCENTRE (CRIC)

Research procedures My The data for the CRIC case study hasbeen gathered in a number of ways. association with the organisation goesback to before its establishment.I was the initial researcher and the firstdirector of CRIC. I worked forCRIC for of the three years. I have continued tohave informal contact with members organisation throughout its history, and amcurrently serving on the Board. This long association with CRIC willinevitably inform the study. Permission to conduct research and toutilise CRIC as a case study was negotiated with staff in June 1984.During August 1984, indepthinterviews were conductcd with allthe present staff, two previousmembers, and a member of the Boaed. I was a participantobserver during three staff meetings. The organisation's documentation wasalso studied at this time.

THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN MACRO AND MICRO ORGANISATIONALCONTEXTS In order to explore the relationshipbetween the macro and micro contexts, the history of the organisation willbe given, the members will bedescribed, will and the changing goals, structuresand strategics from CRIC's inception be analysed in order to identify anychanges in the theory and practiceof 'democracy' within the organisation. 202 Part V: The South African Context Origins CRIC developed as a resulto f economic, social and political conditions which characterised the mid-1970's, and whichwere elaborated earlier. The particularly significant conditions for CRIC'sdevelopment were, on the one hand, the rapid social mobilityamongst coloured people in the Western Cape, the apparent shortage of skilledmanpower, rising unemployment, and the talk of a new political dispensation for colouredpeople through the setting up of the Theron Commission. On the otherhand, there was a radicalisation of coloured students with the University ofthe Western Cape (UWC) providing a strong following for the BC organisation, SASO.It was the beginning of more active involvement by students in off-campusactivities and the growth of community action. South Africancorporations began to call for reforms, and they began funding communityorganisations which could activelycam- paign for reforms. The Statewas proposing three new Welfare Bills, one of which was to control fundraising,particularly from overseassources. In August 1975, The Foundationfor Social Development (FSD)was founded. It was linked to the Institutefor Social Development (ISD)at UWC. It received a five year grant from theChairman's Fund of the Anglo American Corporation (AAC). FSD's main aimwas 'to channel funds received from sponsors and donors to be utilised for projectsincluding research, assisting the socio-economic and culturalupliftment of the less privileged section of the community, particularly thecoloured community of the Cape' (FSD Constitution). The range of projectswhich it initially established reveals the range of needs it was attempting to address.In general it was attempting 'to break the cycle of povertythrough education, training and community development'. In addition, FSDwas linked to UWC and was influenced by radical black opinion. UWCgraduates who were exploring communitywork as a strategy for social changewere amongst those employed to conduct research. FSD was controlled bya Board of Trustees, who were prominent coloured and white academics and businessmen,and was directed initially, until his sudden deportation to Germany,by the Secretary of the Board, Prof.Wolfgang Thomas. Each researcherwas directly responsible to him. An important emphasis of the work of ISD andFSD was community work. Thiswas seen as the major focal arca. Several of theresearchers employed had community work training and were influenced by ideas and work gleanedfrom community work elsewhere. A book,which I remember being read avidlyat the time and which was banned at the time in South Africa,was R. Bailey and M. Brake ed. 1975 Radical Social Work Britain: Arnold. In theintroduction to Careers Research and Informationcentre 203 the book the authors statethat: 'Radical social workis essentially under- the social and standing the position of theoppressed in the context of approach for economic structure.... A socialistpespective is the most human social workers' (p. 9). Later on(p. 17) they state thatradical social work reaches 'for a position close tothat expressed by PauloFreire....' Paulo community workers Freire's work clearly influencedthe radical social and community workers at who contributed to the book.He also influenced the FSD. Pedagogy of the Oppressedand Cultural Action forFreedom, books 1 the staff. banned in South Africa, werepassed around clandestinely amongst working on a literacy I had been introduced toFreire's work in 1973 when acquainted with project in Namibia; I activelyencouraged people to become student revolt his work. The first year of FSD'shistory was punctuated by the Unibell and of 1976. Simultaneously, the squatterstruggles at Modderdam, staff Werksgenot, all areas adjacent to UWC, werein progress. ISD and FSD were involved in thesestruggles. Guidance It was during the student revoltthat the research into 'Careers FSD in and Occupational Choice' (a reportunder this title was published by driving force Oct. 1976), was undertaken. I wasthe researcher, who was the director. I, like behind the establishment of CRICand whq became its first strongly opposed to many other liberal andradical whites at that time, was had worked in the Apartheid policies. I wastrained as a language teacher and adult literacy and language inNamibia. As inferred above, I wasstrongly and was influenced by Freire from 1973, andlater in 1977 I came in contact Illich's self-help, networkingstrategies. I was also invery influenced by under the fluenced 'oy the teachers andprincipals at ten of the schools initial re- Department of Coloured Affairswhom I interviewed during the search, and at the height of thestudent revolt. which time After the first year of preliminaryresearch activities, during offices in the FSD staff were located at ISD onthe campus, they moved to coloured suburb of Athlone wherethey became a more clearlyidentifiable dif- organisation. There were nine full-timeand part-time staff working on direct ferent projects. In February 1977,Prof. Thomas, who had continued to staff to operations, was deported by theGovernment. He asked two of the take over as FSD's directors. I was oneof them. During this time, there werc the one hand, two two strands developingwhich led to CRIC's formation. On corporations, began to show interestin the idea of a careersinformation Rector of centre, and talks began onpossibilities for funding through the UWC, Prof. van der Ross. On theother hand, a non-formal education/action research project was being undertaken,which included the runningof an the experimental 'careers awarenessworkshop'. Through this workshop, 204 Part V : The South AfricanContext

possibilities for the using ofthe careers informationas a way of 'conscientizing' students andteachers were explored (Report7/5177). Thus two divergent sets of interestswere accommodated in the establishmentof CRIC. Business saw CRIC as serving their ends by channellingthe right employees to them, while I, the researcher, sawcareers information as a vehicle for working with guidance teachers and studentsin order to challenge the existing status quo by promoting critical questioningof the education system and social system more broadly. The tension which existedbetween these two positions, and which reflected tensionswithin the macro context, has been at the centre of CRIC's operation and hasdetermined to a large extent how CRIC has functioncd. Membership CRIC started with three employees, all UCT graduatesin their mid-twenties. There were two white women and one coloured male.In 1984, there were seven full-time staff. In itsseven year history, sixteen people full-time for CRIC: have worked seven coloured, five white andfour African; eleven women and five men; and twelve university graduates with fouradministra- tive staff who have completeda high school education. The workers have ranged from ages of the early twenties to earlythirties and they have remained an average of threeyears at CRIC. The reasons for leaving follows: one left to were as start a careers centre in Soweto,one left to further her studies, four moved from Cape Town, onewas fired and two left to co-ordinate other community organisations based in localworking class townships. date four staff have To moved on to becomedirectors or coordinators of similar projects. CRIC, other like some other communitywork agencies which discussed in Part One, we has provided a channelfor upward career mobil.), which has been importantparticularly for the black have, until fairly recently, community workers who had few similaropportunities. The CRIC staff has bun composed of peoplefrom different class backgrounds. The majorityof black staff originally homes, although came from working class at least two of the blackstaff had petty bourgeois grounds with their back- parents being teachers. Thefive white members allcame from petty bourgeoishomes. Amongst the staff therewere also religious and political 1982, out of a staff of differences In seven there were three Muslimmembers. The remaioing members were Protestants,agnostics or atheists. The political differences in the broader CapeTown context have been reflected amongst staff. These were most clearlyidentifiable at the time of

4.j Careers Research and Information Centre 205 the formation of UDF and CAL.(This will be discussed later.) Atthis stage it is possible only to point out the differentpolitical influences on staff in very broad terms. One staff member hadattended a NEUM dominatedschool; several of the black staff had beeninfluenced by the BCM, and blackand white staff had been exposed to theideology of non-racialism. Non-racialism, promoted in the as has been describedin the previous chapter, had been mid-1970s by both the liberals and theradicals in, forexarnple, the churches, the mosques and the English-speakinguniversities. By the late 1970s non- racialism was also being promotedinside the country through the reemergence of the ANC as apolitical force and the concomitantpopularisation of it can the Congress tradition. Those inCRIC who supported non-racialism, various be reasonably assumed, wereinfluenced in different ways by these liberal and radical views on non-racialism. CRIC staff was composed of peoplefrom different class backgrounds, different educational levels (althoughthree-quarters of the staff had university degrees), different race classification,different religious affiliation, and different gender. The CRIC Board has had a total offourteen members, excluding the staff representatives, serving the organisationin the last seven years. Nine of the members have been white, four colouredand one African. Nine, including all the black and the one femalemembers, have been employed insenior positions within educational institutions,and five in senior personnel or management positions in majorbusiness corporations. Thirteen of thefour- teen members were male. Upuntil 1985 the business representativeshave held the portfolios of chairperson andvice-chairperson on the Board. In 1985 a black academic, Prof. JakesGerwel, was elected as chairperson. This occurred at the time that the incumbentchairperson of the previous seven years retired. Severalstaff and some of the current Boardfelt strongly that it was time for CRIC tohave a black chairperson, andpreferably an educationalist. The Board had been dominatedby the interests of the business people in the past, and they felt it wastime for the educational aspects of CRIC's work to gain more attention. TheBoard had also been dominated by whites: while 70% of the staff havebeen black, 64% of the Board have been white. Structures, goals and strategies The structures, goals and strategiesin CRIC have not changed markedly during the last seven years. The influenceof the macm context on the micro organisational processes can therefore notonly be analysed through a study

4,) 206 Part V: The South African Context of major organisational changes,as was the case with Zakhe. The influence of the macro context has also to be observedthrough an analysis of the dominant ideology in CRIC which has determinedto a considerable degree the structures, strategies and goals. The dominant ideology in C211. C has beenmade up of a number of strands some of which are similar to those which were describedas being dominant in the social movements of the 1960s and1970s. Background to these movements was given in Part Two. Some of these strandswereencapsulated within the works of Mich and Freire which,as described earlier, were very influential within the BCM and radical Christiangroups. These in turn influenced Cie growth of community work in theearly 1970s. The ideological strands whichare identifiable in CRIC include a belief: that people should be ` active in the world' witha 'community responsibility '; that critical thinking should be promotedwhich exposes the inequalities within the status quo; that all people havethe potential to be leaders and therefore they should be given the opportunityto develop this potential; that information and skills should be shared in orderto demystify and challenge the traditional power relations in society;that specialisation should be kept to a minimum; that low-cost, self-help approaches should beused whenever possible to solve problems; thata non-racial approach should be adopted, although greater attention should be givento the needs of blacks. These ideological strands which reflected theprevailing ethos amongst several community work agencies in the mid to late1970s in Cape Town, will be illustrated in the discussion on thestructures, goals and suategies of CRIC. CRIC was initially structured ina traditional, hierarchical way, which reflected the classical, liberal, democraticorganisational form. An Executive Committee was established whichwas composed of representatives of the academic and business worlds whowere acceptable to the funders. The staff was represented by the director. Initially the ExecutiveCommittee fell under the FSD Board of Trustees. An additional structure wasan Advisory Committee which was madeup of representatives fromcommerce and industry, and secondary and tertiary educational institutions. This structure I,as the then director of CRIC, based on filich's networking strategy, which hasas its underlying theoretical assumption, a consensus view of society. TheExecutive Committee met about four times a year, and the AdvisoryCommittee twice a year. The director, who was also co-director of FSD, reported to the FSDBoard about three times a year. The director was largely responsible for laiog thefunds needed. The structures of FSD and CRIC didnot go unchallenged by staff. Dissatisfaction was collectively expressedfor the first time in 1978. Ata staff Careers Research and Information Centre 207

the meeting (Minutes 1/11178) peopleexpressed the view that people doing work should have more say in the managementof the organisation:

FSD as an organisation should reflectthe work being done. All the FSD projects the try and promote participationand sharing amongst people. They all promote development of conununity organisationswhere people themselves manage their own affairs. As can be seen from this quote,staff were against the imposition ofleadership and direction on themselves or onothers. They saw 'good' organisational practice as allowing people to governthemselves. The dissatisfaction culminated in a staff evaluation of theorganisation's structure with the help of an outside consultant.The outcome was a proposal for analternative stmcture which allowed greater staff say byincluding greater project autonomy with structured inter-project linkages, and greaterstaff representation on a contiol- ling Board. During 1979, 1--.SD staff,simultaneously while working towards Projects a new constitution,experimented with alternative internal structures. were acknowledged tobe autonomous, while co-ordinatinginter-project teams, which involved as manystaff as possible, were set up forhousekeep- ing, budgeting and administration.There was an acknowledgement ofboth the need for representative andparticipatory forms of organisation. The structures were to facilitatecommunication between ail the staff andbetween the projects. These structures however were neverfully implemented, as the major funder in consultation with theFSD Board decided to withdraw the funding from one of the three projects. The main reason for the withdrawal offunds was given by the FSD Board at the time, as the unacceptableattitude of the project coordinator toFSD control. The Board relieved that thecoordinator did not want to be accountable to them, but wanted to be autonomous.They said that they agreed `to give the staff member the autonomywhich she wanted'. (Minutes 3017179) The staff member concerned had been oneof the most vociferous propounders of a new structure for FSD. She wascoordinator of the Non-Formal Education Project, which was the only one of the threeprojects that was not represented directly at FSD Board meetings. TheCommunity Work and CRIC projects were represented by the twoco-directors of FSD who were also coordinators of the respective projects. Amongst someof the staff accountability to anyone other than themselves was seen as unnecessary. Thestaff members' general understandingofthe expulsion of the NFE project from FSD was that the personinvolved was seen by the 13oarti and the funders as a 'trouble-maker'. The personconcerned was, at the time of her expulsion from FSD, working with theZakhe committee. Soon thereafter C.

208 Part V: The South African Context

she began working full- time forZakhe as their first coordinator. At thisstage the other FSD projects, CRIC andCommunity Woric, decided tomove towards a complete separation fromone another. CRIC formally became an independent organisation with itsown constitution in 1980. The CRIC constitution was determinedby its two-and-a-half year history. It allowed for a Board of between eightand eleven to be comprised of people from the primary CRIC constituentsi. e. sponsors, teachers andany other interested people. The businessrepresentatives on the Board were to fill the positions of chair and vice-chairperson.The director was on the board ex-officio plus one additional electedstaff xpresentative. The director had managed to extend staff representationon the controlling board to two. In the eyes of some of the Board full membership bya staff member was not customary practice. They were thereforewary of this development, and on occasion the rights of the staff memberto participate in decision-making has been questioned. The AdvisoryCommittee became moribund. Ongoing struggks for greater staffsay in decision-making have occurred in CRIC, but they have not involvedchallenges to the constitutionalstruc- tures. Internally, the struggles have beenaround the conception, the aims and the implementation ofa participatory system, which has attemptedto challenge the director's authority. Therehave been struggles over salariesand a participatory method of decidingon them, over the source of fundingpar- ticularly in relation to the UrbanFoundation, over the appointment ofthe director, and over the role of CRIC. The participatory system which hasevolved in CRIC amongst staff has been influenced by the externalcontext to a certain extent. Itwas during 1982, the time that 'democracy'was being debated within the widerange of new community organsations in CapeTown, that the staff were challenging CRIC's goals and its internal practicesmost vociferously. A detailed description will be given later of some of these struggles and their relationshipto the broader context. The service or instrumental goalsof CRIC were stated in its firstpublic document (August 1977),as follows: It would aim to provide: A direct advice service withreferrals to more specialised institutions A resource centre with updatedinformation on training andcareer opportunities which is accessibleto anyone Dissemination of such materialsby preparing printed and audiovisual aids which will be at the disposalof those active in the field Careers Research and InformationCentre 209

in this sphere Help with supplementarytraining of persons/groups active The establishment of close linksbetween institutions, bodiesand persons so that persons and groups areencouraged and assisted totackle common from school problems e.g. problems relating toearly school leavers, transition to work, unemployment. backbone CRIC has established its servicesin line with these aims. The service. It has of the CRIC operation has beenits counselling and information and developed a data bank of study and careerrelated material. It has collated disseminated information which hasbeen distributed primarilythrough the file which has been available tosubscribers. There were careers information been the nearly a thousand subscribers in1984. One staff member has information co-ordinator, who hasresponsibility for achieving the goals set for this area of work. She hasworked closely with thecounselling co-or- day. There dinator who has counselled themajority of clients who come each were a total of 1120counselling interviews during 1983.The counselling have co-ordinator also has managed theuniversity student-counsellors who 2000 letters assisted with counselling and withthe answering of the almost counselling that arrive each year. Together, theinformation co-ordinator, the have co-ordinator and receptionist haveformed the 'couruelling team' who been responsible for this work. service, were Both the Careers InformationFile and the counselling established with the idea of makinginformation as accessible as possible to influence of the pupils and teachers, particularlyin the black schools. The Illich's ideas are most visible inthis area of CRIC's work. Thefile was schools developed after extensive consultationwith teachers from thirty-six in Cape Town. CRIC was to act as acatalyst for the exchange ofinformation, played down for the sharing of skills, and ideasfor the guidance classroom. It its role as 'expert'. It encouragedteachers to contribute to theinformation collection and dissemination. It emphasisedlow-cost, self-help approaches to recorded the collection and disseminationof information. (Its approach was example, in the minutes of meetings with teachersin Feb. and Mar. 1978) For CRIC developed an informationnetwork of people in places ofwork who were prepared to beconsulted by pupils and teachers onthe pros and cons of their their jobs. Pupils and teachers wereencouraged to visit the people at places of work and so gain ready access to awide range of career information. Ia the 1978 annual report it statedthat:

A central task is to help people find, sort,digest, and Utilize careers information so that they can controlwhere they are going....

BEST COPY AVAILABLE /;": '`) 210 Part V The South African Context

It seems that staff believed that by makinginformation more readily accessible to all people, people would be ina better position to determine their own futures. They also believed that bymaking information concerning the inequalities in the society more available, itwo-Jd encourage people to agitate for change. Therefore the running of`eareets awareness workshops' for high school students, staff believed,was one of their most important functions. The workshops were for several of the staffCR1C's raison d'etre as they were concerned with the process of politicalconsciousness-raising. The workshops were run during eachschool holiday for groups of between forty and fifty pupils from all theEducation Departments, over a five day period. These workshops stressedan informal, dialogical approach which encouraged 'the learners' to become 'theteachers'. The aim was `to develop independent critical thinking' throughdebates, experiential learning situations, street interviews and theoreticalinput. The theory to which peoplewere exposed has been eclectic it has beenanti-racist, sensitive to ecological issues, humanistic and at times anti-capitalist.(See for example the notes of the first workshop April 1977.) After the workshopspupils have been encouraged to share what they have learnt withothers at school, and some pupils have established 'information depots' and`careers clubs'. Evaluation of the workshops by the participants Ims alsobeen integrated into theprogramme, and on occasion, participants havereturned after three months to reflecton their own development and theirplans for the future. Many of theseap- proaches have been incorporated intoother CRIC programmes with pupils, such as Future-Link, which isa work-experience programme. Work with teachers has also beenseen as vitally important. Here too, the approach has been toencourage dialogue and sharing of expertise. High schools have been visited regularlyto ascertain the needs of teachets, meetings have been coordinatedamongst schools in an area, and periodic workshops have been coordinated.These have either been run by CRIC in conjuction with a group of localteachers, or a specialist ina particular field has led the session. Recently a rural project has been estabPshed witha Mobile Education Unit to service schools inoutlying areas. There has been a co-ordinator forwork with teachers in the urbanareas, and one responsible for ruralareas. They have taken responsibility for the making and maintaining ofcontacts with schools. In addition, they have coordinated requests for assistancewhich has come from a widerange of community organisations, youthgroups and others. (See Annual Reports) Teachers have responded to CRICin a number of waysover the years. Such responses often reflect thedifferent political divisions to be found in Cape Town. The majority of teachers,judging from the responses to therange

11-1 4.0 Centre 211 Careers Researchand Information useful. The NEUM the years, seem tohave found CRIC of services over of the Departmentof had a dominantinfluence in certain teachers, who have of Education andCulture) schools, Coloured Affairs(now the Department received money 'non-collaborationist' stance,as CRIC initially adopted a which CRICsevered its Foundation. Since1980, the time at from the Urban it appears that mostof the teachers relationship with theUrban Foundation, services when theneed has arisen. have utilised the with the developmentof the potential CRIC has beencentrally concerned of in the workshopsand in the retrieval of individuals.In the counselling, critical 'actor inthe individual is encouragedto become a information, the first workshop was: world'. For example, oneof the aims of the make people awareof their full potential self-awareness in order to socicty and To develop realise the need tothink about wo . as persons,ard help them to what their part init is or could be. will be approach has beenthat social change The assumptionunderlying this consciousness ofin- througg the changingof the political brought about permeated CR1C'spractices, ideological strandswhich have dividuals. The have much in commonwith those and the assumptionsabout social change Illich. CRIC's staff, as work of PauloFreire and Ivan reflected in the early and Illich, wereagainst teachers/coordinators in thewritings of Frei re with the participant in anactivity was assumed imposing their views onothers; each acknowledged. I of knowledge wasnot easily to be an equal.The superiority lecture was seen as a of staff to thelecture format; the recall the attitude workshop as radical.In this way conservative educatioa1 practice, the theories, used in ractices were reifiedand particular particular educational educationin the determinationof CRIC's an ahistorical way,were influential al practices. goal. Through promotion of non-racialismas an important CRIC saw the challenged theApartheid and the processof its work it both the content the Apartheid structures,values and ideology. For example,it has chalienged its with students andteachers, and through norms throughits workshops affirmative action information services;it has adopted an counselling and preference to blackcandidates policy in its employmentpractices by giving that it was: for jobs; it statedfrom the beginning in its approach, non-profitmaking organisation.It is non-racial a non-racial, the poorercommunities which are although greateremphasis falls on predominantly black. (1978Annual Report)

' fi'v +.1) 212 Part V: The SouthAfricanContext The printed information that theyproduced was the first information in SouthAfrica. non-racial careers Insummary In this sectionthe influence of external historical,economic, political ideological forceson internal practices and through a discussion within CRIC hasbeen demonstrated of the history ofCRIC, a description a discussion of the of the membership, theoretical influencesand a discussion of strategies andstructures of the organisation. the goals, Conflicting interestswithin the organisation whichdemonstrated competing between those of views on democratictheory the businesscommunity ard the Further illustrationsof the influence staff were mentioned. of the macrocontext on CR1C's practices will be givenparticularly in the section on internal and externalaccountability.

INTERNALPROCESSESSHARING RESPONSIBILITY Participation in As previously decision-making discussed, withinCRIC there is business and the an historic tensionbetween the staff interests.These differentinterests different organisationalforms and practices are manifest in the Board on the other. of the staffon one hand, and the The Board hadbeen established democratic codewhere representatives according to a liberal case the business of particularconstituencies, in this community and education,'protect the interests constituencies'. Amongstthe staff from of their tendency towards the beginningthere has beena thc achievementof internal tendency was linked participatory democracy.This to one of CRIC'sexpressive goals, instrumental goals,which was to as opposed to its develop the potentialof all the individuals in CRIC (AnnualEvaluation 1978). In analysing participation indecision-making in CRIC organisational practicesin the external the contrasting and the relationship Board and the internal between the two, staff structure, provide an importantfocus. The two organisational formsrepresent a conflict of policy decision-making, interests in CRIC.In this section which is theresponsibility of the analysed by focusingon three critical Board, will be incidents as illustrationsof actual decision-making practice.These examples of interest and will illustrate thevarious conflicts the struggles thathave sometimes in CRIC. occurred over keydecisions

fd.v.. Careers Research and InformationCentre 213

Decision-making formally occurs at threelevels. The Board officiallyis conditions, responsible for decisions concerningpolicy, funding, employment decide on service and hiring and firing of staff.The weekly staff meetings day to day work and staff related issues, and thework teams decide on specific is elected decisions. The director and staffrepresentative on the Board, who and staff. The annually by the staff, are theofficial links between the Board operation. As the director is finally accountable tothe Board for the total organisation has following examples will show,decision-making within the in reality not occurred in this way. funders, The first example concerns oneof CRIC's more controversial major and minor the Urban Foundation. CRIChas over thirty different sponsors. They arepredominantly business corporations,but also include funding agencies. The director islargely respon- trust funds and international The sible for fundraising with someassistance from Board members. the most decisions as to whom should beapproached for funds arc left for has been an ongoing part to the director.However, the Urban Foundation It was one of CRIC's source of conflictbetween the staff and the Board. further funders for the first three years,after which time staff refused any sponsorship. The establishment of the UrbanFoundation, in the wake of the1976 drew many revolt, has already been discussedin Part Three. Its establishment hostile responses from certain ofthe more radical communityorganisations framework who argued that it was trying toameliorate the situation within the change. of the political status quo ratherthan trying to promote fundamental radical groups Soon community organisationsbegan to be distinguished by according to those who did or did nottake funds from the UrbanFoundation. amount of his The CRIC fieldworker, inparticular, found that a substantial time in the field was spcntrationalising why CRIC hadaccepted Urban Foundation funding. Increasingly staffrealised that if the organisation was to have credibility with a broad spectrumof black pupils and teachers, itwould during the need to find alternative funds. Thesituation was particularly clear for their 1980 school boycotts, where pupilshad drawn on CRIC's resources alternative programs in the early partof the boycott, but once theboycott rejected became more explicitly political,organisations were scrutinised, and Foundation was if they had undesirable links withthe 'system'. The Urban function- identified as such a link and this causedserious problems for CRIC's had occurred on a wide ing(Board Minutes20/10/80). Politicization of pupils scale during the boycott which led to a morediscriminating use of external resources. By October 1980,the Urban Foundation's three yearcommitment

- ef* -X. j 214 Part V: The South African Context

ended and the staff did notwant it extended. Most of the members of the CR1C Board did not agree with the positiontaken by the staff. The Urban Foundation is,sue hasbeen one of the few that has ledto direct confrontation between the staff and theBoard. Whenever there has beena hint of a financial crisis in CRICone of the Board members has raised the issue. The Urban Foundationissue has been minuted inseven Board meetings in the last four years. The stage was reached where besides the staffrepresentative arguing the staff'scase to the Board, several of the indiv:dual staff members resolved to resign ifthe sponsorship was accepted (Interviews 21/8/84; 28/8/84). In the last minuteddiscussion on this issue in the Board, the Chairperson stated that,"The Board had always been responsiveto the concerns of the staff over this issue and that forcingthe will of the Board on the staff would be counter-productive'(Minutes April 1984). The staff thus succeeded in their attempt to effect a major policy decision. Thesecond example of staff participation and struggle over policy decisions,concerns the appointment of the director in1981. A procedure for hiring full-timestaff was developed in 1978 with the firstnew appointment. The procedurewas developed by the three staff members and it involved threeinterviews with each applicant, by all the staff.The appointment ofnew full-time staff was taken very serhusly by incumbent staff. Once staff had made theirdecision about an appointment they presentedit to the Board through thedirector for formal ratification. In September 1981, therewas a crisis in the organisation when these procedures were not followed. Whenthe incumbent directorwas planning to resign from his post, he informedthe Board, but not the staff.He then advertised his position and began negotiating with someone whom hecon- sidered to be a suitable replacement. Staff only heard 'whenhe'd nearly appointed the guy' (Interview 8/8/84). There was a strong, angry reactionfrom most of the staff who wantedsomeone from their own ranks to be appointed to the position. Members of staffbegan meeting on thcirown to try and resolve the issue. The Board had set up a committee of three to interviewapplicants. The committee consisted of the director, the chairperson ofthc Board and an additional Board member. Staff wanted to influence the committee'sdecision but only had access to the Board through the director. Staff invitedan outside consultant to help them work throughpossible strategies. They resolved to set up their own interviewing proceduresand thcn to make their recommendations known to the Board. They decidedon criteria for the appointment. There were two potential candidates for thc job.One was from the staff and the other was from Johannesburg. The incumbentdirector who had been away on leave, returned to be told by staffthat thcy wanted to Careers Research and InformationCentre 215 wanted to meet with the be consulted over theappointment, and that they chairperson before the interviews totell him of their criteriafor the position. recalled (Inter- Staff interviewed bothcandidates. The present director view 11/8/84): would I believe in Staff interviewed me. They wereconcerned with power asked me consultation and do it? All staff asked mequestions. The secretary clarified quite a lot. about administration, order andfiling. In the interview we accountable. At I said it's not a true democracybecause, as director, I'm finally times I may go against the staff. of the Board Staff found that their request tospeak with the chairperson the next beforehand was ignored. The directorinformed them at a meeting did not feel day that 'their candidate' had beenappointed. However, key staff consult- that they had won. Most of them werefighting for the principle of Board had not under- ation, not for a particularcandidate. This they felt the the lack of stood. One of the staff who did notinitially feel strongly about consultation, was the secretary. Sheexplained: it didn't really matter whomade the decisions For me with my background, their coming from industry I didn't expect tobe involved. I could understand But feelings, because to me it seemed morelogical to appoint a staff member.... when he with all the anger, I really startedthinking.... I didn't feel such anger happened now didn't consult., until it became anissue with all the staff.... If it I'd be angry. Now I'm part of it.... (Interview 17/8/84). realised The power and influence of thedirector in decision-making was consciously to by most staff members. Theyhad realised that they needed develop strategies to counter thedirector's influence indecision-making. The appoint- members who were most involvedin the struggle over the director's administrative staff did ment, were the fieldworkersand the counsellor. The learn about 'their not participate as fully.However it seems that they began to incident. right to participate' through this a 'The third example of staffparticipation in policy making, concerns several of the struggle over salaries in 1982. Thisexample also demonstrates inherent tensions within theorganisation. which Salaries in CRIC had been setinitially according to FSD scales Board usually gave were decided by theSecretary of the FSD Board. The business ethic annual salary increases. Staff hadlittle say in the decisions. The should not be dis- was applied on the Boardwhich presumed that salaries accepted by the cussed by or with the staff. Oncethe new director, who was 216 Part V: The South African Context

staff on a the understanding that she would give maximum controlto the staff, took over in early 1982, shebelieved that salaries should bedecided by the staff. Thus began a provacted period of internal meetings andnegotiations. Not all the staff were equally involved. One member said that shehad accepted a drop in salary to work at CRIC,so she could not get involved in fighting for more pay. The three staff most involvedwere the two black, male fieldworkers who were the main breadwinnem in thcir families, andthe white, female director who had no dependants. All the staff workedout criteria for salaries. Itwas a long and arduous process which most staff were engaging infor the first time. Consensus could not be reached between the director and the two fieldworkers. Thereforethey resolved that the two alternativeproposals should be presentedto the Board for a decision. In the process, the two fieldworkers, whowere arguing for higher salaries, had apparently come to see the director as a barrierto their progress. They believed that becauseshe was a white female whohad no dependants, she could choose to have a relatively low salary(Interviews 8/8/84 and 28/8/84). They both felt pressure to supplyadequately for their growing families. At the Board meeting both the director and the twofieldworkers presented their arguments. The meeting was rushed. The two fieldworkers describedthe meeting as very unsatisfactory. At one point they recalled howthe director had questioned their statistics; the questioning they believedhad shown them in a poor light. They resented this. The director alsoexpressed dissatisfaction. She was fighting to lessen the salary gap between herselfand other staff. It was a matter of principle. In the end the Board resolved the disputeby splitting the difference, and agreeing to a salary scale midwaybetween the two proposals. The director was unhappy because she had endedup with a salary that increased rather thanlessened the gap between her of other staff. salary and the salary The fieldworkers bothdescribed the disputeover salaries as a watershed time at CRIC. The one ficldworker said that he hadleft the meeting saying himself: 'I'm finished with to CRIC. ' Within three monthshe did resign from the organisation. The other fieldworker resignednine months later. The salaries issue did not necessarily cause theresignation by the two staff, however from the evidence it did seem to increasetheir feelings of dissatisfaction with the organisation. The conflict over the salaries appeared to bea traumatic experience especially for the three central players. The di rcctorat the time did not realise the effect that the conflict had had on the two staffmembers. Onc of the fieldworkers said that he realised what littlepower staff actually had in

e I - h 4 1) Careers Research and Information Centre 217 decision-making. He therefore lost interestin his portfolio as staff representative on the Board and in his work. Race classification had be 'ome a moreopenly divisive issue for the staff at the time of the salaries issue.The director, in retrospect, seesthe struggle over salaries, as a watershedtime in the organisation, where: 'Thenon-racial ethos that had been more prevalent began tofade', and 'it gave way to more clearly defined black and white camps'.The two staff left CRIC for lower salaries and to be co-ordinators of projectsbased in the coloured and African townships. There was clearly much moreinvolved in the confrontation than just salaries. One possible influence onthe internal conflict could be the developments within the broader Cape Towncontext at this time in early 1983: the formation of UDF and CAL wereunderway, and integral to these developments were the debates concerningthe role of whites in the struggle for social transformation. Both fieldworkeishad historic links with the BC and NEUM tendencies. A positive outcome of the salaryconflict identified by three staff, wasthe breaking of the taboo around salaries. Sincethen staff have discussed salaries amongst themselves and they have anaccepted set of criteria and a procedure which they use to make recommendationsthrough the director to the Board. Procedures have also been developed which attemptto curb the director's authority. However, one staff memberacknowledged that the memory of the conflict generated around the salariesdispute amongst staff would possibly make anyone very wary of challengingsalary scales again in a hurry (Inter- view 21/8/84). Through the conflicts, various lessons appear tohave been learnt by staff. Some staff have learnt about power inthe organisation, and strategies to increase their own power and influence. Sincethe appointment of the director in 1982, structures and procedures havebeen developed within the staff in order to try and counter the power of thedirector. However, key staff members acknowledge that structures and involvementin administrative issues like fund-raising and appointments are not enough.There has to be continual vigilance if staff are to have much say in whathappens. The two staff members who left the organisation becamedisillusioned with the possibilities for staff to influence decisions. They feltthat in the final analysis it is the Boardand the director who held the power. The illustrations of struggles over themaking of key policy decisions reveal several features of participationin decision-making in CRIC. Firstly, staff have actively participated in thcdecisions of the Board through their official representatives and through thesuccessful use of more confrontation- al strategies. Secondly the illustrationsreveal that there are different and

7 218 Part V The South African Context

conflicting interestgroups at different times in operation in CRIC.For example, in the first incident thestaff including the director opposed the Board; in the second incident the staff opposed the director and theBoard; and in the third incidenta sub-group of the stgf, two black male fieldworkers, opposed the white female director.The struggles have highlighted conflict in the organisation and this has ledto procedural innovations in CRIC. The struggles have also haddifferent effects on the levels of parucipation of staff in the organisation. On the one hand the two fieldworkersbecame disillusioned with staff's abilityto effect decisions, and they eventuallyleft CRIC. On the other hand the administrative staff who were usuallyleast active in decision-making havebecome more active and assertive. Participating in planningand evaluation An analysis of planning andevaluation in CRIC showsa structured and disciplined approach to actionand reflection, which is integratedinto the ongoing functioning of theorganisation. Collective planning and evaluationhave been central processes in CRIC. A major motivating factor was the first 'director's commitment.0 staff development. She believed thatthe personal growth anddevelopment of each of CRIC's staff members was an important 'expressive' goal forthe organisation. The process of organisational management, she believed,was important to the attainment of that goal. Therefore planning and evaluationwere seen as essential elements to achievethis. Another motivating factorwas the pragmatic belief that a 'democraticmanagement style' was the most effective for the achievement oforganisational goals. Internally, amongst the smallstaff, the norm was establishedfor consultation and the sharing of information. Staff functionswere interdependent, therefore regular staff meetings were held to structure reports back,to pass on information, and to take decisions. The structure was extendedfurther with the increase in staff to include team meetings. In a document of3 September 1983, communication betweenmembers was describedas follows: Issues relating to teams are discusseo at team meetings anda report-back for the whole staff at weekly staff meetings, otherwise issues relatingto the whole organisation are discussed at staff meetings.... Thc Board hasquarterly meetings during which time the director and the staff representative willgive them a report on what staff has done in differentareas of their work. Other information flows constantly amongst staff e.g. papers, proposals andreports. This is done to (hopefully) make staff more involved in all these documents,decisions and add their comments. This also gives background for when a decision hasto be made. j 219 Careers Research and InformationCentre

team meetingsof The weekly staff meeting ofall the staff, and the regular development of a suppor- different sub-groups, appear tobe important for the constructed in such a tive climate for staff in theorganisation. The teams are of working with oneanother way as to allowdifferent people the opportunity at different times. with two weeks The annual evaluatio: . hasalways been taken seriously, aside for all staff to participateinthe process of evaluating to a month being set The aim has been to past performance,and setting the plans for the next year. direction of the organisation encour:Age the sharingof responsibility for the amongst the staff. Asstated in a document onAims and Objectives (Dec. 1979): the reassessment of the organisationand the [The aim of the evaluation] was parties, so that formulation of future goals by staffand possibly other involved themselves, which are staff collectively and individually setout objectives for in the country. in tune with current social, economic,and political developments The form that the annualevaluation has taken is thateach staff member discussed produces a plan for the yearspecifying their objectives. These are for accountability and approved by all the staff.These plans provided the basis meetings. The annual at monthly assessmentmeetings and weekly staff evaluation sessions have beendeveloped and have become moresystematised performance appraisal forms over time. In the1983 evaluation, individual included self-evaluation, appraisalby one other staff mem- were used which director, ber, and appraisal by the group as awhole. All staff, including the individual work had to account for theirperformance both in terms of their co-ordinator has and their general involvementin the overall operation. A been elected by the staff to overseeeach annual evaluationsince 1982. of the Chairpersons are also elected forindividual sessions. The rotation evaluations chairing of sessions amongstall staff also occurs at the quarterly evaluations are which have been introducedsince 1983. Agendas for the In drawn up by the entire staff. Each personhas to give a report to the group. participa- this way evaluation sessions arestructured to try and ensure greater person) does tion by all staff, and to ensurethat the director (or another key not dominate the proceedings. within There is an ongoing integrated processof action and reflection the year in CRIC. Structured planningand evaluation occur throughout and in the weekly staff meetings, in quarterlyevaluations, in team meetings of staff major annual evaluation. In theinterviews with seven members various observations were madeconcerning the structured evaluative proces- WS. 220 Part V: The South African Context

All members believed that their ability to plan theirwork had improved substantially because of thestructured approach to planningand evaluation. Evaluation sessions had helpedthem gain an overall perspectiveon the total CRIC operation. This had helped in the formulation of theirown area of work. Three members expressed specifically that being responsiblefor a defmed area of work had also contributed to their ability to participatemore actively in both the planning andevaluation processes. The strategies used inthe evaluations also drew staff. Six members specific conunent from commented on the importanceof the questioning and challenging of their work by both staff and invitedoutsiders. This they believed helped them developa critical approach to their work. tance of the development of The impor- the skills to succesfullyquestion and confront others was mentioned specifically by both administrativestaff. All staff spoke about the importance of the structured evaluationsessions. They said that the more they had become integratedinto CRIC, the more they importance of full participation realised the in the planning andevaluation. On average, staff felt that it had taken them about twoyears to feel fully integrated into the organisation. The emphasis on planning and evaluationhas been substantial from CRIC's establishment. This emphasis has been consistentwith the commitment to the personal growth anddevelopment of all staff. Through planning and evaluation the regular staff have shared responsibilityfor the management of different aspects ofthe organisation. Sharing informationand skills JOB SPECIALISATION, JOB ROTATION ANDEFFICIENCY CRIC provides specialised services which requirecertain expertise. People are employed for a specialist function, like secretary,counsellor, fieldworker or information officer. The majority of staffare highly qualified with university degrees. But, whilepeople have a primary been a degree of task area of expertise, there has sharing. For example, a'lstaff are required to do counselling, and the training some function has also beenshared. Workshops particularly forstudents have beenrun by all the staff, except the secretaries. Aspart of new staff's induction into the organization, timehas to be spent in information,counselling and fieldwork. have spent less timc in The secretarial staff other portfolios. Thechairing of staff meetings,the recording of minutes andthe co-ordination of staff. teams are rotated amongst all Careers Research and Information Centre 221

The opportunities for greater job rotation ortask sharing are limited in CRIC by its specialised functions. They arealso limited by the standards of service that have been set. From the outset oneof CRIC's goals was stated to be the achievement of an 'effective andefficient service'. On the one hand the sponsors from private enterprise had to besatisfied with the standard of CRIC's services and products, if funding was tobe attracted. On the other hand, given the politically volatile climatein Cape Town, CRIC believed that it could win a degree of credibility from awide range of individuals and organisations, regardless of political ideologies,if it provided a relevant and efficient service. NONFORMAL EDUCATION The self-education of staff has occurredthrough both the informal processes which are integral to the organisation,and through nonformal education programmes. The non-formalprogrammes,which have been open to all staff, have included for example, a counsellingskills workshop, a communications course, a monthly JournalClub, Zakhe's 'Self-Management Workshop', programmes on creative thinking,facilitation skills, questioning skills, a' Lifeskills ' workshop, plus other ad hocconferences and courses which have been attended by some members. The skillsand insights learnt through these programmes generally have been seen aspositive by staff. A programme of staff development iscollectively decided on at the annual evaluation. Many of the arranged programmeshave concentrated on process skills, rather than theory. Some speculative reasonsfor this could be, given the specialist functions in CRIC andthe wide gap between the educational background of administrative staff and others, the processissues are the ones common to all the staff 'sexperiences. 'Process' is equally accessible to all staff regardless of educational background.In addition several staff have enrolled for further education qualifications,with four having enrolled for the Adult Education Diploma at UCT, thereforethey may get theory elsewhere. Another reason could be that the turn over ofstaff aproximately every three years, militates against theaccumulation of both practical and theoretical experience, with the implication that new peoplejoining CRIC, who have little experience in a participatory, democraticorganisation, therefore concentrate on tize processes which this approachhighlights.

41,

4 -5 222 Part V: The South African Context Accountabilityinternal and external

An investigation of accountability inCRIC reveals a concentrationon internal accountability amongst the staff members.External accountability has been most consistently directed to thesponsors. External accountability had become a controversial issue in 1982. The issue of accountability had becomeimportant within the new, tadical, worker and community organizationsby 1982. Within organizations there was a critical questioning of the accountability oforganizations; an example given earlier described the issue in relationto the meat boycott. Some agencies like Zakhe were going to great lengthsto obtain credibility from the radical community organizations. CRIC staff,particularly the fieldworkers and the director, were being asked about CRIC'sposition and allegiances. Within the staff in late 1982 and early 1983,members were asking themselves the question: 'To whom are we accountable?'The discussion of accountability in CRIC will cover accountabilityto sponsors; to teachers, students andcommunity organisations; and to otherstaff members. Accountability to CRIC'ssponsors, who have mainly been business corporations, was built into thestructure from the outset. Reprosentatives from the three initial sponsors becamemembers of the first Executive Com- mittee (later known as the Board), andone of them, a Personnel Director of a major multinational corporation, has chairedthe Board for seven years. Only very recently has the situation changed with theappointment of a leading black academic to the position. The Board, has been concernedmainly with fund-raising, and with employment conditions. Various fund-raisingstrategies have been developed and executed with the help of thesponsor companies. Sponsorship has been given for specific periods of time,usually three to five years, and it ha-sbeen renewed by sponsors who have feltsatisfied with CRIC's progress. To date, CRIC has over thirty sponsorsto meet its costs of over R100 000per annum. CRIC has had access through itssponsors to a range of resources and expertise. On occasion, explicitpressure has come from the business community, in one way or another, for CRIC to confonn to their expectations.One example will be given to illustratethis. In 1980, during the schoolboycotts, CRIC publisheda poster which documented the major events, and whichraised questions about the implications of the boycott for the teachingof Guidance. The posterwas widely distributed and welcomed bymany teachers and students alike. A letter Careers Research and InformationCentre 223 CRIC's received from a local employers'association expressed displeasure at 'School Boycott' poster. Therelationship between Guidance andthe school issued boycott was not appreciated the secretaryof the employers' association a veiled warning toCRIC: into what I am concerned that any divergencefrom the Centre's basic objectives time is essentially a political field maydiscourage business support, at the very when the Centre is gainingrecognition and acceptance. The pressure to conform tobusiness requests has come invarious informal and formal ways. More recently CRIC has begun toattract funding frominternational funding organizations. The ruralproject has been funded fromthis source. Some embassies have begun toconsult CRIC, and developmentaid organiza- identified as tions have been directed to CRIC.It appears that CRIC has been radical enough ' a suitable organizationbecause: 'It is not too radical, but (Interview 21/8/84). Accountability tothese funders has occurred sofar directly through ad hoc meetings and reports.They have not been represented on the Board. Thefunders in the case of the ruralproject have determined CRIC's focus in this area. A potentialproblem with these new funders was identified in an interview with aneducationist, who is a Board member (16/8/84). He elaborated: A problem perhaps is that CRIChas established a reputation amongstdevelop- 'you come with us and we'll buy into yourcredibility' approach. ment funders with The risk is that CRIC's direction isdetermined externally and it disconnects its base constituents. CRIC staff in a recent evaluation(August 1984) acknowledged their dependence on business as their funders,and the major contradictionsthis has been always posed for the organization.Throughout CRIC 's history, there has a constant struggle to steer acourse through the needsof business on the one hand and the black schools on theother. An example of the differentneeds and expectations is illustratedin the very different responses tothe School Boycott Poster. CRIC staff havedemonstrated that they att far more sympathetic to the needs of the pupils andteachers, than to business. The staff have ambivalent views ofthe Board, and tlzse have been most clearly seen in discussions on thecomposition of the Board. On onehand certain staff, particularly the blackfieldworkers, have been very criticalof the influence of businessmen onthe Board, and on the other hand,when needing increased funding, they havespoken about the need to invite more people from business onto the Board.The director has in the last yearurged 224 Part V: The South African Context

more participation by Board members in fund-raising,while simultaneously wanting CRIC's services to bemore relevant to radical community groups. It would seem that, if the organisationwas to be able to work more closely with radical groups, it would rather needto try and distance the Board from the operation; or change the balance within theBoard, so that there am more members, sympathetic to the staff's priorities.These points will be elaborated later. Teachers, pupils and various communityorganisations, have been the primary focus for CRIC's work. Theform of accountability to teachers has changed over time: Initially, it occurredthrough regular meetings, consultations and joint projects. Limited accountabilitywas built into the the structure with the new constitution in 1980.Two teachers joined the Board at that time. Meetings continued in 1981 but teacherswere less responsive to them. CRIC kept in touch with them mainly throughregular individual visits to schools, and ad hoc projects andprogrammes. The extent of consultation with teachers had decreased substantially by 1983and 1984 partly due to staff shortages because of fmancial constraints. Theavailability of funds for a rural project has determined CRIC's thrust into thisarea. Formal accountability to teachers has been very limited withone teacher at present serving on the Board. Informally accountability has occurredthrough joint project committees, ad hoc consultations and meetings.Accountability to students has occurred informally, through its counselling,information services andcareers workshops. Evaluation of workshopshas been built into each, and evaluation meetings have been arranged. Anextensive evaluation of the counselling service occurred when a questionnairewas sent to over six hundred clients in 1978 and an evaluation of the informationfile also occurred around this time. In 1978 and 1979, students fromfour schools, who had attendedworkshops, established careers clubs at theirschools. CRIC staff actedas consultants. Students were also incorporated intotwo teachers workshops during 1979 and 1980 in order toencourage teachers to listen and learn from students.The relationship with students deterioratedfor a short while during the school boycotts, although initially studentsused CRIC as a resource for theiraware- ness programmes, and certain students soughtrefuge at CRIC when in trouble. CRIC's services have also been usedby students through their membership of youth organizations. CRIChas responded to their requests. During 1983 and 1984, requests forassistance included ones from COSASand CAYCO, radical umbrella organizationsfor students and youthgroups. These have usually been one-off events so accountability has been iimited. Inthe development of the Future-Link project, students have been .7onsu1tedsub- stantially on its form and effectiveness. Careers Research and InformationCentre 225

limited Accountability to communityorganizations has occurred to a standing contact and extent through the provisionof services, through long membership cooperation with community workagencies, and through staff of organizations. It has alsobeen aligned to other communityorganizations has never through its commitment to socialchange, however this commitment been elaborated beyond ananti-apartheid and non-racial stand. CRIC During 1981 and 1982, careers centressimilar in some respects to Elizabeth, Soweto and were established anddeveloped in Johannesburg, Port expertise with Durban. CRIC was committed tosharing its experience and staff to CRIC for the new organizations, andseveral of the centres have sent training. Since 1982 a sponsorhas funded regular meetingsbetween the and the sharing centres to facilitate co-ordinationof information ptoduction of ideas. There is no formalaccouritability at this stage. activists were In 1982, as previouslymentioned, radical community They were asking questions about the allegianceof community organizations. previous approaching resource agencies forassistance. This was in contrast to policy of many radical activistswho had adopted the'non-collaborationist' policy which was prevalent in CapeTown. Organizations likeCOSAS and CAYCO invited CRIC to run programmes,Grassroots Newsletter asked both the UDF CRIC to help produce articles, andfour radical atliv sts from CRIC in 1983 and CAL camps offered towork on specific p rojects at (Interview 21/8/84). of the Some of the CRIC staff alignedthemselves with UDF. At the time launching of UDF, most staff attendedthe rally. UDF posters weredisplayed at CRIC for a time. Oneof the staff who had adopted ablack consciousness position was less enthusiastic.Another was a member of aCAL-affiliated civic. Three of the staff were notinvolved in these politicaldevelopments at relationship all. One of the staff was a memberof UWO. CRIC discussed its UDF, because to UDF. The staff decidedthat they could not be affiliated to by sponsors, of the differing staff positions,because of the constraints posed wide and because of the need for its resourcesand services to be available to a spectrum of people andgroupings. The staff made a pointof displaying the publications of all tendencies in the CRICreading room. CRIC staff decided after debatingwhether they were a community organization accountable to 'thecommunity', that they were not.They defined themselves as a resourceand service agency which wasaccessible to of the the public. The director used theargument put forward by some independent trade unions on affiliation tothe UDF, and applied it rather inappropriately to CRIC. Trade unions wereaccountable to their members, 226 Part V: The South African Context as they financed the organisation and appointed the officials. CRICwas accountable to its sponsors. Accountability amongst staff has been encouraged throughthe promotion of particular values and norms. Values andnorms which have often been stressed in the public rhetoric of CRICare: `team work', 'co-operation', 'consultation', and 'individual and collecdve responsibility'.These values have been implemented through structuralarrangements such as weekly meetings, the allocation of tasks to sub-groups,and through structured planning and evaluation. These organisationalpractices have encouraged a high degree of accountability amongst staff members. New staff who are not used to taking responsibilityfor their own work, have on occasions placed a lot ofpressure on the director to assume greater control. In interviews four staff described their initialdiscomfort with 'the slaclmess' of the director. In retrospect, two of thestaff identified the problem as their own socialisation. Thcy had both workedpreviously in large bureaucratic institutions. They found it difficultto be accountable to other staff. It was in response tosome of these pressures that the director introduced the ideas for joint responsibility, whichwe have previously discussed. IN SUMMARY CRIC has been accountable to itssponsors through their representation on the Board. Staff have been accountableto one another through regular meetings, and through structured planning and evaluationsessions which occur on a quarterly and arinual basis. Accountabilityto external parties such as teachers, students and community organisations hasbeen informal. The specialist services and the high standards setto attain 'efficiency and effectiveness' have tended to make CRIC service-deliveryorientated. The 'action' component of CRIC's work refers to its services. The'democratic management approach' and the commitment of the organisationto staff development has encouraged internal accountability amongst staff.CRIC appears to have acitieveda relatively high degree of participatorydemocracy within the organisation. However, as we have discussed, there isan inherent contradiction between participatory democracy and politicalaction. Participatory democraticpractices can lead to 'collective individualism'where the organisation functions in isolation from others andso limits its effectivess as a change agent. External accountability poses a number of problemsand challenges for CRIC, both because of its sponsors and becauseof the diversity of political opinion amongst the staff, which reflects the diversity ofpolitical groupings in the soc icty. 227 Careers Research and InformahonCentre

WHAT HAS HELPEDOR HINDEREDTHE SHARING OFRESPONSIBILITY? the sharing Within this section the major issueswhich have helped or hindered of the issues have of responsibility within CRICwill be highlighted. Several of the case been alluded to above. Thissection will serve also as a summary and consen- study. The specific issues whichwill be raised here are: conflict and internal and external sus; action andreflection; theoretical knowledge; accountability. CONSENSUS AND CONFLICT classification, In the description of CRIC'smembership differences in race affiliations class, educational qualifications,gender, religion and political of the business com- were pointed out.Differences between the interests differences welt munity and the interests of staff werealso described. These which werethe reflected in the two distinct formsof organisational practice hierarchical structure of the Board onthe one hand, and theparticipatory structures amongst the staff onthe other. earlier as being The dominant ideology amongstthe staff was described social move- similar to the radical humanismwhich dominated some of the the promotion ments in the 1960s. CRICemphasised individual freedom and reinforced to some of equality of opportunity.The radical humanism was which have degree by the influences of theBCM and the non-racial populism, and in the external been predominantideologiesboth amongst staff members develop- political arena. CRIC was concernedwith the personal growth and the staff. This ment of the individuals,both amongst their clients and amongst view of society concern with individualismtended to encourage a consensus concerning social change.(2) and a social contact hypothesis conflict of There has been a tension inCRIC between the reality of a which has in- interests which has surfacedunder specific conditions, and within CRIC at different times,and the very volved different sub-groups in the powerful consensus-seeking ethoswhich has also been prevalent organisation. Examples of the conflictin CRIC and responses to itwill be bc given as illustrations of thistension. ex- As discussed earlier, during1982 race classification surfaced most salaries, which plicitly as an issue amongst staff atthe time of the dispute over role coincided with public debates amongstpolitical activists concerning the 3.) Up until of whites in the struggle forliberation. (This was discussed in Part of race this time, CRIC with its non-racialethos never confronted the issue openly. They usually played down raceclassification as an issue for themsel- 228 Part V: The South African Context

yes as staff. But consciousness of black and whiteinfluence in the organisation always existed, as illustrated inan interview with a black fieldworker (8/8/84):

In 1980 when a black directorwas appointed I saw this as a breakthrough. At the time I was excited at the possibleshift of power to the black members. Two black teachers joined the Boardat the same time. The director and I began strategizing as to how we were goingto influence the Board and take power. During 1981, an African fieldworkerwas appointed who subscribed to the BCM. He and the other fieldworkerwho came out of the NEUM tradition began to advocate the black consciousnessposition more explicitly. In interviews with black staff exampleswere given of more explicit caucusing by the two fieldworkers amongst the blackstaffaround issues such as new appointments. In interviews with four of theblack staff mention was also made of sub-groupings within the black statT. Theoccurrence of the sub-groupings was most clearly described by a colouredmember who told how she had sounded out the African fieldworkeron his perceptions of the unity within the black group. She explained:

We talk about being collectivelyblack but I sounded him outon this. He said that there is still a suspicion ofcoloureds whom he said have not been known for their genuine feelings.... He saidcoloureds can identify with black idealsand unity, but will never be part of it totally. Whites of courseare mistrusted even more.... These feelings definitely were damaging to working relationshipsat CRIC (Interview 16/8/84). Most recently the struggle for power in CRIC by certain black staffwas demonstrated in the quarterly evaluation(August 1984). The fieldworker asked whether CRIC should have 'a white director in a black concern.'She said that there were criticismsof CRIC by 'some radicalblack opinion' because of the white control of the organization. Black staff,however, had different opinions on this. In an interview (21/8/84) one member,whosays she 'feels comfortable with a non-racial position', was indignant.She retorted: 'Who said thiswas a black concern? I thoughtwe were non-racial.' Another black member said: 'Idon't think it matters if it'sa white or black director. I wonder if wc need a director at -all' (20/8/84). A third memberfelt that ideally CRIC should havea black director. Race classification has beenan issue for CRIC staff from the begirtning, but it has only been discussed explicitly since 1982. It has takenseveral different forms at different times, and thc discussions above haveshown that race classification is only one ofmany factors which impinge on the viewsof

- Careers Research and InformationCentre 229

the director, there members. As seen in the viewsexpressed above concerning influenced by many is not consensus amongst theblack staff; their views are factors including their politicaldisposition. CRIC staff The political and race differenceswhich have existed amongst in the organisation, have inevitably inhibited aclimate of trust and openness limited the possibilities forthe sharing of and would have presumably system responsibility. However, it appearsthat there was a fairly open said: ofcommunication, as one of the morehostile, black fieldworkers, communication exist'. 'Generally speaking among staffquite good lines of openly address the He believed that a positiveapproach by CRIC would be to questions of differences, and to moveforward from there. At the Conflict has begun to be dealtwith in CRIC in a structured way. which quarterly and annual evaluationsissues are discussed. Other structures team' which was have been set up to deal withconflict include a 'reflection appointed to handle staffgrievances and discipline. director. Until Responsibility for discipline hadfallen most often on the role modelling 1982, discipline was maintainedmainly through peer pressure, staff meetings and teammeetings. It was also and regular reports-back in delivery of their maintained through a commitmentby staff to the effective services. responsibility for In 1982, the directorintroduced the idea of staff discipline. In 1983, staff established a'reflection team', comprising two elected staff members to deal with anystaff complaints. They alsocompiled 15/7/83) and procedures forthe reflection team's a set of rules (Minutes hours and par- operation and for staff in general.The rules included work ticipation in decision making. given in The reasons for a more structuredapproach to discipline were collective responsibility an interview with thedirector. She saw the need for for discipline as it was inline with the principles ofself-management. then the However the reflection team onlyfunctioned in one instance. Since responsibility appears to have fallen onthe staff as a whole withdisciplinary issues being raised at staff meetings; orin some instances theresponsibility devolve full has reverted back to thedirector. Although the attempt to successful, the responsibility for discipline to thestaff has not been very within a self- struggle to do so has highlightedthe problem of discipline management approach for allstaff. reality of The tension between theconsensus-seeking ethos and the forms which conflict is most clearly demonstratedby the two organisational co-exist within CR1C. The staffoperate according to aparticipatory and the democratic organisational model,while the structure of the Board o 230 Part V: The South African Context

position of director directlycounter this practice with a hierarchical One of the Board's important model. functions is to look after the interestsof CRIC's sponsors. As discussed above, at times there is a conflict of interestsbetween the staff and those of itssponsors. Within a participatory democratic tion, as previously discussed, organisa- there needs to be a degree ofmutual trust, co-operation and support amongst the members of thegroup, which encourages a non-threatening, consensus-seeking work environment The director plays a pivotal role in management of the two kinds oforganisational structures and practices whichco-exist within CRIC. On the whole the director,who is in a very powerful and position, has been left ambiguous to define the reality bothon the Board and amongst the staff. Yet, incidents havebeen described in which staff and the director, and have resisted the Board have attempted to influencepolicy decisions. Out of these conflicts, staff have learnt about the use of theirpower,and the development of certain conflict strategics. In addition, internalstructures have been developed to counter the director's authority. Thus, whilethe organizational structure with a designated directorhas been acknowledged a limitation to the sharing of amongst staff as responsibility, the struggleshave produced various lessons about the conflictualnature of the of the organisation and to work within it. how In this section the tensionbetween a consensus-seeking reality of conflicts of tendency and the interests between differentgroups at different times, has been explored. Acentral contradiction within the organisation, it is structured hierarchically which is that but aims amongst thestaff to achieve ticipatory democracy, par- illustrates the tension thatpermeates the organisation. A positive outcomcof the tension appears to be that it has providedan important source of learning.The struggles within the resulted in more formalized organisation have and structured proceduresfor the sharing of responsibility amongst thestaff. THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE CRIC was established at a time when privateenterprise was wanting promote reform in Government to policy. CRIC was ableto adopt a clear anti-Apartheid, non-racialposition. Its emphasison staff development line with the thinking of was in a number of different liberaland radical groupings, both in the BCM and non-racial tendency. Thefonn that the self-educational practices took was in line with the ideology ofradical humanism whichwas popular in the mid-1970swithin community work, circles. Radical humanism radical Christian and BC advocated learning byparticipation; it emphasised the importance ofcritical thinking which was to be promoted throughan 231 Careers Research andInformation Centre the idea that allpeople analysis of daily experiencesand feelings; it promoted should be encouragedto be could potentially beleaders, therefore they activity this led to ananti-expert tendencywhere involved in all aspects of tended to theory was minimised.Radical humanism the importance of education. promote a pragmatic,process-orientated approach to pragmatic, process-orientated Within CRIC, as wasdescribed above, the predominate. Most often,both the nonformaland approach has continued to related. One reason that the informal educationalactivities have been process approach, was the factthat all staff were was proferred forthe retention of this the programme for staffdevelopment, and given involved in deciding on the related issues are various specialisations inCRIC, it is possible that process all staff members. the one area of commonconcern amongst in the staff have becomeintegrated and involved In addition, generally average theyhave whole operation after two yearsat CRIC. However, on of education, to stayed for three years. Thishas meant a continual process to share responsibilityand struggle for power. re-educate new people to want left to the theoretical knowledge hasmost often been The development of staff's enrolment in individuals. This has occurredthrough the professional university. On occasionthere has been some degree or diploma courses at a programmes forstaff, theoretical input into annualevaluation or nonformal and eclectic. The pressure but not very frequently.This input has been varied also limited opportunitiesfor staff on staff to deliverCRIC's services has emphasis on theoreticalknowledge, however, development. The limited concentration on pragmatic, could have seriousrepercussions for CRIC. A educational activities couldpromote a veryconservative process orientated fundamental issues which practice, which avoids thetackling of the more often am referred to asthe 'theoretical issues'. prevailing Governmentpolicy. It CRIC established itselfin opposition to hierarchical relationships,and it advocated non-racialism,it challenged critical thinking'. It wasable to obtain sponsorship promoted 'independent establishment the relationship from private enterprise.Since the time of its business appears to havealtered, with the Government between the State and recently decided adopting more of a reform stance.It has, for example, very Preference Policy and seemsto be reassessingits to cancel the Coloured major Apartheid policies position on Influx Control.These arc two of the direct implicationsfor which CRIC has activelyworkcd against, as they have The State has also,through the career choice,particularly amongst Africans. in education in the RSAand the report published HSRC investigation into the need for a far more 1981 Provision of Educationin RSA, identified recommendations comprehensive approach to careersguidance. One of the 232 Part V: The South African Context

of thc report which has been accepted by the Governmentis that the general demand for careers guidancebe met through: cooperation, and coordination between training institutions, theHSRC, NIPR, Department of Manpower, employeis and the private sector. (paragraph3.4.2.2) With the development of a more complex set of strategieson the side of the State including the new Tricameral Parliament whichwas mentioned in Part Four,, CR1C requires an ongoing, carefully theorised position, in order to work out its priorities. If this doesnot happen, the advocacy role initially adopted, will which CRIC decrease in importance andits service role will dominate. This tendency is already discernible.As Lovett was quotedas saying in Part Two, committededucational practice requires and political a sense of social purpose, which needs to be constantlyinterpreted in the light of theory. He goes on to argue that radical educationalpractice should developed linked to a socialmovement. These issues will be Five. discussed further in Part

ACCOUNTABILITY EXTERNALAND INTERNAL Within CRIC there has been a relatively highdegree of internal accountability amongst thc members who have beenintegrated through the regular meetings, and collectiveplanning and evaluation sessions. Externalaccount- ability has beenmore problematic. The problems thatCRIC has with external related in part to the accountability seem to be paradox between externalpolitical action and internal participatory democracy (this paradox wasdiscussed in Chapter 4); modus operandi which to its is dependent on sponsorshipfrom the business and to the diverse sector, range of political opinionamongst the staff. External accountability also appears to berelated to the maintenanceof an advocacy role withinCRIC. Gramsci argued activity needs to be that critical, intellectual extended in close linkagewith the practice of counter-hegemonic the movement. In thisway ideas are not only able developed, but they to be become `a material force'.Within CRIC there is awareness amongst some of the an members that externalaccountability to thc broader movement forchange is essential for the role. The director noted maintenance of an advocacy in an interview that:`There seems stronger accountability to us, than internal to them out there'. This sherecognised as a problem. However, given thecomposition of staff, and at present it seems that the modus operandi ofCRIC, one of the only ways for CRICto be in touch with the extra-parliamentary opposition groups, is through individualmembership of certain of the organisationsby the staff. Careers Research and InformationCentre 233 to have In CRIC the high degreeof internal accountability appears assisted the process of thesharing of responsibility.

ACTION AND REFLECTION integrated into The processes of action andreflection have been consistently collective planning CRIC's organisational practicethrough its commitment to which has been reflected upon,has been the work and evaluation. The 'action' reflection on more activities of each staff member. Ithas not usually been discussed, 'overt political action within thebroader community. As previously pragmatically on the processand content of CRIC has tended to concentrate theory and its own work, rather than toemphasise social and political explicitpoliticalaction. have clearly The integrated processes ofplanning and evaluation which to have allocated authority to particularmembers for specific tasks, seem the staff played an important role in thesharing of responsibility amongst limited the members. However the specialisedfunctions in CRIC have also sharing of responsibility ispossible. extent to which the be probed In Part Six the empirical datawhich has been presented will tools for the study and discussed further, andthe usefulness of the analytical of self-education in communityorganisations will be assessed. Chapter Fourteen

CASE STUDYTHREE RAPE CRISISCAPE TOWN (RCCT)

Research procedures The data for the RCCTcase study has been gathered ina number of ways. Permission to conduct researchand to utilise RCCT in thestudy was negotiated with the general membership of the organisation inMarch 1984. The specific procedureswere: Attendance of the trainingcourse for new members as a full participant. It was a twenty-one hourcourse over seven wecks. Studying primary documentsfrom the establishment of RCCTin 1977 to the present. 28 Individual interviews with sixselected memberswho have belonged to the organisation for betweenthree and eight years. Attendance of eight monthlyGeneral Meetings, and three adhoc policy and 'maintenance' workshops.

Questionnaires to the membership,37.5% of which were returned. Informal discussions witha number of old and new members. Feedback during the research has been presented throughthe monthly newsletter and at GeneralMeetings (GM). Rape Crisis Cape Town 235 AND THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN MACRO MICROORGANISATIONALCONTEXTS Introduction organisation. Therefore, beforedescribing the specific Rccr is a women's general terms within origins of RCCT it is necessaryto locate RCCT in very South Africa. The development the context of otherwomen's organisations in Women's Movement in thelate 1960s was described of the international social movements at that briefly in Part Two alongwith other oppositional time. South Africa is yet to be A complete history ofwomen's organisations in cleavages amongst written. It is a very complexhistory because of the deep class and race oppression.The women which havebeen induced through history, but, very briefly, to purpose here is not toattempt to elaborate a highlight some of the keyissues which form partof the context in which RCCT has operated. clear distinction is Within the contemporaryliterature in South Africa, a of working class made between 'bourgeoisfeminism' and the organisation divisions are far greater than'any women. It is arguedthat the racial and class share'.29 The majority of experience of common womanhoodthey might `triple oppression' as blacks, womenand workers. White women experience through the structures of women have beenseparated from black women black, the disabilities white supremacy. For themajority of women, who are they suffer as blacks ratherthan as women have beenof greatest concern. influx control, Black womcn's struggles occuraround issues such as and political increased rent and food prices,housing shortages, child care 30Bourgeois women have tended toorganise around issues with repression. equal pay, marriage a different class content,such as access to abortion, people argue that reform, the abuse of womenin the media, and rape. Some national liberation strug- the bourgeois feminists arelargely irrelevant to the 31They argue that the purposeof women's organisationis to mobilise gle. democratic struggle. grassroots women tofight within the broader national Others, like Cole,' argue thatthere are specific issueswhich relate to should be taken up by womcn'sorganisa- women's sexual oppression, which the tions. She describes, through a casehistory of one African woman, oppression increasingly common perception amongstAfrican women, of their there is no place in racial, sexual and class terms.A further argument is that struggle.33 for separate women'sorganisations within the liberation 236 Part V: The South Afrkan Conte.xt

RCCT, which has a predominantlywhite, bourgeois and petty bourgeois membership, is located within thesedebates, and is influenced by the debates. Illustrations of this influence will begiven during the course of the description of RCCT. Origins of RCCT RCCT was establishedas a non-racial organisation in 1977 by four professional women, who wererape survivors. The aim of RCCTwas to be both a service organisation torape survivors and their families, anda pressure group to challenge the State'sresponse to rape. In 1978 and 1979 therewas an influx of left-wing feminists'34 fromthe Women's Movement at UCT. The Women's Movement35on the UCT campus was started in the mid-1970s, at about the timethat Juliet Mitchell, a well knownNorth American feminist, visited thecampus to deliver the T.B. Davie Memorial lecture in 1975. In 1977 it received a boost when several NUSASwomen withdrew from community workinvolvement with the CommunityCommis- sion (Corn Corn), and joinedthe organisation. Thesewomen were apzarently influenced strongly by emergingwestern Marxist feminist literature,'° which promoted the idea of involvement with concrete women's issues. Thisled the group to join RCCT in 1978as it was one of the few organisations dealing with a women's issue ina very practical way. Therefore RCCT was setup in response to the needs ofrape survivorS, but was influenced from an early stage by the nascent women'smovement in Cape Town which was in tum influenced by the growinginternational Women's Movement. Membership In 1984 RCCT had a membership of a hundred and four,with sixty-five of those members on the 'active list'.The majority of the membersare white (approx.90%), between the ages of twenty and thirtx years, haveuniversity education, are English-speaking, and are feminists." The majorityare anti- Apartheid38, with some adopting a liberal, reform-orientatedapproach, while others support a more radical approach, within the context of thenational liberation movement. The membership was initially more diverse than it is today. One ofthe founding members described the group in the early periodas consisting of 'liberals, lesbians, Christians, radical feminists, charityworkers, and non- feminists'. The influx of radicalfeminists from the UCT Women's made a big impact Movement as they swelled the numbers from nineto nineteen.39 Rape Crisis Cape Town 237 Perlman° The incentives whichmotivate women to join RCCT are, as and sometimes found in her study, diverse:they demonstrate competing conflicting needs and assumptionsamongst the rank andfile membership. seem They reveal both solidary andpurposive incentives. The most common to be: others who have they are rape survivorsthemselves and they want to help gone through a similarexperience; work; they are wanting to be involvedin some form of welfare and want to they have come throughthe vcr Women's Movement simul- provide a practical servicethrough which the feminist cause can taneously be promoted; survivors in they are professional womenwho are in contact with rape the course of their work; they want to belong to a women'sorganisation; which is they are interested in interactingin a non-hierarchical structure committed to democraticparticipation by the members; friends belong to the organisation. There has been talk at intervalsconcerning the need to widen the mem- different bership base in order to attract womenof different class origins and For example in May 1983in a report on a Policy race classification. of RC being Workshop, it stated that: 'Asmembers we felt ... the problem address representative of the elite middleclass must be tackled if we are to is no evidence other problems perpetuated bythe society we live in.' There however of concerted efforts tobroaden the base. Goals, structures andstrategies GOALS The goals of RCCT can beseparated for convenience into: instrumental goals i.e. immediate,practical, service goals long term, general, politicalgoals. This separation in realitydoes not exist as there isinevitably a continuity between the two, however it isuseful for descriptive purposes. 238 Part V: Thz South African Context

INSTRUMENTAL GOALS RCCT was established to servicethe needs of rape victims (in 1982 theuse of the tenn 'victim' was replacedby what members felt to bea more positive term'survivor'). In its constitution theaims and objectives are stated as: 1.Rape Crisis will offer advice, moralsupporeand legal advice as a form of social assistance to therace victim and to any members of the family or any other persons who might be involved. 2.Rape Crisis provides ongoingsupport to the victim. When necessary the victim will be referred for psychiatrictreatment or psychotherapy. 3. Rape Crisis deals with crimes of sexualintent involving women, children or men. 4. Rape Crisis deals not only with theacute phase of the crime, but also with delayed reports.

5.Rape Crisis will at all times liaiseor cooperate with medical, legal and welfare authorities.

6.Rape Crisis will conduct publicrelations work: to publicise the organisation and to educate the public aboutthe legal, medical and social aspects of rape.

7.Rape Crisis may conduct researchinto all aspects of rape. This research will be made available to the publicand to authorities concerned with rape.

8. A training course will be organisedat regular intervals to train new Rape Crisis workers. Applicants will bescreened prior to the course and again afterwards to determine in whichareas they will be allowed to operate. 9. Seminars for authorities and professionalswill be organised as wellas ongoing seminars for Rape Crisisworkers: These aims and objectives continueto guide the practical work in general terms. But they have begun to question thelong term value of some of them. In a workshop run in 1983 on 'Goal Setting and Planning', three goalswere emphasised. These were: 1.Public Education 2.Counselling of Rape Survivors 3.Group Maintenance and Training Rape Crisis Cape Town 239 to a There has been a shift from aprimary concentration on counselling, greater emphasis on publiceducation, where relativelylarger numbers of people can be reached, and exposed to afeminist analysis of rape and women with feminist abuse more broadly. There hasalso been an emphasis, in line organisations elsewhere, on theexpressive goal of concern for thepersonal themselves. This and collective growth anddevelopment of the members aspect will be explored in alater section. LONG-TERM, GENERAL, POLITICALGOALS The long term political goals are moredifficult to discern, as they are not stated explicitly. But in thedocuments, a shift in the politicaldirection of Rccr was noticeable. These shifts appearto be influenced byboth the external context within which theorganisation was operating, and the membership at the time. Initially, as seen from the aimselaborated in the constitution, theorganisation aimed primarily to help rapesurvivors and press for reformin the analysis within a treatment of rape survivors.It then began to develop an feminist framework. The first shiftoccurred in 1978, when as hasalready been described, a number of womenjoined from the UCT Women'sMove- ment. During the 1970s,with the emergence of the BCM,and the 1976 revolt, There was a retreat a radical reappraisalof NUSAS's role was undertaken. back onto the white university campuses,and the beginning of a reorientation period, where the reeducation ofwhite students was seen as apriority. The educational work was designed to promote along term commitment amongst students to the struggle for a non-racialSouth Africa. The aim was to counter students, by showinx a growing pessimismamongst anti-Apartheid white them that they did have a role toplay in the building of a non-racialfuture.' One of the members of RCCTdescribed it asfollows:42 We Whites' feelings of relevance haddisappeared. The white left felt impotent. joined the Women's were no longer relevantin labour or communities. Then we there Movement on campus. We realisedthat there was lots of work to do, and only one working was lots of feministactivity then, though Rape Crisis was the with ordinary women by that I mean notlesbians or students.

By 1980 a growing number ofleft-wing feminists were seeingRCCT as than it had been, and a relevant place towork. The membership was younger survivors, and they was more schooledin feminism. They were not all rape helped by were also more open abouttheir own sexuality. This change was the very gradual partial acceptanceof feminism in the broadersociety, 240 Part V: The South African Context

although there was still a lot of opposition from theleft, as we digussed earlier, and the right. One member describedthe noticeable change:

You have no idea what a big difference it madewhen we could use the term 'feminist' in the open. This was around the endof 1981. Rather than being apologetic about our feminist analysiswe could begin to assert ourselves more self-confidently as feminists. Members whowere not feminists gradually withdrew from the organisation.

A second shift in orientation,was noticeable at the end of 1982, early 1983. At the National Conference of the sixrape crisis centres, in April 1983, there were heated debateson whether or not the centres should broaden their focus to include 'institutionalised violence'witliin South African society, such as forced removals, and influx control. They alsodiscussed, in line with many other community and worker organisationsat that time, their relationships to broader political issues andmovements. The conference marked a change from the narrower discussions aboutthe issues of rape, to one in which violence within the broader contextwas the focus. The 1984 National Con- ference continued these discussions withits theme, 'Situating ourselves in South Africa'. Some of the resolutionsadopted by this conference indicate the growing dominance ofthemore radical members within the organisation. Two of the resolutions, which indicatethe changes hi policy orientation, and which were adopted,are:

Resolution 1 : A statement of principle is neededto make the connection between rape and broader political /social concerns and to align RapeCrisis/POWA (i.e. People Opposed to Women Abuse, theJohannesburg R.C. organisation) to democratic groups against sexism, racism andexploitation, towards building a truly democratic society....

Resolution 2: We resolve to consider carefullyand be cautious in our dealings with organisations, government and other, whoseaims and objectives appear to be in conflict with our own.... (Newsletter July 1984)

While these, and other resolutionswere adopted by the Conference, each Rape Crisis Centre had in turn to debate them.Rccr held a workshop in July 1984, which accepted them. The implicationsof these resolutions for practice,are still being explored. These will bediscussed more fully later. (See Appendix for a list of the Resolutions.) When questioning why themore radical positions were gaining predominance in RCCT at this time, itseems that one reason could relate to 241 Rape Crisis Cape Town

in the 'national democraticmovement', as discusxd the growing stature of members of RCCT were Chapter 11. Several of theactive and influential linked organisations. directly or indirectly involvedin UWO, or other UDF able to assert their ideaswith more self-con- Within that climate,they were members with a similar fidence. They also began toattract more new orientation. possibilities of working RCCT has more recentlybegun to explore the extra-parliamentary opposition groups,while maintaining more closely with women abuse, by its pressure for a reformof facilities and attitudes to professionals and State institutions.

STRUCTURES 10/5/84), only became Structure, according to anoriginal member (interview Act, they In terms of the recentlypromulgated Fundraising an issue in 1979. CMH Menta (CMH) welfare Drganisation. affiliated to the Cape the increase required a constitution fromRC( .Another impetus came from of the new members whohad experience of male- in membership. Some non-hierarchical struc- dominated, hierarchies inNUSAS, were arguing for tures, similar to feministorganisations elsewhere. the monthly GeneralMeeting (GM) of all the The current structure has chairperson and membership, as the highestdecision-making body. The each meeting, and theminutes are circulated toall secretary are elected at by members on a members through the monthlynewsletter. This is compiled addition, there are five rotation basis. The treasureris elected at the AGM. In members choose to belong.These arecounselling, public task groups to which the task groups speaking, bleeper duty. resourcesand fundraising. At times and usually have acoordinator who occupiesthe have separate meetings, respond to requests, position for about six months.The task groups usually and members are on duty on arotation basis. For the past year therehas been an appointed,part-time administrative members. The coordinator. The position isreadvertised each year to RCCT task is to coordinate office is open four hours aday. The coordinator's fundraising and to overseethat commitments arccarried through. She provides continuity betweenthe GMs. enables policy decisions to betaken, arc the ad A further structure which four timcs a hoc half or full-day workshops.These are organised on average nonformal educational ses- year, and concernpolicy issues, evaluations, or sions. have been a The relationship with theCMH seems, for the most part, to RCCT with its financial marriage of convenience.The CMH has assisted 242 Part V: The South African Context

management. At one stage, a member of CMHwas to attend RCCT meetings. There have been some points ofconflict between the two organisations,which were highlighted when CMHmanagement reacted to two articles published in the RCCT newsletter. One they considered to be sexuallytoo explicit, and the other concerned the launchingof the UDF. At this point CMHasked for all RCCT publications to bevetted by them first, but membershave refused to be censored (Interview 8/5/84). The final structure which isof importance, is the annual NationalCon- ference, which is held together with other Rape Crisis Centres in SouthAfrica. The Conference maintains theloose affiliation amongst thecentres. It appears to be an important 'energiser' and produces 'great feelings ofwarmth, solidarity and excitementamongst the women who attend'. Structures in RCCT have beendeveloped both in response to the internal needs of the organisation and to external legislative and ideologicalinfluen- ces, such as the Fundraising Acton the one hand, and a feminist view of 'good organisational practice'on the other. STRATEGIES The 1984 National Conference proposed certain changes in thegoals of the centres, which were to encourage closer liaison with other organisationswho are fighting against various forms ofexploitation, and more cautious dealings with State and other institutions. These changes could in timeaffect the strategies within RCCT. Up untilnow the organisation has mainly responded to requests for counselling, general information, or to give talks. RCM'had previously also decided to work mom closely withmore radical community organisations (e.g. 1983 NationalConference), but it has notas yet implemented these decisions. RCCT receivesup to a hundred calls a month. Members to calls on a first-come-first-served usually respond basis. This has meant that theyhave cooperated with a wide range of organisations, from the AfrikaanseVroue Vereeniging, to the Rotary Clubs, to black High Schools, to COSASand AZASO. From an analysis of 115 public talks given between1981 and 1984, it appears that 35% of the talks are given to hospitalsor related medical institutions; 23% to community and service organisations; 18%to educational institutions; 11% to welfare and church organisations; and4% to police and army related organisations. Training courses, conferencesand discussion have beenrun for, or in conjunction, with professional groups,the hospitals, and others.RCCT believes that through the promotion of a better serviceto rape survivors by the institutions, its own role can change to more of an educationalone. Already Rape Crisis Cape Town 243

load, with the establishment there appears to be atransfer of the counselling Bellville, for the treatmentof of a 24 hour service atTygerberg Hospital in 1985 the establishment of ashelter for battered battered women. In July people and women was beingnegotiated in conjunctionwith a range of other organisations. for itself has taken a The pressure groupfunction which RCCT defined included letters to the newspapers,giving evidence number of forms. It has in of Enquiry on topicsrelating to rape, participating to State Commissions Some of these discussions on television, andworking with professionals. members believe strategies have recently beenchallenged by members. Some should be taken to airRCCT's views, while others that every opportunity institutions. They felt RCCT called for disassociationfrom all Government discerning in deciding withwhom it should work.Some should become more tomorrow', by which felt that it should be working morewith 'the leaders of struggle between these they meant radical,predominantly black activists. The positions continues withinthe organisation.

In summary political and ideological In this section theinfluence of external historical, within RCCT has beendemonstrated through a forces on internal practices membership, its changing discussion of the origins ofthe organisation, its strategies. The impact ofinternational feminism on the goals, structures and of the dialecti- organisation is of particularsignificance. Further illustrations and the macro context cal mlationship betweenmicro organisational practices will emerge in discussionsin the next section.

INTERNAL PROCESSESSHARING RESPONSIBILITY The theoretical 'tools' which arebeing uscd to analyse theself-education the relationship betweenthe micro and macro within the case studies include within the or- organisational contexts, plus thefour integrated processes and par- ganisation: these are action,reflection, theoretical knowledge essential ticipatory democracy. It has beenargued that these four processes are and the con- for the development ofleadership in voluntary associations, comitant 'empowering ' of themembers. The internalorganisational processes of RCCF will be analysedwith these theoretical toolsin mind.

e 4.1 244 Part V: The South African Context

In the questionnaire whichwas administered to RCCT members,over 80% of the respondents to the questi4nriaire44rated the members' training course and the regular newsletter asvery important for their participation in RCCT. Both seem to havea strong influence on the cohesion of the organisation. Therefore they will providedthe initial focus for this section. Nonformal education Attendance of the annual trainingcourse is mandatory for prospective members of RCCT. It extends over seven or eight weekly, three hour sessions.It aims to give trainees sufficient knowledgeand skill to enable them to become integrated into the service functionsalmost immediately. It also introduces new members into the norms and values ofthe organisation. I attendeda training course in May 1984. Thefollowing description and analysis isbased on that experience. It apparently followedthe usual format. The course emphasised bothprocess and content. It was run by a team of twelve facilitators who, very consciously distributed responsibilityamongst themselves. The structure and the formatof the course was seenas an essential part of the learning process. The firstintroductory session provided trainees the opportunity to assess the course and decide whether to continuewith it. Certain values were clearlyemphasised: trust, support,confidentiality, respect for one another's opinions, self-discipline, and a commitmentto the course and the participants. The climate thatwas being created in the first two sessions, was one which showed a concern for solidarity amongst allwomen it was non-threatening, informal and provided emotionalsupport for participants. Participants worked in smallgroups, which remained constant for the duration of the course, and which encouraged a degree of intimacyamongst the trainees. Each group hadtwo facilitators. From the outset the devolution of responsibility was consciously encouraged. Each sessionwas coordinated by a different facilitator, each group had a turn to organisc the tea; eachgroup had responsibility for maintainingtheir physical space; andsome facilitators shared responsibility for achievingthe sct tasks in the allotted time.Tea- breaks and a final meeting at the end of each session encouragedthe development of cohesion between the smallgroups. The emphasis was on the drawing on and learning from theexperiences and feelings of the participants.The theoretical inputcame from a prepared dossier which was to be readat home. Each session builton the theory through experiential learning processes. For example, sexual violencewas enacted by facilitators through a short drama, and participants ingroups portrayed

ai 4 1. 245 -=-- Rape Crisis Cape Town only one of the violence in three minute sketchesin which they could use words, sounds, actions, wordsand actions. On anotheroccasion following counselling. A counselling skills were developedthrough role play and peer non-directive approach to counselling wastaught, and support and'uncondi- tional regard' for one another, wasencouraged in the groups.Experienceand humour were also feelings were stressed rather thantheory. Informality and environment. part of the learning amongst the The course succeeded ingenerating a feeling of solidarity I overheard women. Participants wereconscious of themselves as women, as much.' one woman say: 'I've neverenjoyed being with only women so promoted by Core values of the course seem tobe similar to the values in Part Two. the women's movement of theearly 1970s, which were discussed talk and They are: the importance of thepersonal, giving all people 'space to the oppression of act', individual autonomy,and collective concern for time was spent on an women. In the finalsession of the training course evaluation. is for them Once new members havecompleted the course the next stage administration processes. to become integratedinto the service delivery and Trainees It is at this stage that variousproblems are invariably encountered. monthly GMs move from the intensive,supportive experience of the course to speaking. and if they choose, to help withcounselling, bleeper duty or public by individuals The services occur as relativelyisolated activities, carried out facilitate the transi- or people in pairs.Various mechanisms are attempted to orientation, tion and integration process. Butcircumstance often dictate a task after which does not allow for a gradual entry.An example of this occurred coordinators the course I attended, three newmembers found themselves as integrated of various task groups at their firstGM. Ncw members weir also onto duty rosters right away. The training course concentrates onthe development ofcounselling skills. Other skills, such as publicspeaking, are taught at ad hocworkshops, usually and through the sub-committees.The counselling sub-committee meets monthly to discuss cases.The effective functioning, andthe educational clement within the sub-committees seemslargely dependent on the current the coordinator. The skills trainingworkshops are also often dependent on level of enthusiasm of the incumbentcoordinator. that the Forty-nine percent of respondents tothe questionnaire, believed skills workshops were too fewand far between. Theybelieved they were important for the sharing of skills. The training course, as notcd by over80% of the respondents, is avital certain of the norms and pan of the organisation.It introduces members into

i1 1 --1 f.. ' 246 Part V: The South African Context

values, and it develops theoreticalunderstanding of rapc, and teaches certain skills. It is particularly important,because of the voluntary nature of the organisation. It builds a sense of cohesionfor active members by encouraging a common political commitment i.e. fighting forthe rights of women. It tends to encourage a consensus view ofwomen in society, which plays down class, race or other cultural, political or ideologicaldifferences. After each training course it wouldseem that on average between 30% and 50% of the trainees do not becomeinvolved in the organisation for any length of time.

Job specialisation, jobrotation and the role of coordinator The position of coordinatoror paid worker has been discusscd in RCCT for several years. However itseems that both for financial reasons and possibly for ideological reasons, an appointment was not made until the end of1983. The position of coordinatorwas integral to the competing ideas and debates about 'democratic' practice whichwere alive in RCCT and other community organisations. One of the members whoplays a kcy role in policy formulation, stated in an interview45:

It was only when I attended the ZakheWorkshop on Self-Management that I realised it was OK to have a coordinator. I thought it was undemocratic. Ican remember writing a note to the other RCCTmember at the workshop, saying, we need a coordinator.

At the October GM, a month afterthe Zakhe Workshop,a proposal was adopted for the appointment of a coordinator, with her first task beingto raise funds for her own salary. When questioning what had broughtabout the change in the member's understanding of democracy, itseemed that the discussionat the workshop on the designation of authority had presentedthe member with an alternative perspective on democracy. Initially, shesaw 'democracy' in terms of collective leadership which she seemedto have interpreted as meaning 'everyone 1 does everything'. At the workshop the question of the delegation ofauthority was emphasised in the discussionon designated authority. Collective leadership could therefore alsomean thc delegation of authority by the collective to an individual. The key question then became that of accountabilityof the individual to the collective. Themember then came tosee the position of coordinator not as a betrayal ofcollective leadership, butan extension of it. She therefore recommended itsimplementation. 247 Rape Crisis Cape Town

of the coordinator'sposition, various parameters In the establishment accumulation of much powerby the were built in,which discouraged the only be held for a year, atwhich stage it would incumbent. The position could should be members. It was arguedthat different members be offered to other and skills, which thejob given the opportunity toobtain the work experience offered. The coordinator was toreport to the GMmonthly. chairperson, coordinators Rotation of the positions ofsecretary, treasurer, service duties, arc integralto the organisation's of sub-committees, and depends on the functioning. It often occurs on anad hoc basis, which of members. There is asimilar situation with enthusiasm, and commitment involvement, and specialisation. Members takeresponsibility for their own according to their ownneeds, abilities andinterests. On they fulfill functions member monopolising occasion, when membershave become aware of one One member describedwhat a particualarfunction, conflict has resulted. happened toher:46 else. It was a situation I sawbut I was doing more workin RCCT than anyone it. There were things todo and I did them....The didn't know what to do about 1982. There was one of our situation became tensionfilled. It all blew up in I realised that I had beentaking over, although this 'clear the air' meetings.... while. I was deeply upset at was not my intention.After that I withdrew for a that point. the air' meetings certain Through informal peer pressureand occasional 'clear organisation are maintained. of the norms of the for RCCT is the One of the most importantcommunication vehicles felt that the newslet- monthly newsletter. Ninety-eightpercent of respondents participation in theorganisation. The ter contributespositively to their different volunteers eachtime. The newsletters newsletter is prepared by two articles, often relating to contain notices, minutesof GMs, general interest newsletter carries thecreative feminism in general, or rapein particular. Each of the skills learntthrough this stamp of the rotatingeditors. The importance emphasised by severalmembers. process have been members men- In the interviews andthrough the questionnaires, many self-confidence and skills theyhad obtained throughtheir tioned the increased speaking skills, membership of RCCT. Specificmention was made of public counselling and lay-out skills. 248 Pan V: The South AfricanContext Participation inplanning and evaluation Planning and evaluationoccur during GMs and at special tion workshops. The policy and evalua- structures, as have been described,theoretically at least, allow for participationby the whole membership. ticipation in these In order to analysepar- structures more closely, availabledata on attendanceat GMs and workshopshas been analysed. Analyses of responsesto the questionnaire also inform thisdiscussion. From an analysis of attendance at twelve GMsduring the last twoyears, it appears that only13.5% of the membership attend more than halfthe GMs, and approximately 2%attend over90% of the meetings.average The attendance at GMs is 21%of the active membership. Attendance of GMs initself, does not necessarily participation in say much about decision-making. At theGMs certain mechanisms tegrated in order to are in- encourage active participation.One is the rotation of office-bearers, another is the construction ofthe agenda which allowscon- tributions fromanyone, a third, is the people to express space given at the end ofmeetings for feelings about themeeting itself. Because attendance, inevitably of fluctuating the coordinator, andthe few regular attenders, more items onto the agenda, feed and contributemore to discussion. Major policy decisions are nomially only taken aftera policy workshop which is heldon a Sunday afternoon, and is organised byan ad hoc committee. Notice of the workshopsare placed in the newsletter, telephoned. Attendance and membersare often at workshops is notnormally recorded, butsome indication can be gaugedfrom attendance 1984, where 41.5% at two workshops in Mayand June and 46% of themembership attended workshops held in respectively. At two October and November1981, 69% respectively. It seems and 41% attended therefore that attendanceat policy workshops is stantially higher thanat GMs. sub- The sub-committeeswhich organise the workshops playan important role in defining theagendas for discussions. They are usuallycomposed of interested volunteers.There seem to be certain members who serveon the committees moreregularly than others. For example, thesame member chaired thc meetingfor the appointment of the coordinator in1983, 'goal setting workshop'in for the 1983,and thc NationalConference in 1984. Another member, inan interview, believed that membership ofthe policy workshop organisingcommittees, was is on key very important. Sheensures that she sub-committees. Certainmembers appear to leadership roles. informally play key

f, Rape Crisis Cape Town 249

The important 'definers ofreality' in the organisation areradical Several of feminists. They influence the dominantculture in the organisation. friendship them live in a similar geographical al ea,they belong to interlinking networks, and they have similarpolitical leanings (i.e. they aresympathetic to the UDF). Many features of RCM' seem tobe similar to the 'young branch'of the women's movement as describedby JoFreeman.47 She describes the leader- all less, structureless groups which werepremised on the assumption that carrying out actions and women were equallycapable of making decisions, performing tasks, and formingpolicy; and that all women shouldbe able to on share, criticise and learn from oneanother's ideas equally. She then goes to describe some ofthe problems with `sttucturelessness'.It is worth quoting it in full: Although the ideology damned the ideaof leadership, the movement was not without leaders in the sense that somepeople influenced group decision-making the basis more than others. Any groupof people inevitably structures itself on of fnendship networks within it.If such a network within alarger group, is composed of peop:e particularlyinterested in that group, who share common The ideas and information, theybecome the power structure of the group. inevitably exclusive nature of thecommunications networks of friends is not a excluded women for cen- new phenomenon.Such informal relationships have part_ Much tunes from participationin integrated goups of which they were a of the energy of past women's movementsbas been directed to having the the structures of decision-making and theselection processes formalised so that exclusion of women could be confronteddirectly. It is particularly ironic that fighting the women's movement shouldinflict upon itself a problem it's been for centuries. When informal elites arecombined with a myth of `structurelessness' there can be no attempt to putlimits on the use of power because the means of doing so have beeneliminated. The groups thus have no them. They means of compellingresponsibility from 4he elites that dominate cannot even admit they exist. Within RCCT there appears to be asmall group of members, who arealso friends, who unofficially provide theleadership. hinder In the questionnaire, 36% ofrespondents mentioned factors which their participation. The `dogmatism' or'politics' of some members was mentioned by 10%; 5% felt inhibited to express'certain feelings'; 2% felt that the groundwork for decisions wasdone in friendship networks;18% mentioned the 'cliquish elements', theorganisation's 'narrow and exclusive base', or the particular 'norms andvalues' which can exclude orintimidate potential participants.

e ^. Ar10 250 Part V: The South African Context

The majority of membersare unmarried, without children, and are in their twenties or early thirties. The organisationdoes not caterApecifically for people who have family commitments.One oldet member" expressed the view that the youthfulness ofthe membership was a deterrentto older members. She recall:'d that therewere more older women in the organisation in previous years. She alsofelt that her participation insome of the social events was limited because shewas married, and many functionswere attended by only women. The limited participation ofsome members has been a recurringconcern in the organisation, and variousstrategies are developed at differenttimes to encourage participation. In the last twoyears 'maintenance workshops' have been run to improve communications and internal relationships amongstthe membership. One member referredto them as 'structured speak outs'. Recently assertiveness training workshopshave been run for interestedmem- bers. In addition the need for'arbitration skills' have been identified,in order to confront rather than avoid 'the inevitableconflict' between members. (July 1984 Maintenance Workshop) With these developments, thereappears to be at least some acknowledgement of the potential conflict in the situation. Therefore theproblems which are mentioned by Freemanwith structurelessness', while stillhaving relevance for the organisation, are perhaps beginning to be acknowledged.It is not clear though, whetherthe conflict is identified onlyon an interpersonal level, or whether political differences are also included. Thetendency has been up to now, to play down differences, and to emphasise thesolidarity of members as women.

Accountabilityinternal and external The structures within RCCT are designed to encourage accountabilityby the membership to one another. Collective leadership ispromoted, with a strong emphasis on the sharing of responsibility. Over ninetypercent of the respondents to thequestionnairemportant for theorganisation to be 'democratic'. When asked whattheir criteria were for judgingan organisation to be 'democratic', the following were the most popularresponses: 54% equal say in decision-makil'Ig; 23% high level of participationby members; 20.5% sharing responsibility in alltasks; 18%thc structure is non-hierarchical. All responses concerned the internal participatoryprocesses. Eighty percent of respondents, using theircriteria, defined RCCTas democratic. Although from the evidencepresented so far, thereappears to be a high degree of consensus on the appropriate organisational formfor RCCT, in the ;) At Rape Crisis Cape Town 251 responses to the question onwhy democracy was importantfor the organisation, certain ideological divisions wereapparent. From the responses there seemed tobe an almost equal divisionbetween social members who described democracy inrelation to the broader issues of transformation, and those who describedit primarily in relation tothe experience and development of individualparticipants. Some examples of the different responses are: individuals to exist in as a women's organisationit should strive for all freedom between men and we are fighting unequaland destructive relationships women, classes, powerfuland powerless must run the organisation in the mannerwe want for broadersociety cannot confront patriarchical,hierarchical structuros unless we are coming from somewhere else fcminism and democratic organisation gotogether essential to give women an opportunity toexperience non- hierarchical non-male dominated organisations must try alternatives to presentauthoritarian structures participants must experience their potential tobe heard, to act, to take responsibility, to feel effective give person a chance to voice heropinion there should be freedomof speech, thought and feeling fighting oppression is primary struggle rapeis part of this it is more educative and supportive not essential as long as itseffective and efficient Some of the members see the participatorystructure as being important for the growth and development ofindividual women, and others seem to see it as important for the developmentof a utopian th development of autopian theory and practice of a more equitable,less oppressive society. One person believed effectiveness and efficiency was moreimportant than a particular organisational form. These ideologicaldifferences have existed in the organisation for a long time, and theysurface periodically in debates over strategy. An example of someof the differences emerged afterthe National Conference in 1984. 252 Part V: The South African Context

At the National Conference certainresohltions, which were mentioned earlier, were adopted. Some membersof RCCT were unhappy with how the resolutions were adopted. Two memberspublished letters in the May 1984 newsletter. One spoke of the 'almost fascistelement that pressured women to conform or get out'. Thesame woman spoke of a caucus group whichwas pushing for disassociation from all Stateinstitutions. In the other letter, the author highlighted the apparent conflictover strategy:

Only certain paths areseen by some members as 'politically correct'ones and think that this has alienated andfrustrated many women who choose to work for change in other ways.... We havea duty to oppressed women that should not be superseded by a desire to be purist, superioror 'politically correct' these are the very patriarchical attitudes that we fight against.....

In response to the two lettersa third member, who also chaired the Con- ference, stated:

Personally I was incredibly excitedby the new ideas generated by theex- perience.... Working for change forrape survivors cannot happen in a vacuum but has to go hand in hand withother changes in our society. I don't feelas A. put it, 'We must fold RCCT and put it intothe national liberation struggle' but as the major internal movement for politicalchange we have to work with them.... For me the Conference showedthat we cannot only work with thestatus quo, but actively have to influence theway this country's future will develop. We came up with some guidelines at the Conference but strategiesmust be worked out by each centre. A policy workshop was held in Jul y 1984 to discuss the resolutionsof the National Conference. Except fora few minor alterations, the resolutionswere accepted by the thirty memberspresent. There appeared to be a higher degree of consensus than had beenexpected. One possiblereason for this was that some of those who may have opposed theresolutions never attended. The next stage was for the organisationto interpret the resolutions in terms of practice. The editorial of the October 1984newsletter, urged that, 'it is imperative that every projcct RCCT takes on is clearly situated within the context ofS.A. and that each one ofus strives to make sure that we know whatthe realities are for all women living in this country.'A public speaking workshopwas held in October to discuss the implications of the resolutions.Also some members have begun to explorethe implications for thenext training course. The need for contextualisafion of the work of RCCT, and forconfronting the Rape Crisis Cape Town 253

needing to be issues of racism, were highlighted atthe policy workshop, as integrated into the next course. The move from radical rhetoric to moreradical practice is still being been calls for explored in the organisation. Forthe past two years, there have more work to bedone with the more progressivecommunity and worker organisations. But there are a numberof structural constraints. Theyinclude, the other the on the one hand thesocial composition of the membership, on legislative barriers such as the GroupAreas Act. There are alsoideological barriers, some of which have beenmentioned. Feminism is rejected by many people on the left as bourgeois, andtherefore irrelevant. In addition,certain key feminist values in RCM', such asthe importance of personalexperience, regard for feelings, and honesty and openness,which are integral to their individual autonomy, may not beshared by the other organisations.The question for RCCT then is how-will they manage to draw closer tothese would organisations while still maintainingcertain of their principles? How the need for some degree ofexternal accountability affect theintemal participatory processes? In summary organisa- In the questionnaire 87% ofrespondents mentioned aspects of the tion that had encouraged theirparticipation, and their ablility to share responsibility. These ranged from thestructured activities like the.training course and the regular newsletter, tothe informal support and encouragement through friendships, occasional telephonecalls, guidance from older members, the supportive climate atmeetings, and the limited pressure put on people to participate. Several ofthese have already been discussed. Limitations for the sharing of resposibilityrelate to differences in skills, experience, time and commitment.There are some members who havemade RCCT their primary commitment, whileothers belong to several organisations, and work full-time. Certainmembers form part of interlinkedfriendship networks,live in a similar area, and thereforeparticipate informally in discussions and formulation of policy, moreactively than other members. Atten- dance at meetings also determinespossibilities for the sharing of responsibility. 254 Part V: The South African Context

WHAT HAS HELPED OR HINDEREDTHE SHARING OF RESPONSIBILITY?

Within this section the major issues which havehelped or hindered the sharing of responsibility within RCCT will behighlighted. Several of the issues have been mentioned above. This section will alsoserve as a summary of the case study. The specific issues which will be raisedhere are: action and reflection; conflict and consensus, theoreticalknowledge, and internal and external accountability. CONFLICT AND CONSENSUS The membership of RCCT is relativelyhomogeneous with regard to education, race classification, age, gender, andlanguage. As was illustrated above, there are differences amongst membersdoncerning political beliefs and, related to this, differences in interpretationsof feminism. However, there seems a degree of consensus on certain feminist principles.These relate particularly to organisationalprocesses. The participatory democratic otganisationalform of RCCT is similar in many respects to the 'young branch' of the Women'sMovement of the early 1970s, which was discussed in Part Two.RCCT promotes the practice of collective leadership and active parficipationby as many members as possible. One of the ways it does this is byattempting to give all members 'space to talk and act'. Education of the membership isone of RCCT's implicit goals. The assumption is made that throughparticipation and the sharing ofresponsibility for the total operation,women will develop leadership abilities, which include a commitment to feminism, withwhich they can continue to fight against women's oppression, in the broadersociety. Feminism, as used by RCCT, stresses the importance ofwomen being active in the world and is similar in many respects to the radicalhumanism which informed Freire's work. Feminism, as interpreted by differentmembers, seems to advocatepar- ticular organisational formsas 'belonging' to a feminist perspective. The organisational form which RCCT has adopted,is inclusive in that it stresses the participation of everyone, thereforeemphasising consensus amongst women, rather than the conflict. It focuses mainlyon internal processes rather than the external context. Yet thecommitment, to particular forms, while seeming to demonstrateconsensus, are in fact based on differing political viewpoints. These differenceswere illustrated above: some members were stressing the importance of democraticparticipation because of a commitment to individual freedom andequality of opportunity, while others 2 5 Rape Crisis Cape Town 255

ideology. These differen- saw the imp() lanceof the promotion of a collectivist confronted in RCCT. Similarly,the acceptance of the ces have not been of a principle of collective leadership,has not allowed the acknowledgement leadership clique, which as Freeman argues,is an inevitable reality in organisations. form Conflict within RCCT has emergedperiodically. Structures in the allow of the occasional 'maintenanceworkshops' have been introduced to bitterness'. In members the opportunity forairing grievances and 'speaking assertiveness training the maintenance workshopof July 1984 the need for point to and the development of 'arbitrationskills' was raised. This seems to and the need a geater awarenessin the organisation of conflict management have not subscribed to acknowledge conflict.Over the years members who to feminism have left theorganisation. The acceptance of afeminist perspec- of the tive seems to have become anunofficial criterion for membership organisation. The membership hastherefore become more homogeneous over time. Participatory democracy, as previouslydiscussed, requires a degree of openness and trust in order tosucceed in the sharing ofresponsibility amongst membership i.e. the membership. Within RCCTthe relatively homogeneous all petty bourgeois, predominantlywhite women, has assisted the process. of mem- The common feminist principleswhich are shared by the majority degree bers, have acted as 'cement'within the organisation, thus promoting a of solidarity amongst the members.In general, consensus has beenassumed amongst the members. One ofthe outcomes of this assumptionis that conflict of interests and politicaldifferences have rarely beenacknowledged. This illustrates an ambiguity within theorganisation between the assumed consen- and honesty with one sus on the one hand andthe commitment to 'openness another' on the other. In recentmonths there seems to have been a movement differences and amongst some memberstowards more openness about the potential conflict amongst themembership. THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE Nonformal education within RCC,T, asillustrated in the description of the theory. training course, emphasisesexperiential learning. It de-emphasises The theory that is taught relates to afeminist analysis of rape, and other specific issues concerning rape andthe rape survivor. The theory andpractice in the training course are integrated asfar as possible. The assumption ismade that all people have the capacity toparticipate fully, therefore the formatneeds organisational to be non-threatening, andperson-centred. Many aspects of the structures and practices reflectthis concern. Within the organisationthere 256 Part V: The South African Context

appears to have been little discussion concerningmacro-theoretical issues, such as the location of Rccr in thebroader context, or its location within the different feminist schools of thought.These issues have most often been raised at the national conference whichare attended by a small percentage of the total membership. The discussionsof macro-theoretical issues in all probability occur informallyamongst a small group of the organisation's ideologues, who often are thesame people as those who attend the national conferences. The lack of theoretical discussion withinRCCT may relate to the basic feminist framework which hasbeen adopted, and which is similar to that of radical humanism where experienceand feelings are more important than theory; where there is a belief in theequality of everyone and therefore opposition to the imposition ofa 'correct theory'. The lack of discussion of feminism itself perhaps reflectsthe need felt within the organisationto encourage solidarity amongst women whose aim isto challenge their own oppression. One of the implications ofthis is the tendency not to acknowledge the conflicting positions held by thedifferent membership on feminism. ACTION AND REFLECTION RCCT is composed of volunteerswho offer particular servicesto rape survivors and their families. The activemembers are involved in the provision of these services. They generallyrespond to requests for assistance. The committees which are in charge ofparticular service provision meetoc- casionally to plan and organisethe work. For example the counselling committee meets regularly toreport and discuss cases. Reports of thecom- mittees are made to the monthly GM.Occasional workshops for membersare also held to focus on either specificareas of activity, like public apeaking, or organisational issues in general. Thereare therefore some structures for reflection on activities. Regular and indepth reflectionon the work of RCCT is made difficult 4?,r a nuraber of reasons. Some of these relateto: the voluntary nature of their membership; the time lag betweenGMs; the very different levels ofinvolve- ment of the membership, witha few members devoting a great deal of time to the organisation. As discussed above,there is very limited critical reflection on issues which relate to the relationship ofRCCT to the broader context. ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNAL ANDEXTERNAL As previously discussed, thecomposition and the organisationalstructure of RCCT has promoted a high degreeof internal accountabilityamongst the membership. There has been limitedexternal accountability to outsidegroup- ings or institutions. Rape Crisis Cape Town 257

It seems that RCO' hasbeen able,to some degree, tobe insulated from the external context. On the onehand it has limited fmancialexpenditure other hand, the therefore does not need to beaccountable to funders. On the within which feminist framework gives themembers a common framework context. It they can operate, and which is notdirectly dependent on the local links them to the internationalfeminist community. This 'insulation' is however onlypartial. Examples have beenelaborated influence of the in the first section of the casestudy which demonstrate the An illustration is the macro context on themicro organisational processes. concern amongst theinformal leadership of RCCT totake up the challenge presented by the critics of bourgeoisfeminism. Some of themembership acknowledge that feminism inits present bourgeois formhas limited develop an relevance for the majority ofblack women. There is a desire to indigenous feminism which can beapplicable, but this in itself isproblematic focus of the for RCCT. The composition ofthe RCCT membership and the RCCT in organisation, militate against thepossibilities for a leading role by the development of a morewidely applicable feminism.These problems the however have not deterred membersfrom attempting to move closer to begin to develop their more radical,extra-parliamentary movement, and so services to meet the needs of awider constituency. While there has been limitedaccountability to external groupingsby within RCCT, the external context hasinfluenced to a degree what is possible and RCCT. The proliferation of radicalcommunity and worker organisations the formation of UDF and CALhave created the climate whichhas enabled leadership of the more radical groupingwithin the organisation to gain the the RCCT. In Part Six judgements willbe offered as to the value of thetheoretical tools for the analysis of self-educationwithin community organisations.

j 258 Part 1The South African Contica

NOTES TO PART V Chapter Twelve 1. `Zakhe' is a Xhosa word meaning 'buildyourself'. 2. 'Contradiction' I defme in A. Gouldner'sterms 1980 THE TWO MARXISMS London: Mac Milan Pressp. 169

'I use contradiction to referto a situation in which persons pursuing projects encounter alternatives, such that the choice ofone alternative necessarily entails some loss of, or placessome limit on, the use of the other.' 3. The research processeswere recorded ma diary: pages DP 161- DP 932 4. For example see the talks presentedat the National Forum in June 1983. There was also an anonymous paper being circulatedat the time which outlined perspectives on "The National DemocraticStruggle'. 5. The term 'progressive' is usedto refer to people or organisations on the broad left of the political spectrum. 6. An incident which usefully illustrates theimportance of following the informal code occured at the time the PRgroup was preparing for the workshop. In early May 1983 a group of radical academicsat UCT, who were active members of community organisations, issuedan invitation to a number of resource agencies to discuss problems and issues which relatedto the agencie.3' roles and their relationships with the mass based communityorganisations. I was visiting one organisation at the time the invitation arrived.There were strong reactions from three members present. For example:Why didn't they work through their organisations? Who gave thema mandate? Who do they think they are? On the evening of the scheduled meeting letters from two organisations, andrepre- sentatives from others, questioned thelegitimacy of the group to call sucha meeting. The meeting disintegratedwith no further action planned. 7. CFCIA later changed itsname to Veritas. 8. B. Hirson 1979 YEAR OF FIRE,YEAR OF ASH London: ZED Press,p. 84. 9. Black Review 1974175,p. 120. 10.This was suggested in interviews with two of the committee memberson 30-8-84 and 15-8-84. 11. For example the SACC had helda consultation meeting in Pietermaritzburg in 1978 where a local economist presenteda paper: J. Mame "The Dimensions and Causes of Unemployment andUnderemployment in South Africa'. 12.See the pamphlet 'Community Action', September, 1977; publishedby FSD for a description of thesquatter struggles. 13.FSD Annual Report 1978,pages 18 and 19. 14.The names of the members havebeen changed. . 259 Notes to Pan V

interviews (24/8/82) with twomembers of the executive 15.This point was made in at the time. EDUCATION MATERIALSNo date. 16.See Zakhe COOPERATIVE main funder from Holland:The funders have 17.From 1980 Zakhe has had one the organisation. from all available data had a veryamicable relationship with 18.Interview 11/9/84 three of the staff inSept.1982 19.Mentioned in interviews with March 1983, Vol 4, No2, for a description ofthe 20.See Grassroots Newsletter KTC struggle. Mentioned in interviews withall 6 staff in Sept. 1982 21. full evaluation is based on myparticipation during the 22.The description of the two weeks. 23.Interview with Bill on the11/9/84 24.Interview with Sindi 8/10/84 25.Ibid. 26.Ibid. the first coordinator ofZakhe. 27.Interview 30/8/84 with Merle Chapter Thirteen into the text. The references for this casestudy have been incorporated Chapter Fourteen chosen because of theirspecific contributions or 28.The six interviewees were was a key foundingmember, two joined perspectives on the organisation: one have from UCT's Women'sMovement in 1979 and as part of the group and is an important continued to be centrallyinvolved, one joined in 1981 withdrew from the organisationbecause of ideologue in the organisation, one active once disillusionment with some of thepractices - she has now become older, married members. more, and the sixth personwas one of the few SOUTH AFRICA London: 29.C. Walker 1982 WOMENAND RESISTANCE IN Onyx Press Ltd. p. 7 control' in SOUTH AFRICAN 30.J. Cock et al 'Womenand changing relations of REVIEW ONE Johannesburg:Ravan Press p. 280 Organising Women' inNUSAS 1983 BEYOND 31.For example, TWO NUSAS REFORM THE CHALLENGEOF CHANGE Cape Town: is bitter you do something":Women and sqatting in 32.J. Cole '"When your life the role of women in the Western Cape, - tracingthe origins of Crossroads and its struggle.' Dept.ofEconomic History UCT

'jp 260 Part V: The South African Context

33. Articles in SOLIDARITYCAPE ACTION LEAGUE and June/July 1984 NEWS April/May 1984 34.This was how the older members described thenewcomers. 35.The history of the UCT Women's Movement hasnot yet been written. Insights into its historywere obtained from interviews with two people whowere members in the mid to late1970s. 36.An example given to me in the interviews,of the popularliterature, was S. Rowbotham 1974 WOMEN,RESISTANCE AND REVOLUTION guin USA: Pen- 37.'Feminist' in this context is used to describewomen who are concerned with the seruggle for women'srights. 38.The organisation has an anti-apartheid ethos- this is reflected in newsletters e.g. Feb. 1983 and in Minutes e.g. 24/10/81. I am assuming thatthe members feel comfortable withthat ethos. 39. Interview with A,a founding member,on 10/5/84. 40. Perlman quoted in ChapterFour 41. SOUTH AFRICANOUTLOOK Nov.1984 42.An interview with B., who joined RCCT in 1978,on 16/5/84 43. An interview with C.,who joined RCCT in1980, on 20/5/84 44.The questionnaireswere sent out to the 104 active through the newsletter. and inactive members There were 39 i.e. 37.5%returned. See appendix. 45.Interview with Cop. cit. 46.Interview with D., who joined RCCT in 1980,on 6/7/84 47. J. Freeman 1975 THEPOLITICS OF WOMEN'S 41. Longman Inc. LIBERATION New York: 48.Interview with E., who is one of the few members withchildren, on 6/7/84 PART VI

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

....01,41 Chapter Fifteen

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The purpose of Part Six isto interpret the data that has been presentedin order to achieve the stated aim of the investigationwhich is:

To describe and explain the educationalpractices within the communityorganisations at a particular historicaljuncture.

The theoretical tools, whichwere developed from both the literature and from the initial period of participant observation in the researchprocess, will be used to guide the discussions.The 'tools' included: the relationship between macro and microorganisational contexts, and the fourintegrated organisational processes action, critical reflection, theoreticalknowledge and participatory democraticpractices. The discussion in this chapter willfocus on the two majorareas of concern for the case studies that is the relationship betweenthe macro and micro organisational contexts, and the internalfunctioning of thc organisations.The value of the analytical tools for the analysis of self-educationwithin community organisations will beassessed in the process,as will the significance of the self-educational practicesin relation to theirmacrocontext.

THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN THE MACRO CONTEXT AND THEMICRO ORGANISATIONALCONTEXT While this study has acknowledged from the outset the importantinfluence of the broadcr contcxt on the internal processes within organisations,it has also acknowledged that it isvery difficult to demonstrate this dialectical relationship. Thc ways usedto show the relationships have included following: the 263 Discussion and conclusion

political and economiccontexts in 1. A description ofthe broader social, developed; which the threeorganisations originated and philosophies of theorganisations 2. A detailed accountof the origins and which link back to thebroader context; organisations in terms ofgender, 3. A description ofthe membership of the persuasion and socialclass; age, raceclassification, political within of changes in thegoals,strategies and structures 4. A detailed history related back todevelopments the organisationsthese changes were also in the social context; the democratic theorieswhich were being 5.Linked to (4), was a focus on organisations at diferenttimes; as democratictheories applied within the micro level and the pertain both to the wayrelationships are ordered on a focus would illuminate broader ordering of societyit was hoped that this and finally a relationshipbetween the two levels; incidents' which were commonto all three case 6. A focus on 'critical UDF and CAL the impact of the growthand development of the studies provided a useful organisations during theperiod of the study on the within community focus, as did the changing useof the term 'democracy' organisations in Cape Town atthe time. the relationshipbetween Within the literaturediscussed in Part Three, the broader context, wasstressed. However, the educational practices and is the relationship beyondstating that education theorists do not elaborate on impor- linked to political action.Freim describes the political and should be he does not 'transitional epoch' foreducational practices but tance of the in the development ofthe elaborate explicitly on this.The common element for the case studiesin Cape educational practices forall three theorists and hegemony in each of thesocieties Town seems to be thecrisis of bourgeois Brazil in the early 1960s,the being written aboutItaly in the early 1920s, South Africa in the late1970s. It is beyond the scope USA in the 1960s, and crises, although it would of this thesis to attempt todescribe the nature of these order to understand morefully what seem to be animportant future project in educational practiceshave taken the relationships arebetween the forms that and the broader contcxts. micro educational prac- For the moment, therelationships between the studie:, and the broader contextwill be elaborated by tices within the case strategies listed above. The focusing on speci fic aspzctsthat emerge from the first focus will fall on: 264 Part VI: Discussion andconclusion

The origins ofthe organisationsin relation to the context Within Part Four of this study the broadersocial, political, economicand ideological milieuxwere described out of which the grew and in which the community agencies organisations operated. Theimportance of understanding the establishmentof the organisations and economic within their broader political contexts was illustratedparticularly in the cases of CRIC Zaklie where both and were partially established inresponse to the economic and political circumstancesat the time. CRIC was established at a time when specificinterest groups within private enterprisewere wanting to promote reform through theencouragment of a variety of privateinitiatives. They were wanting to promotecoloured upward social mobility.It was also a time when, after a period ofsevere State repression, radicalswere looking for ways of promoting hegemonic educational alternative counter- initiatives. Zakhewas established by radicalcommunity workers fromthe BCM, the church and private communitywork agencies whowere responding to the escalating unemployment situation. The BC members appearedto see it as an oppportunity the BCM, which had to continue the work of suffered severe setbacks with the banning organisations in 1977. Some of their members also saw itas an opportunity topromote radical consciousness-raisingeducational activities. The origins and the social location of theorganisations clearly influenced their goals,structures and strategics. In CR1C the tensionbetween the 'progressive' communitywork and business goals was shown topermeate the organisation. The struggleover organisational form workers and the older between the community more traditional trustees(who were business academic leaders) in FSD and demonstrated the differencesin values andnorms between staff andtrustees. The CRIC to conform to traditional structure developed out ofFSD; it had forms which would beacceptab!e to the funders the FSD trustees.The one change and to the traditionalstructure, as epitomised by FSD, was theinclusion of the director and a staff representativeas full members of the controllingBoard. This reforrn the 'community went some way to satisfying work' ethos whichsupported the participatory notion of everyone democratic being involved in alllevels of the organisation. In the case of RCCT the origin of theorganisation determinedto a large degree its form and itsstrategies. As described, similar feminist RCCT was modelledon organisations in NorthAmerica and Western norms and values were similar Europe. The to those of the 'youngbranch' of the Women's Discussion and conclusion 265

Movement described by Freeman (seePart Two). The predominantview of with 'good' organisational practice amongstthe RCCT members resonated particular the forms adopted by other rapecrisis organisations elsewhere. A into feminist view of 'good' organisationalpractice was adopted uncritically the Cape Town context. The formof 'good' organisation had thusbecome reified; the form was used in anahistorical way which did not take context theory, into account. The particularparticipatory democratic organisational which resonated in part with othernotions of 'good' organisationalpractice amongst community workersand activists in Cape Town at thetime, became a determining force in thedefinition of RCCT. In Zakhe the initiators of theorganisation were influenced in partby the BCM, radical Christian groups andthe theory and practice ofcommunity work. After the first yr ar they werealso influenced by the theory andpractice being of producer and consumer cooperatives.With the initiators of Zakhe all community workers there was atendency, in line with the dominant community work ethos, for the inclusion ofthe staff on the controlling structure. However, with the internal differencesbetween members a struggle for power developed which culminated in structuralchanges which swung power in favour of the staff. From these illustrations from theempirical material the origins of the organisations are shown to be inextricablylinked to prevailing political, ideological, economic or historical forceswithin the society. Along with other determining factors theory was seen also tobe a material force. The origins of organisations were shown toplay an important role in definingthe structures or strategies within theorganisations; they are thus crucial to the full understanding of self-educationalpractices. The biographies of the members will bediscussed next as an illustration of the linkage between macro and micro contexts.

Profiles of the membership andthe broader context Factors which were described asinevitably having some influence on the functioning of the organisations were thosewhich related to the members themselves. Within the cases the importanceof ideologies, race classification, social class, and political affiliations, were someof the important features which seemed to have made an impact onorganisational practices. It was however beyond the scope of the investigation to measureor compare the impact of the different elements onorganisational practice. Some general observations can be made.

f 266 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

Within the thiee service andresource agencies it was not suprising to find that the members had relatively highlevels of education. The literature had identified the members of voluntaryassociations as being predominantly middle class; also the agencies hadservice functions which presupposed certain knowledge, skills and experienceif their objectives were to be achieved. While several of the membersof CRIC and Zakhewere from working class backgrounds, andsome of them might have retained a woriCmg class orientation, it could be arguedthat their educational levels located them within the petit bourgeoisie. The composition of the membershipaccording to race classification varied with Zakhe from 1982 onlyemploying blacks, RCCT attracting predominantly white women, and CRICdeliberately employing coloured, white and African staff. The possiblepotential impact of the racially differen- tiated membership on theoperation of the agencies, was difficultto assess, and was an issue beyond thescope of this investigation. No attempt atany analysis has therefore beenmade on that level. The only impactof race classification on the members which could be stated with any certaintywould be of historical significance. For example, members' race classificationwould in all likelihood have exposed them to different political traditionsand ideologies as in the case of certainof the coloured members whowere exposed to the NEUM, and most of the blackmembership who had been influenced to a degree by the BCM. Howevereven these observations need to be made with circumspection, as the data from the CRIC study revealed thatdifferen- ces in political affiliation cutacross any 'racial' divisions. Some black and white staff supported thenon-racial tendency, while otherswere not concerned with 'party' politics, and still other black staff tended towardsthe BC position. In RCM' the composition of the predominantly white, femalemember- ship has affected what is possible within the organisation. Forexample, the possibilities for RCCT to playa leading role in the development ofan indigenous feminism, which isable to answer the criticisms ofthose on the left who perceive Rccr as a bourgeois feminist organisation,are remote because of the structural locationof their membership. The data showed that theattempts of Rccr to move ina more radical direction have been fairly difficult. While the empirical data concerning the membership hasnot revealed any degree of causality between featuresof the membership and internal organisational practices, it isreasonable to assume that the biographiesof the members impacted on the functioning of the organisationsto varying degrees at different times. The impact ofrace classification, political ideologies, social

411 t , Discussion and conclusion 267

need to be studied far moreclosely if any detailed class, and gender would all be ob- understanding 3f their influence onorganisational practices was to importance of the tained. It is thus impossiblefrom this study to gauge the practices. different characteristics ofmembership on self-educational GOALS, STRATEGIES,STRUCTURES AND DEMOCRATIC THEORIES the goals, stratefles Within the case studies adetailed account of changes to between the micro and structures was givenin order to identify linkages theories organisational practices and thebroader context. The democratic gain insight which were operative at differenttimes were identified in order to change within the into the underlying assumptionsbeing made about social organisations. In the process ofanalysing the empirical datathe question of democratic accountability became an importantindicator of the predominant studies. theories. It raised the importantissue of authority within the case of accountability This discussion will focusprimarily on the the questions discussed in Parts of the case studies to external groupsor individuals. As was for a number of the Two and Three, this questionhas been an area of interest theorists. Freire, Gramsci, Jackson, andLovett were some of thetheorists who linked to broader emphasised the importance ofeducational practices being political activity. However, it wasonly Gramsci who spoke in moredetailed terms of how this shouldbe done. the political At times in Gramsci's writingshe stresses the central role of party as the most importantagent for the developmentof organic intellectuals needed to be of the working class. He arguedthat critical, intellectual activity extended in close linkage with thepractice of the counter-hegemonic move- the Factory ment. At other times,particularly in his earlier writings on Councils, he tended to stress theimportance of the spontaneityand the central role for the autonomy of the Councils.At that stage he did not see a trade unions and the political party.Thus thcre is ambiguity inGramsci's writings on the role of the political party.Gombin1 recognised this ambiguity, between the and has argued that Gramscidid not fully resolve the tension need for spontaneity on the onehand and political organisation ohthe other. The empirical data provides usefulinsights into the relationship between the agencies and the external'party'. The issue of externalaccountability histories, and amongst the agencies haschanged at different times in their the organisa- reflects changing perceptionsof democratic practices within tions. A useful way of observingthe ongoing process ofnegotiation and 268 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

contestation of the meaning of 'good'organisational practice, is to focuson the meaning of authority in theorganisations. At times authority has been placed primarily with individualsor with the collective, and on occasion with an outside doctrine or 'party'. A closeranalysis of authority within the agencies gives useful insights intothese changes, and also into the general perceptions concerning the agencies'roles in social change. Within CRIC authority hadbeen delegated by the Boardto the director. A dual system developedover time, where the director increasingly delegated authority to the individual members,and to the group as a whole. Internally structures were built which ensureda degree of individual and collective responsibility, and which limitedthe authority of the director. Generally,in both its services and in itsinternal organisation, CRICseems to have emphasised the authority ofindividuals. It has seen socialchange primarily through a change in individuals.Particularly in the earlieryears, CRIC has seen the change in attitudes coming throughsocial contact. A consensus rather than a conflict view of societyhas thus been observable. Onthe other hand, a degree of authority has resided withthe non-racial staff collective. The placing of authority with the staff seems to have been partiallymotivated by an attempt to develop a vision of 'a hopedfor' future society; or in Grarnsci's terms it could be described as attempting to build the embryonic formof the new society in the womb of the old; or in Illich's terms, building acounter- cultural collective in the present to serve as a model for thefuture. Within their dual structure both the liberal representative democratictheory and the participatory democratic theorycan be identified within CRIC (see chapter 3). In RCCT authority in decision-making has generally beenplaced with the collective. Authority has been delegated officiallyto individuals with regard to the implementation of services. Collectiveleadership, with the anarchist implication of 'no authority' was emphasised. Thistendency was described in Part Two and refersto the tendency amongst the membership to want to delegate authority not to individuals. But as Lovett2was quoted as saying, it is not the delegation of authority which is theproblem, but the derivation of authority. Authority in RCCT has also, invery general terms, been placed in 'feminism', the meaning of which hasremained very broad, and ill-defmed. RCCT seems generally to have seen its role insocial change in terms of individual conversion to feminism. Theprocess of organisation, as with CRIC, seems to be basedon the desire amongst some of the membership to build in thepresent a vision of a possible, notion of political practice more egalitarian society. A which was informed by theparticipatory democratic theory outlined above was dominant withinthe organisation. Discussion and conclusion 269

In Zakhe authority was initiallydelegated by the Executive to the coor- in an dinator, who attempted to share thatauthority with other staff members the con- ad hoc manner. Later authority wasplaced in the collective, with comitant tendency towards 'noauthority'. As the focus of Zakhe'swork changed in the context of the increase inoppositional community and worker organisations in the wider society, someauthority was placed with the representatives of organisations that werebeing served. Zakhe formed a part of the newUDF political grouping. Authority was placed, both through the consultationcommittee and through direct involvement by staff in UDF and itsaffiliated organisations, in the emergent'party'. Zakhe's perception of its role in socialchange appeared to shift as was illustrated in the change in the delegationof authority. When authority was placed in the staff collective changeseemed to be perceived primarily in terms of individual change of attitude.More recently, Zakhe has placed some authority in the external 'party' i.e. theyhave given certain powers to the consultative committee which is made upof representatives from UDF affiliates. Change has been perceived ascoming about through collective action. The different interpretations of 'good'organisational practice within the three agencies have had importantimplications for the participatory democratic processes within the organisations.The internal practices will be discussed in more detail later. For the momentit is sufficient to note that from the empirical data it seems that CRIChas been consistently most able to achieve a sharing of responsibilty amongstall the staff. CRIC has only been partially dependent on external factors forthe achievement of its goals. The strength of the commitment to internalaccountability seems to have reinforced and encouraged the achievementof internal process goals. These in turn have enhanced the possibilitiesfor the sharing of responsibility inCRIC. The organisation has not been accountable toexternal parties in any structured way except to sponsorsthrough the Board. Zakhe, unlike CRIC, has becomeincreasingly dependent on the developments within the external contextfor the formulation and implementationof its service strategies. It has been moredependent also on collective leadership, which has been inclined to lead to theanarchist tendency of 'no authority'. This resulted in authority being delegatedin an ad hoc waythis seems to have contributed to a lack of clarity amongst somestaff concerning their roles and functions. The external accountabilityof the organisation seems to have detracted from its ability to be accountableinternally. This in turn has affected the possibilities for the sharing ofresponsibility amongst its members. Zakhe has shifted from a form of liberalrepresentative democracy, to pardcipatory 270 Pan VI: Discussion and conclusion

democracy and then to a combination of participatory andrepresentative this latter development moved themnearer to the Marxist view as described in Part 'No. The empirical data raises very important questions aboutthe practical application of the theory propounded by several theoristsincluding Gramsci, which has stressed both internal, democraticprocesses and the commitment to the counter-hegemonic political movement. Thereappears to be a fundamental contradiction between political action andinternal participatory democracy. For Gramsci an important responsibility for thedevelopment of organic intellectuals lay with the political party. At the timeof the Factory Councils it lay with the Councils themselves whogave political education to the workers. In the South African contexta central role for the political party in the education of the organisational members isproblematic. On one hand political`parties' which appear to have thesupport of a large percentage of the population, like the ANC, have been forced intoexile and are unable to operate openly. On the other hand, there are several competingpolitical tendencies amongst the broad left in Cape Town.Therefore no one political 'party' exists which can openly facilitate thedevelopment of coherent theoretical understandings amongsta broad cross section of the membership of organisations. Publicationsare produced by the range of 'parties', and occasional nonformal educational activitiesare run for their membership and other interested persons. In the final analysis,however, the political education of members of organisations ismost often the responsibility of individuals and/or the organisations themselves (many ofwhom are in turn affiliated to the 'parties'). The repressive nature of the South AfricanState and the political divisions which exist (for example between the NEUMand the UDF), are two factors which seem to inhibit the potentially significant,direct educational role of the 'party' in relation to the agencies. Thesetwo factors also raise serious questions about the wisdom of agencies becomingtoo directly linked to a particular 'party'or faction. As the Zakhecase study illustrates, accountability to one grouping has important implications for theorganisation's ability to provide services for a broad grouping of theoppressed people. One of the possible implications of close linkageto a 'party', and one which could be observed at a point not only in Zakhe butalso in agencies like Grassroots Community Newsletter, is the possibility ofhaving to service an ever decreas- ing number of otganisations and individualsas the political factions split into ever smaller groupings.'

1:: f Discussion and conclusion 271

to While it has been argued abovethat close linkage to a 'party' seems olganisation to have negadve consequences bothin terms of the ability of the services share responsibility amongst itsmembers, and in terms of providing data has for a broader cross section of theoppressed people, the empirical is to shown that external accountabilityis important if the organisation maintain an advocacy role in relation tosocial change. CRIC has tendexl to services focus most of its energy on the maintenanceof the high standard of its and on internal staff development.Both these foci can beconservative A practices in the eyes of groups that place ahigh priority on political action. similar tendency is observable inRCM'. It seems that if agencies aim both todevelop their staff and to contribute with social change, opportunities have tobe created to ensure a relationship that the the progressive political groupingswhich will not necessarily imply organisations 'belong' to a faction or'party'. This type of relationshiphas developed occasionally through, forexample, members in their individual capatities being members of differentgroupings and through consultation with political groupings at thetime of annual planning andevaluation. Organisational practices need to bereassessed regularly in the light of macro socio-political developments asorganisational decisions imply political decisions. This issue will be discussed morefully in the next section. Focusing on the questions of authorityand accountabiity (both central components of the democratictheories) has proved very fmitful inidentifying linkages between internal micro practicesand macro social theory underlying these practices. Thus, democratictheories have provided a vehicle forthe have unpacking of certain underlyingassumptions about social change. They also allowed the observation ofongoing negotiation and contestationaround the issue of democracy. The final part of this sectionwill focus on 'critical incidents'which illustrate further the linkages betweeninternal organisational practices and prevailing social conditions at particulartimes in the organisations' history.

CRITICAL INCIDENTS 'DEMOCRACY' data for The three community agencieswhich have provided the empirical the study, have all been operatingin Cape Town at a particularhistorical 'moment'. It has been at a time ofsociai crisis when a popular-democratic discourse amongst extra-parliamentaryopposition groups had reemerged. As the empirical evidence has shown,each of the agencies had beeninfluenced

fve 272 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

in different ways by theemergence of the new community and worker organisations. It appears that the popular-democraticdiscourse which accom- panied the growth of thenew organisations resonated with the prevailing community wort discourse whichwas prevalent within agencies. Zakhe, CRIC and RCCT had all shownconcern to facilitate the personal development of their niembers through varyingforms of participation. Forms of participatory democracy hadbeen tried in each of the organisationsbefore 1980. There was a concern particularlywithin Zakhe and CRIC to develop black leadership, while RCCTwas committed to the development ofwomen. In the organisations before 1981there had been no explicit mentionof 'democracy'. In Zakhe the organisationalmodel which was inspirationalwas the cooperative. It was late in 1981 that the word'democracy' was used in Zakhe for the first time to describe cooperative organisation. In CRIC late in 1981 therewas the first explicit concern for'democratic' processes within the organisation. This was at the time of theappointment of their new director. Fromthen on conscious and calculated actionswere taken to improve the 'democratic' functioning of CRIC. The term thushad a material impact. In RCCTin 1979 with the influx of new members from NUSAS and the Women'sMovement, there were the beginnings of a more explicit and ongoing debate aboutthe need for a 'democratic' organisation.This debate had become increasingly important in the organisation and from1983 was more clearly influencedby events within the broader politicalarena. In 1980 with the publication of Grassroots Community Newsletterin Cape Town, and with the proliferationof popular struggles and organisations, the counter-hegemonic groupingsbegan to use 'democracy'as a unifying slogan. Content was &In o the slogan through ongoing strugglesaround both theory and practick Themeaning of 'democracy'was debated and negotiated continuously. VithinZakhe, CRIC and RCCT theempirical data has shown that changes occurred in the interpretation of 'democracy'which have affected organisational practices. The struggles around'democracy' were thus manifested in concrete changesto practices. These were discussed above. The use of the term 'democracy'was a symbol of solidarity amongst those organisations which perceived themselves to be 'progressive'. Zakhe,CRIC and RCCT were in different ways established as oppositional to thestatus quo. There was a desire on the part ofseveral of the members of thethree agencies to be aligned with the counter-hegemonic groupings suchas the UDF. Discussion and conclusion 273

'Democracy' therefore seems to havebecome an importantideological msonated with concept for each of the agencies.On the one hand 'democracy' other hand, discourses which already existedwithin the organisations. On the certain for some members it was an importantunifying concept, which linked oppositional organisations within aloose counter-hegemonic movement. FORMATION OF UDF AND CAL between the macm An important illustration ofthe dialectical relationship impact of the forma- context and the microorganisational processes, was the tion of UDF and CAL on thethree organisations Zakhe, CRICand RCCF. of each This illustration demonstrates thevarying degrees of permeability agencies"organisational boundaries'. Zakhe was most directly involvedwith activities relating to theestablishment and the ongoing work ofthe UDF. For Zakhe theestablishment of work. UDF identified more clearly theorganisations with whom it was to During 1983 the political differences amongst'progressive' political groupings reemerged. (see Part Four)Political camps were more clearlydefined. Accountability for Zakhe began to meanaccountability to the main organisations within the UDF. Zakhe'sservices came to be directed to aspecific set of organisations. The structure of theorganisation was altered to build in a mechanism of accountability to UDFaffiliated organisations. As the links came to be strengthenedbetween Zakhe and UDF the moreimportant accountability to the external groupingbecame. Concern for internal accountability amongst some of the membersappeared to decrease proportionately. Within the PR group the effectsof the reemergence of thedivergent political groupings was also felt. Justprior to the launching of UDF, andbefore the 'Self-Management Workshop', oneof the members of the group withdrew. Only later did the Grouprealise that the membef- had become involved in CAL. he no longer felt that hecould remain in the PR group which consisted of predominantly UDF orientatedpeople. This was in keeping with political groupings a general realignmentof people within the newly formed at this time (see Part Four). In CRIC the launching of UDF andthe concomitant reemergence of the different political groupings also resultedin political differences amongst the staff being highlighted more than before.The political developments within the broader community provided theopportunity for differences amongststaff and debated to be aired more easily. Forexample, the issue of race' was raised amongst staff on different occasionsfrom 1982 onwards. The issue ofCRIC's accountability was also raised at that timewith some black staff challenging the organisation's relevance to theblack community. 274 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

While CRIC was affected to a d.:gree by the externalpolitical developments amongst counter-hegemonic groupings, the evidenceseems to indicate that its service commitments, its fundingsources, its staff and its modus operandi all seemed to temper any strong, direct influenceby these groupings on its daily practices. Accountability to the internal staffmembers remained an important feature of CRIC's organisational practice. RCCT was also affected by the launching of UDF.The Rccr newsletter carried an editorial commenton the launching of UDF in which members were encouraged to support the new political initiative. Thepolitical climate that prevailed at the time of the launching ofUDF appeared to give the more radical members a degree of influence withinthe organisation which they did not necessarily have before. The UDFgave white radicals a political home. It encouraged white radicals to identifythemselves with the national struggle for liberation. Within RCCT in 1983for the first time the question was raised concerning the relationship betweenrape and other forms of 'structural violence'.The radical members have been ableto become the dominant force within the organisation. It is reasonableto assume that the general political climate assisted this development. The rhetoricof RCCT has become more radical since 1983, although the changesin the practices of the organisation have been less obvious. From the data it is clear that the UDF madea discernible impact on RCCT. However this impact was tempered, itseems, because of the service commitments of the organisation, the commitmentto the struggle for the rights of women first and foremost, and the commitmentto a fairly coherent feminist ideology which acted as 'cement' for themembers internally, and linked the organisation internationally intoa diverse network of feminist organisations. The RCCT members thereforewere not solely dependent on the developments within the local environmentto sustain their membership and their primary activities. Thus the build up to and the formationof UDF affected each of the agencies to varying degrees and ina variety of ways. The goals and functions of the organisations, plus the dominantideological commitments within the organisations, appeared to be importantfactors influencing the extent of the impact that the formation of CAL andUDF had on the functioning of the organisations. The two 'critical incidents' haveshown the permeability of the organisations' boundaries to outsideinfluences. They also showed that the degree of influence/permeability isgoverned by a number of factors suchas organisational goals and politicalcommitments. 275 Discussion and conclusion

In summary has shown clearly thatthe macm context exerts very The discussion thus far The ideological, the real influence on the microorganisational processes. milieux in which theorganisations operate deter- political, and the economic The mine to a large degreewhat is possible withinthe organisations. also play a determiningrole. Thus the dialec- biographies of the membership for the study of self- tical relationship betweenthe macroAnicro contexts organisations is crucial. education within community practices within the In order to 'describe andexplain' the self-educational and micro contexts needed case studies therelationship between the macro The analysis of thisrelationship was recognised tobe to be identified. be anticipated methodologically problematic as nocausal relationship could selected earlier i.e. the between the different levels.The 'tool', which was needed to be refined ifit relationship between the macroand micro contexts, This was done in a numberof ways, i.e. by focusing on was to be useful. this accountabilty and ongoing contestation overdemocratic theory (within pivots for an understandingof this aspect), by authority provided useful studying both the studying the origins of theorganisations which included contemporary, common context and the originalmembers, and by identifying 'critical incidents' to act asfoci for analysis.

INTERNALORGANISATIONALPROCESSES SHARINGRESPONSIBILITY argued that self-educationwithin the case studies has In this study it has been integral to the consisted of informal educationalpractices which have been has been promoted organisational processes. Forexample informal education structures, through arrangementsfor ongoing through the decision-making sharing of skills planning and evaluation, andthrough mechanisms for the nonformal education and information. Self-educationhas also consisted of skills training strategies which has taken the formsof workshops, meetings, and so on. had both instrumen- The data has shown that eachof the cases studies has been concerned with the tal and expressive goals.The expressive goals have underlying assump- development of the people withinthe organisations. The each of the agencies isthat the development ofthe tion that has been made by and the ad- members will occur throughparticipation in the management

1 4, 276 Part VI : Discussion and conclusion

ministration of the work. The sharing of responsibilityamongst the membership has therefore beenan important expressive goal. In this section the self-education within thecase studies will be critically analysed by probing theempirical data with the help ofthe four integrative conceptual tools i.e.participatory democraticpractices, theoretical knowledge, action and reflection. Within the literature,as discussed in Parts Two and Three, theorists have argued that these fourcomponents are essential for the development of the leadership potentialof the membership within organisations. While this is not an evaluative study,some pointers to the appropriateness of this strategy for the development of thepotential of the membership have and willbe made as faras this is possible from the data available. The main aim of this section, however, isto 'describe and explain' the self-educational practices within communityorganisations. The usefulness of the 'tools' for the task at hand will be assessed inthe process. Participatory democraticorganisational practices Participatory democratictheory has provided the three of the organisations framework within which all have operated. Individualfreedom and greater equality amongst all the members have been importantand sometimes competing values. The underlyingassumptions about human this theory, are that beings which inform everyone, given the opportunity, iscapable of developing leadership abilities. Thedevelopment of leadership ticular groups of the abilities amongst par- oppressed has beenan important focal point of activity for the organisations.Zakhe and CRIC have been black leadership development concerned particularly with and RCCT with thof women. The self-education strategies have been mainly concerned withthis 'empowering' The importance of the process. participatory democraticprocesses within organisations has beenstressed by arange of social theorists, including Gramsci,Frei re, and most recently by those advocatingLearning By Participa- tion (LBP). The roles of the teacher /facilitator/coordinator in the writings have given useful insights into the varying viewson leadership within these processes. As mentioned above, thereis the assumption within that everyone is potentially these writings capable of developingleadership qualities. How- ever, there are differing viewson the educational and Illich tend not processes involved. Freire to want the teacher /coordinatorto play a directive role. Strongly influenced by the humanisticpsychologists, they do teacher to impose not want the a particular view of the world.There is a contradiction in this position as theirvery methodology has been a view of the world which developed because they have is based on particularcritiques of capitalism. . Discussion and conclusion 277

is the correct Gramsci, on the other hand, believesthat a Marxist analysis analysis and should therefore be taught assuch. While the dialogicalrelation- is inclined to ship between the coordinator andlearners in the Freirian model that the become reified as 'good' educationalpractice, Gramsci argues form relationship must be determined bythe political goal. There is no one of 'good' practice. The empirical data have shown thatthere are a number ofinterpretations of participatory democratic practicesand also a number ofcontradictions interpreta- imbedded within these practices.Within this section the varying will be high- tions will be described andexplained and the contradictions lighted. stressed Within the literature the democraticparticipatory processes are However, there is no as being a crucial partof the educational practices. detailed account of what 'democraticparticipatory processes' entail. The case studies provide important insights onthis issue. Firstly, it is necessary to make a generalpoint about a common miscon- both in the ception concerning organisationalpractices which was evident least two community education literature,discussed in Pan Three, and in at of the discussion of the three case studies. Thispoint has been implicit in much so far. In both the description of Zakheand that of RCCT particularparticipatory organisational forms had been identifiedby the members of theagencies as 'good', and as signifying 'progressive'organisational practice. A cooperative organisational model in the case ofZakhe, and a model emanatingfrom the Women's Movement in the case ofRCCT, had been adopted andpromoted discussions in Part Two, it as 'good' in themselves.In previous theoretical particular has been argued that organisationalstrategies do not 'belong' to any political tendencies. Gramsci was quoted assaying that above all 'organisational questions are politicalquestions' and they need to beconstantly interpreted and reinterpreted in the lightof theory. Organisationalpractices, Gramsci argued, have to be based on atheory of the state and a theoryof 'progressive'. social change. Organisationalforms are not in themselves Thus,although Gramsci has advocatedthe participationof,forexample, the of the work, members of the Factory Councils inthe planning and execution he also stressed the leading roleof the political party.Participation by members in organisational practices was not anend in itself, but was a mcans At towards the development of organicintellectuals of the working class. study different points in the history of theagencies investigated in the present participation has been inclined to become anend in itself.

I 278 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

During the period in which the ideal-typeco-operative form was being practiced in Zakhe, participatory democraticpractice involved: in-service training over a six month period fornew staff recruits which involved co-operative theory and practice; all staffparticipating in all decisions; the rotation of tasks such as chairing ofmeetings, bookkeeping, typingetc.; decision- making authority with thestaff collective with minimal authority being delegated to individuals; minimaljob specialisation; two-weekly planning meetings; monthly 'personalgripe' meetings; annual evaluations (on occasion with the help of an outsider);occasional skills training sessionse.g. on fund-raising; joint report writing; jointresponsibility for staff appointments; and joint contact with funders. Duringthis period in Zakhe's history there was a tendency for participationto become an end in itself. A great deal of time was allowed for thecollective practices. However,as we have seen, as the context changed and the political goalsbecame more explicit so the democratic practices adjusted. Jobspecialisation became more acceptable; joint decision-making continuedon a weekly basis; annual planning and evaluation continued; therewas less task rotation; the monthly 'personal gripe' sessions fell away;very occasional staff training programmescon- tinued to occur althoughnew staff have not been given any comprehensive induction; authority was givento an outside body to assist in theprocess of quarterly and annual evaluation andplanning; authority was also delegated (sometimes by default) to staff incombination with ad hoc project/campaign groups. In RCCT the participatory practicesover time have not changed as dramatically as they did in Zakhe. Theyhave included: an in-service training session for all new memberswhere the theory and the practiceof the organisation is imparted; decision-makingin the monthly meetings of all members with authority delegatedto specialist task groups to carryout the decisions; rotation of office-bearersand coordinators of taskgroups at regular intervals; shared responsibility forplanning and evaluation throughperiodic workshops called for the purpose; occasional skills training workshops;flow of information through thecirculation of the monthly newsletter.The clearest change to the structure was the appointment of an administrativecoordinator, although built into the post is a one year limit on employment ofa person and the requirement that the incumbent is a member of the organisation.Joint responsibility is taken for thc appointmentof person through the election of an ad hoc committee for the purpose who makes recommendationsto the general meeting. Thus, this developmentdoes not transgress the prevailing norms concerning democratic practice inthe organisation. Discussion and conclusion 279 participation by all In CRIC participatorydemocracy has come to mean: and evaluation members in well structuredquarterly and annual planning CRIC's work for new sessions; a structured, shortinduction to all aspects of job responsibilities; a recruits; job specialisationwith clear delegation of coordinating role; elected staffrepresentative director who has played a key by weekly planning andcoordination meetings attended on the Board; limited task rotation e.g. everyone; jointresponsibility for staff appointments; periodic nonformal chairing of meetings andcounselling at week-ends; and Leadership in CRIC has beenclearly designated skills training sessions. gained more through the position of directoralthough as staff members have the leadership experience and knowledge of theoperations of the organisation through democratic participation. has tended to be shared studies' par- From the' above, the commonelements in the three case include: regular participationin decision- ticipatory democratic practices sharing of making; regular planning andevaluation sessions; regular responsibility for information; some in-service skillstraining for staff; joint The main differences liein: the degree of job new staff appointments. which takes specialisation which is encouraged;the amount of task rotation individuals or place; and the degree to whichauthority is delegated to the sub-groups within the organisationand to groups outside ofit. previously,the interpretationof participatory As has been noted political democratic practices has varied in responseto arange of ideological, contestation of and social factors. An ongoing processof negotiation and Nevertheless, there are meaning has been discerniblewithin the agencies. These include certain essential elements withinthe democratic practices. for regular participation in the decision-makingstructures, the mechanisms skills and informa- planning and evaluation, acommitment to the sharing of tensions and contradiction in different ways. Therealso appear to be certain include the tension tions within the participatorydemocratic processes. These and conflict, between action and reflection,theory and practice, consensus these tensions will be and collectivism andindividualism. The first two of discussed later. The latter twowill be discussed here.

CONSENSUS AND CONFLICT degree of Participatory democratic practices,it has been argued, require a successfully. For example, openness and trust ifthey are to be implemented if they are to information has to be readilyavailable to all members equally the case studies be able to participate fullyin decision-making. Within assumptions appear to have beenmade concerning the degreeof consensus there has been a that exists amongst members.In each of the organisations

'-si 280 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

tendency to deny the existence of conflict_ An ambiguoussituation has existed whereby openness andhonesty is valued on theone hand, and on the other, conflict has not beenacknowledged. The tendency to play down conflict amongst the membershipof organisations was also prevalent amongst thc new communityorganisations in Cape Town in the early 1980s. The popular-democraticdiscourse encouraged unity across class, ideological or other divides. The formation ofthe UDF which was a broad anti-Apartheid Front,was an outcome of that tendency. Onc of the results of the tendency to deny the conflictwhich, it has been argued, is an inevitable part of community organisationsin the South African context, has been the lack of formal structures to deal withconflict. Conflict has tended to be viewedas an abnormal occurrence, which with in ad hoc has been dealt ways. Caucusing amongstgroups of staff, for example amongst the black staff in CRIC, has tended to beseen as a betrayal of the open and supportive climate which has been propogated.Recently in CRIC the reality of conflict existing withinthe organisation has begun with the reemergence to be acknowledged of the various politicalgroupings in Cape Town. This was discussed above. One of the results of this has been thedevelopment of organisational structures whichattempt to take certain conflicting into account. interests In RCM' where the reembershipis relatively homogeneous, the data has revealed the but where existence of conflictingpolitical viewpoints, conflict has rarely beenacknowledged. The need for who form part of unity amongst the membership, a small group of feminists inCape Town, appears strategi- cally to be of immenseimportance. The experience similarities to the within RCCT hassome young branch of the womcn'smovement, which was described earlier. Openness and support forone another have been important values within the organisation, and these havehelped the process of sharing responsibility. But conflictinginterests and political been acknowledged. differences have rarely Members who havenot agreed with the predominant political line ata given time have most often The tension between withdrawn from the orghnisation. consensus and conflict is clearlyillustrated in RCCT. Within Zakhe thcmembership has alsotended to become homogeneous over time. more From 1982 there haveonly been black employees working full-time for Zakhc, who supporta particular grouping within the UDF. Conflict has been dealt with in an adhoc way, withone employee informally playinga leading and directive role. has been a goal which Consensus decision-making has tended to emphasisethe importance of collective leadership, and the denial of conflicting interestsand viewpoints staff. Leadership has amongst effectively been givenby one person, butas with RCCT,

;.; '7 .1 Discussion and conclusion 281 members of the this reality has not beenreadily acknowledged by the organisation. The prevalence of a consensus-seekingethos within the agenciestogether contradiction with the reality of conflict withinthe organisations, points to a supportive, within the participatory democratictheory. On the one hand, a climate is essential for the sharingof responsibility, open, consensus-seeking within the while on the other, this climate tends todeny the reality of conflict situation. This seems to result inconflict between opposinginterest groups being conducted in a more clandestine waythan would have been possible if conflict with the acknowledgement ofconflicting interests. For example, caucusing would not be was accepted as a realitywithin the organisations, activity perceived as an aben-ation, but as anormal part of open organisational and democratic practice. COLLECTIVISM AND INDIVIDUALISM discussions The tension between individualismand collectivism s central to of democratic theories. In Part Two in the discussions ofdemocratic theories, it was pointed out collectivism on that on a continuum withindividualism on the one end and and Marxist the other, liberal democracy wouldbe on the individualism end proletarian democracy would be on thecollectivism end, with participatory democracy in between the two. The tension between individualismand collectivism was also identified theorists. Illich in Parts Two and Three in thediscussions of the various social ambiguous, was seen to be promotingindividualism; Freire it was argued was concerned with but in the final analysis his theoryof 'conscientization' was the self-realization of the individual;Gram sci seemed to be arguing forMarx's in- communalindividualism.4 Within the case studies the tension between dividualism and collectivism was evident.The tension was particularly clear in the ambivalent attitudes whichmembers had towards discipline. Discipline has been identified as animportant aspect of collectivist is for every behaviour.Makarenko5 believes that, 'Discipline in the collective single person nothing else but complete scurity'. He argues that the authority into a of the group and the individur"sJnscience could be harmonised powerful form of personal disciplinethrough the educative influence ofthe collective. CRIC which was influenced bythe theories of Illich, Freireand the humanistic psychologists, has beenprimarily concerned with the development of individuals on thestaff and as a service to individualsconcerning their individual careers. Within thestaff tliere has however been adegree of 282 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

accountability to the collective. Disciplinehas occurred primarily through group pressure and accountability to the staff.The director has most often taken responsibility for discipline.At one stage there wasan unsuccessful attempt at a sharing of this responsibilitythrough a structured 'reflection team'. Staff found the disciplinaryrole difficult. Within Zakhe there has beena clearer commitment to a 'socialist' goal than has been thecase with CRIC or RCCT. The collectivistnature of their organisational structure was conceived of as an attempt to teachcollectivist valua as compared to theindividualist values of the capitalist society.They believed that by promoting Co-operative organisation they would bepromot- ing collectivist values, whichincluded a value orientation andmode of conduct that emphasised social consciousness, concern for others andgroup solidarity. Amongst the case studies the tensionbetween individualism and collectivism has been most notablein Zakhe. An examplewas given in the case study of the tendency towards a group dependency which staff identifiedat the organisational evaluationof 1984. Another area wherethe tension has been noticeable is in the questionof discipline. Staff haveon several occasions acknowledged the lack of discipline both in Zakhe and amongst otherprogres- sive community organisations. They have identified thisas a problem but have been unable to solve it. Within Zakhe the ideologies of individualismand collectivism have coexisted, and they have competed forascendancy at different times. From thedata it seems that the attitude ofstaff to discipline has for the most part reflected a laissez-faire individualism. Disciplinehas not been a value which has beenstressed. The tension between individualism and collectivism hasalso been discernible in RCCT. On one hand they have supported theperson-centred values of individual growth anddevelopment, and on the other values of soiidarity have encouraged the amongst all women. The collectiviststructure of the organisation has encouraged collective responsibility fordiscipline. 'Talking bitterness', a strategy used in feminist organisations in theearly 1970s and adoptedby RCCT, has been a mechanism for the airing of conflictand the dealing with discipline. The membership, as described earlier,consists of women who support either bourgeois oi socialist feminism. Therefore itis reasonable to assume that given the different views,some members would be inclined to stress individualism while others would bemore concerned to stress collectivism. The radical humanism which, it has been argued, reflectskey ideological strands within the agencies, has a strong commitmentto individualism. Bowers6 argues cogently that many of theneo-Marxists such as Freire and Discussion and conclusion 283

rather than collectivism.Cagan7 argues that Giroux, support individualism in the early the radical educational reformswhich were being propogated She believes that for 1970s reinforced the strongnotions of individualism collectivist education is necessary.In this process a truly radical education, a would be conscious strategy to promotecollectivist theory and practice might need to undertaken. She also stated thatthe collectivist education of the middle differentiate between members ofthe working class and those might need an classes. The former, who mighthave had collectivity stressed, for middle- educational strategy which stressesindividual autonomy, while compensate for the class members collectivitymight need to be stressed to elven them. emphasis on individuality whichtheir socialisation would have different social The possible differences in theperceptions of members of implica- classes with regard to individualismand collectivism has important tions for the developmentof collectivist educationwithin organisations. of the case Differences in perceptions according tosocial class of members studies may be a factor in howthe tension betweenindividualism and further collectivism has manifested itselfwithin this investigation. However be made in this research would be requiredbefore any observations could regard.

IN SUMMARY agencies has While the participatory democraticpractices within each of the members, there emphasised the sharing ofresponsibility amongst all their The par- have been important differencesin interpretiing these practices. external cir- ticipatory practices have changedin reponse to internal and different forms cumstances. The participatorypractices have therefore taken elements in in each of the agencies althoughthere have been certain common is no one their interpretation of democraticpractice. /t was argued that there cannot be model of 'good' organisationalpractice. Organisational practices theory of the state decided in a vacuum, but need tobe decided in relation to a accountability and and social change. Thecontradiction between internal external accountability was notedin the previous section.Contradictions were identified as integral to the participatorydemocratic theory. The contradiction within the between the consensus-seekingethos and the reality of conflict organisations, and the contradictionbetween individualism andcollectivism were given asillustrations. Theoretical knowledge be based Grarnsci has argued veryconvincingly for organisational practice to Marxism, he argues, on a theory of the stateand a theory of social change.

U 284 Part Ill Discussion and conclusion

provides the most useful theory for understanding the society andits transition. He also refers to Marxism as the 'philosophy of praxis'. Praxis iscentral to his theory. The meaning he givesto 'praxis' is similar to Mao's in his essay 'On Pracfice statement Practice, knowledge, againpractice, and again knowledge.This form repeats itself in endless cycles,and with each cycle thecontent of practice and knowlege rises to a higher level. Such is the whole ofthe dialectical- materialist theory of knowledge, and such is the dialectical-materialisttheory of uniting knowing anddoing. Practice, Gramsci believes,needs to be constantly reinterpretedin the light of theory. But praxis,as Youngman9 points out, must be from ideas of 'learning by distinguished doing' which derive fromempiricism and which tend to reduce knowledge simply to personal experience.Praxis, while it emphasises the value of thelearner's experience, alsoplaces stress on the theorisation of experience, a task in which the teacher hasan important role to play. Whereas empiricist approaches to knowledge focuson the surface appearance of phenomena, a Marxistapproach seeks to develop which can go beyond knowledge appearances to grasp the essentialstructure of reality. Integral to Gramsci's argument for the achievement ofpraxis, is his conception of the role of organicintellectuals. He argues that the of organic intellectuals development of the working class isessential to the ultimate attainment of working class hegemony. He describes thefunction of organic intellectuals, as having to connect people's historicalsituation with 'laws of history' and with 'superior conceptions of the world'. Heargues that the extension of critical intellectualactivity should occur in close the political practice of linkage with counter-hegemonic movements.He believes that people must be led to think coherently about the worldand must strive to unite theory and practice. Historical materialism he believes providesthe 'correct theory'. Organic intellectuals,who have a superior theoretical need to convert people's understanding, 'common sense' to 'goodsense'. As we discussed in Part Three, Freire alsoargues for praxis as a central concept within his epistemology. For him praxis unites thoughtand action and therefore avoids both empty theorising or mindlessactivism. But as was argued earlier, in his earlier work Freire does not giveclear content to the 'theory and practice' beyond the need for the curriculumto be based on actual needs and problems mlating to the context. In his later workhe does, however, become more explicit about the content althoughthe ambivalence about 'imposition of correct theory'remains in his work. The case studies,as previously discussed, at a time when a 'radical were established in Cape Town humanism' was prevalentamongst oppositional

6 Discussion and conclusion 285

it emphasised groupings. 'Radical humanism'advocated learning by doing; promoted through an the importance of criticalthinking which was to be and feelings; it promoted theidea that all people analysis of daily experiences encouraged to be could potentially be leaders,therefore, they should be tendency where involved in all aspects of activitythis led to an anti-expert the importance of theory wasminimised. A pragmatic,problem-solving, tendencies process-orientated approach toeducation was promoted. These lesser degree. were in evidence ineach of the case studies to a greater or initial concentra- In Zakhe there seems to havebeen a movement from an to develop a tion on consciousness-raisingand skins training to an attempt the staff. In an evaluation report more coherenttheoretical analysis amongst of November 1980 it was statedthat the staff needed todevelop an 'alternative their new economic vision'. At this time theorganisation was moving towards movement. In policy which aimed to facilitatethe building of a cooperative the evaluation report of March1981 the importance of thestaff having 'sound knowledge and skill', in order to promoteviable cooperative structures, was for example, basic stressed. During 1981 andinto 1982 courses were run on, in 1982 em- economics and cooperativeprinciples. The in-service course 'to integate phasised both theoretical andpractical work. One of its aims was discernible theory and practice'. Apredominantly Marxist orientation was through the course. Zakhe's reports from late 1980reflected a commitment to thedevelop- was argued ment of a sound theoreticalbase for their work. However, as previously, in practice the consistentdevelopment of theoretical knowledge theoretical work to be was problematic. InZakhe there was a tendency for The person who was the responsibility of thestaff with academic training. university intel- responsible for the evaluation reportsin 1981 was also the development of coherent lectual. The commitment ofthe whole staff to the work was not theory is not clear as theresponsibilty for this aspect of the action' the shared equally. The more Zakhebecame involved in 'collectivce less possible it was forstaff to engage in theoreticaldiscussion. These evalua- discussions have happened eitherinformally or at times of the annual to funders tion when the organisatIon hasbeen required for the sake of a report political conditions and their to review their analysisof socio-economic and response to them. Onestaff person enrolled for auniversity diploma course theoretical under- in 1984 in an effort IA read anddevelop a more coherent standing for himself. around the PR The participatory researchproject which was structured and possibilities for the group, appears tooffer some interesting insights Zakhe. For over resolution of the dichotomybetween theory and practice in 286 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

a year Zakhe staff had a structuredprogramme which concentrated on the theory and practice of democracy withinZakhe, and within other local community organisations in which staffwere involved. A relationship was negotiated between myselfas an academic researcher and the staff. Aswas described earlier, monthly seminarswere held which were either theoretical in nature, or reflectionson contemporary events. The PR group culminated its activities with the running of theSelf-Management Workshop which put into practice the theory and practicecovered in the previous months. staff have at different times expressedthe view that through theparticipatory research process they had gainednew insights and understandings of their work which they havenot had before. However, no systematic summative evaluation of the PR projecthas been undertaken by an independent party, therefore observationshere can only be speculative. Further research which focuses specificallyon the value of PR as a means to achieve praxis within organisations would stillneed to be done. One of the benefits of the PR projectfor the staff seemed to be the relationship which we developed. Ias the researcher was an outsider with particular analytical skills and theoreticalbackground which staff could draw on. Our relationship gave staff fairly readyaccess to particular skills and insights which they did not have. Theirutilisation of me as 'the outsider' occurred on several informal and formaloccasions as in the case of the 1984 Evaluation. In the PR Group therewas a conscious recognition of the differences between 'practitioners' and'researchers': These were listedas: practitioners are 'doers' rather than'thinkers% they are concerned with practical implications as opposedto knowledge for its own sake; theyuse 'commonsense' rather than 'scientifictheory' as the basis for their decisions; they are concerned withconcrete outcomes. I as the researcher neededto teach certain theoretical concepts to thegroup; I needed to consciously, stimulate the development of themove from 'common sense' to 'good sense'. Iwas acknowledged to have certain superiortheoretical knowledge, but equally, it was recognised that I needed to be kept in touchwith developments on the ground if praxis was to be achieved.Staff took responsibility formy 'education' at weekly meetings. The experience of the PRgroup, Giamsci's argument for organic intellectuals to fulfill particular theoreticalfunctions, and the evidence provided by the empirical data which showedthat the organisation straggledto consistently develop coherent theoreticalanalyses of their work, seems to pointto one possible way of tackling the problem. Thetentative proposition is that: Zakhe, in order to meet their needsfor the ongoing theoretical analysesof their work where 'common sense'is converted to 'good sense', shouldenter Discussion and conclusion 287 negotiated contracts for specific projects withappropriate outsiders. The PRA could provide a useful framework forsuch a relationship. This framework would ensure the integration ofinvestigation, education and action. The development of ongoing, coherent theoreticalanalyses does seem to be a specialist task which requires certain intellectualskills, orientations and time. The theorising, however, if it is not to be'empty' needs to be done as panof practice. In CRIC the pragmatic, processorientated appmach has continued to predominate. In the 1970s, after the quiescenceof the 1960s, popular opposition to the apartheid regime was beingmobilised. 'Conscientization' was a part of the mobilization process.CRIC was a part of this thrust as itpromoted `a free space' for teachers and Students tocritically analyse the apartheid society. However, as was argued previously,the terrain in which CRIC is operating has changed considerably. Greatertheoretical sophistication is demanded if it is to be able to maintain itsadvocacy role vis a vis the state. CRIC has struggled to reinterpret itswork in the light of ongoing theoretical analyses. Process issues have been dealtwith more easily and more regularly than theoretical issues. In Giroux'sclassification they could be labelled radicals who are 'process oriented' as opposed to'content oriented' although in more recent evaluations they haveinvited outsiders to assist them develop more sophisticated analysesof the society and their role in it Thus,there are indications of a movement in CRICtowards more coherent theoretcial analyses. In CRIC practice, rather than theory,has been of primary importance. 'Learning by doing' has been stressedrather than praxis, as described in Gramsci's work. The data has shown thatthere have been attempts to develop theoretical analyses at different times, e.g.the abortive monthly seminars, but the pressures of service delivery, andthe priorities of the membership (which have not necessarily included developmentof theory) have influenced the agency's ability to engage in regular, theoreticalanalyses. When theoretical 4nalyses have been developed there hasin general been an eclectic use of theories. Reasons for this in all probabilityrelate to the varying philosophical influences on CRIC and the problem andneeds orientated approach taken in their work. This problem/needs orientatedapproach has been prominent in the workshops run for teachers and studentswhere, for example, teachers' problems and experiences would provide thebasis of a review of the role of guidance. This approach used by CRIC has muchin common with the earlier work of Fre ireCRIC has not propogated an explicit theoreticalposition. It has not wanted `to impose ' a theory. Itstheory has remained implicit in its process orientated practices.

'A,' 6 .1/' 288 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

While CRIC has collectively struggledto develop coherent theoretical analyses of its work iri relation to the broadersociety, over fifty percent of the CRIC staff have sought to gaingreater practical and theoretical sophistication through enmlment in universitycourses. This seems to indicate a need for systematic study and a recognition that thisstudy needs to take place in a structured way. Within RCCT there are echoes of theanti-theoretical stances of movements in the 1960s and early 1970s, whichwere discussed in Part Two. In RCCT the importance of 'dependingmore on feel than theory' is still important for several of the members, althoughthe differing political positions of the membership can be expectedto influence opinion on the role of theory in the organisation. As illustratedpreviously, more ru,ently there have been moves at the national conferencesby the radical groups to introduce debate connecting national political issuesto the roles and functions of rape crisis organisations nationally. In RCCT theoretical issues which dealwith socio-political concerns, have rarely been tackled in any regularway. As with CRIC, the theoretical discussions have been problem orientated andissue based. A suprising featurewas that not even feminist theorieswere debated and discussed widely in the organisation. A mason for this, whichwas proferred previously, was that the leading members were perhapsvery aware of the need for solidarity rather than division amongst the membership.Opening up the feminist debate could perhaps have highlighted conflictsand caused divisions. Debates around feminism happened but informally outsideof the organisation. The lack of theoretical debate was, however, alsoconsistent with the prevailing ethos within the organisation at the time. In the case studies the dangers inherentin the situation where ongoing theoretical analysis does notoccur, were mentioned earlier. The major danger seems to be that the advocacy roles which theagencies have (termed for themselves can, without regularreassessment, cony at into maintenance roles which have a conservative result.The need for ongoing coherent analysis therefore becomes an imperative fororganisations committed to working towards social transformation. IN SUMMARY The importance of theoretical knowledgewas emphasised in the work of Gramsci and Freire. The differencesbetween praxis on the one hand and 'learning by doing' on the otherwere raised. Thc empirical data indicated that all the cases struggled to developcohcrent theoretical analyses. Zakherecog- nised the need for more coherenttheoretical approaches and at different times Discussion and conclusion 289 had 'specialists' tc assist. The PRProject and the attendance of university courses by CRIC and Zakhemembers seems to indicate arecognition of the difficulty of acquiring theoreticalsophistication 'on the job'. A more consciously structured approach toongoing theoretical analyses seems tobe warranted. Zakhe appears to be striving,although erratically, towards achieving praxis as described by Gramsci. RCCThas generally been inclined to adopt a 'learning by doing'approach where knowledge is based onpersonal experience. CRIC has also tended toemphasise process rather than content orientated in its work. Gramsci clearly advocated Marxism asthe 'correct theory' for an analysis of the state and its transformation. Ingeneral, the case studies have had an eclectic approach to bodies of Liowledge with the exception of Zakhewhich has adopted a Marxist orientatedanalysis since 198112. The theoretical analyses used by organisations willinfluence their strategiesZakhe has since 1982 been working as part of apopular movement for change. In CRIC and RCCT the approaches were lessconcerned with theoretical coherence and more with consciousness-raisingand service deliverytheir theory has been more eclectic. 'Theoretical knowledge' plays differentroles in different social theories. The attitude of organisations totheoretical knowledge does give anindication of thcir implicit social theories. Ittherefore is a useful analytical tool in the sturVing of self-educational strategies.It may, however, have proved more useful had the study included an analysisof all educational aspects of the organisations' work. This would have given afar more substantial body of material from which to discern thecomplex, underlying assumptions about the role of theoretical knowledge.This was beyond the scope of this research project. Action and critical reflection The action-reflection couplet echoesseveral of the concerns which were raised in both the discussions on'theoretical knowledge' and on 'internal and external accountability'. The coupletis central to the dialectical-materialist theory of knowledge which Freire andGramsci advocate. Both argue for the integration of education and political action.However, the meaning of 'political action' in Freire's work ilot clearly spelt out. In Gramsci'sview the revolutionary party must play a fundamentalrole in a transformation from capitalism to socialism. The relationship tothe party therefore becomes an important question for education. Inboth the works of Freire and Gramsci,

i 290 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

however, varying degrees of ambiguityare discernible in their viewson: the need for spontaneity on the one hand and politicalorganisation on the other, and between political action on theone hand and participatory democracy on the other. This latter tension is at the heart of radicaleducation as propogated by Frehian and Gramscian theories. The nub of thistension is that on one hand the theorists advocate political action,which will inevitably on occasion require the disciplined follewing of orders, whileon the other hand they advocate involvement in the planning, decision-makingand evaluation as an essential element in the promotion and developmentof 'organic intellectuals' or 'critical actors in the world'. In the empirical data thetension between political action and participatory democraticpractices was present to varying degrees and has been discussed previously inthis chapter. The tension is central to the action-reflection coupletas it. was in the discussion of internal and external accountability and the discussionof theoretical knowledge. For the study of self-education within the agenciesit was stated earlier that the 'action' probe can relate to the activitieswithin the organisation, as suggested by the LBP theorists, or itcan relate to political action as advocated by Perhnan, Gramsci and Freht. Perlmanargued that only by engaging in action which challenged the statusquo would new knowledge be generated for analysis. Freire and G camsci argued thataction and critical reflection were crucial components of the educationprocess. The difference between Perlman and the LB? theorists is that Perlmanis most concerned with political consciousness raising, while the LBP theoristsare concerned with any form of learning which occurs throughparticipation. The difference between Perlinan and Gramsci is that Perhnan, likeFreire, does not elaborate on the meaning of political action. She doesnot describe her theory of social change nor does she give any indication about the goals forchange. For Gramsci class struggle is at the centre of his theory oftransformation. Critical reflection, as mentioned above,is seen to be an essential part of 'action'. The form that critical reflectionshould take, however, is not elaborated. Within the three case studies 'action'refers most frequently to the implementation of the services providedby the agencies. It does not referto political action as such, although thedevelopment of certain of the services e.g. talks on a feminist interpretation ofrape, is done in the light of assumptions concerning social change. Critical reflection on the action hasoccurred most often in structured evaluation meetings. It is, therefore,an integral part of thc participatory democratic practices of the organisations.Within CRIC critical reflection has

I13:41 -! Discussion and conclusion 291 occurmi in occurred in quarterly and, annualevaluations. In Ran' it has occasional workshops, and in Zakhebesides the DemocraticProcesses Work- `feedback ing Group, it has occurred in annualevaluations, and occasional sessions'. 'action'. The CRIC has most consistently anddeliberately reflected on its after critical action has been clearly defined atregular planning sessions evaluations have been done. Onthe other hand CRIC, asdescribed above, times. There struggled to develop a coherenttheoretical position at different relevant in were a number of reasonsproferred for this, but perhaps the most approach this context, was the organisation'semphasis on a process orientated 'Action where analyses were inclined to concentrateon surface phenomena. work, was taken and reflection', particularly asdescribed in Freire's earlier describe the task seriously in CRIC. But the 'action'component was used to their work at hand rather than politicalaction. The 'critical reflection' on important through the evaluations was regardedby most of the staff as a very part of their self-education atCRIC. has found Zakhe, which has been mostclosely involved in political action, closer it difficult to balance the action componentwith critical reflection. The reflection seems Zakhe has been to political actionthe more difficult critical action the more to have become. However,the closer it has come to political it has emphasised the need forcoherent theoretical knowledge. within The tension experienced in Zakheillustrates the tension imbedded data has shown the radical educaton thesis asdescribed above. The empirical others the that at times in Zakhe `politicalaction' has dominated while at and political participatory democratic impulseshave held sway. The social determined to a large context, and changes in thatcontcxt over time, have `moment'. degree what has been possiblewithin the organisation at a given Summary the internal TN.. `action' component has beendescribed as referring to either organisations are tasks of the organisations or thepolitica! action in which engaged. The type of 'action' thatthe organisations are involvedin does give change and their an indication of theirunderlying assumptions about social roles in it. The `action' tool, likethe other two, i.e. 'theoreticalknowledge' useful probe to and `participatory democraticprocesses', does provide a 'Critical analyse the self-education strategiesof community organisations. the self- reflection', on the other hand, whilebeing an essential element in education process is incorporated as akcy component into theparticipatory 292 Part VI: Discussion and conclusion

democratic practices of organisations.Therefore it is not particularly useful as a separate analytical tool.

IN CONCLUSION The aim of this study has been 'to describe and explain theself-educational practices within community organisations at a particular historicaljunture.' An inductive rather thana deductive research approachwas used. One reason for this was that no coherent body of literature exists that couldhave provided a theoretical framework for the study.A set of analytical 'tools'Were developed out of both the empiricaldata and the radical education literature to aasist with the research enquiry.

A SUMMARY OFTHE MAIN FINDINGS I.This study has shown that Education for Democratic Participationhas been a central concern for theorganisations in this study and forcommunity adult educators internationally. However theinvestigation has revealed that 'democraticparticipation' has a widerange of meanings which are continuously negotiated and contested. Theyare determined by a range of economic, political,social, historical and ideological at a particular 'moment'. forces 2.The study has demonstrated that self-education consists ofnonformal and informal educational strategies which are in many instancesan integral part of the structures, goals andprocesses of community organisations. These structures, goals andprocesses art influenced by the broader context. The study of self-educationcan therefore only be accomplished by studying simultaneously the organisational and socialcontexts. 3.The study acknowledged both the importance and thedifficulty of attempting to demonstrate the dialectical relationshipbetween the micro organisational pi ocesses andthe macro foices. A numberof strategies were successfully used. These includeda detailed tracing of the origins of the organisations; use of a 'critical incident' methodology;and the use of democratic theories as tools for analysis. The latter toolwas used because'democratic theories'describe both macro and microrelation- ships. The theoriesvery usefully highlightedsome of the underlying theoretical assumptions concerningsocial change whichwere imbedded within the case studies. The various interpretationsof the concepts of

4't .140 s Disru.ssion and conclusion 293

accountability and authority proved tobe critical, differential components within the democratic theories. Significant characteristics ofself-education within the casestudies, 4. Cape which were also reflected in othercommunity organisations in Town in the early 1980s and which weredemonstrably influenced by the prevailing ideological, political,economic and social forces, were: those groups and in- a concern forleadership development amongst dividuals who were perceived tobe oppressed; organisational process was recognised as akey educational arena of organisational practice emphasised theeducational value for members both means and ends; practices there were various tensionsimbedded within the organisational inter- i.e. between individualism andcollectivism, action and reflection, nal and external accountability, consensusand conflict, theory and prac- theoretical tice; * the organisations haddifficulty in developing coherent analysis of the state or of socialchange. Essential components for both thepractice and the analysis of education 5. consist for democratic participation werefound to be: action, which can of either service delivery orpolitical action or both;democratic participatory practices, which entailcollective participation indecision- and making, in planning and evaluation,sharing of information and skills, joint responsibility for staffappointments; coherent theoretical knowledge if the organisation is tomaintain an advocacy role in the community. 'Action', 'theoretical knowledge'and 'participatorydemocratic practices' provided very usefulanalytical tools for the study ofself-education. The additional 'tool' which is alsocrucial, but which was referred toseparate- ly under both numbers 2 and 3 above, was'the relationship between macro and micro contexts'. The three 'tools' focusing on theinternal organisational processes were uneven in size andcomplexity. They attempted to breakdown for analytical valid but difficult purposes highly integratedactivities. This proved to be a degree with exercise. The content of the 'tools'inevitably overlapped to some reviews of the one another. The content wasgiven initially both through and literature and through participantobservation. The tools were honed elaborated through the research process.

9 294 Part V!: Discussion and conclusion

The analytical tools whichwere developed provided very useful mechanisms for probing the politicaland social theories imbedded withinthe organisations. While in the literatureon community adult education some classifications have been developedwhich label educational practices'conservative, reformist or revolutionary', I have argued, andthis study has demonstrated the inadequacy of these classifications. Theanalytical tools developed here provide far more sophisticated probes for analysingcom- munity adult education. Whilethis study did not setout to develop analytical tools which could have wider, more general usage in the analysis ofcommunity adult education, thishas been a significantoutcome of the research. 6.The study identified some of the major contradictions withineducation for democratic participation. These included within theparticipatory democratic processes: therelationships between internaland external accountability, between theoryand practice, and betweenaction and reflection, between consensus and conflict, and betweenindividualism and collectivism. It also revealed the problems with theachievement of the ideal balance which Perlman10 argued for between content,process and political action a fundamental contradictionwas identified between participatory democratic practiceand political action. One of the important functions of the analytical tools hasbeen their focus on contradictions. As Gelpi11 has said, research should bedirected towards the contradictions withinsociety. 7.Self-education or education for democratic participation withinthe case studies was concerned to develop the capabilities ofmembers to participate actively in their organisations. The crucialcomponents of these educational practices which were summarised abovewere: participatory democratic practices, action, and the development ofcoherent theoretical understandings of the state and social change. However,education for democratic participation which sought primarily to challengethe political status quo emphasised thc need, alongside the abovecomponents, to engage specifically in political action. This engagement againhighlighted very forcibly the contradiction between 'education' on the one hand and 'political action' on the other.This contradiction isat the heart of radical educational practice.

4 a 295 Discussion and conclusion

LIMITATIONS OFTHE STUDY has certain necessarily beencircumscribed. It therefore This investigation has been mentioned One of the majorlimitations, which has inherent limitations. coherent body needs to be reiterated,is the lack of a in the study and which base for the could provide a solidand specific theoretical of literature which the field. Some ofthe other study. This study hastherefore had to pioneer limitations will bementioned briefly. It been of a descriptiveand explanatory nature. 1.This study has primarily evaluate the effectivenessof the self-education has not attempted to An been employed bythe different organisations. strategies which have additional perspective on evaluative study couldprovide an important self-education withinvoluntary associations. focused on self-educationwithin the organisations, 2.The investigation was not given toother educationalactivities which meant that attention used for example in conducted by the agencies.Educational programmes raising amongst thepublic teacher training at CRIC, orin consciousness analysed. A study of theseeducational programmes by RCCT were not theories which areimbedded would add to the studyof the educational within theorganisations'work. definition the resource andservice agencies. By 3.The case studies were likely to be petitbourgeois, members of resource andservice agencies are project was not able tocontribute to an increased thus this research is a serious limitation understanding of workingclass organisations. This of the study. the secondary sources whichcould be utilised for 4.There were very few investigation. This limitedthe extent of theresearch project.

FURTHER RESEARCH be done in SouthAfrica. It This investigation is oneof the first of its kind to for futher research.Suggestions has therefore opened upmany possibilities be offered here. which flow directly fromthe study itself will identified within the casestudies between 1.An important tension was the individualism on the onehand and collectivism on attitudes towards as it would seemto hold other. This tensionrequires closer investigation 296 Part VI Discussion andconclusion important implications for self-educationwithin the organisations. example Of a question One which was raised inthe study was: what isthe impact of social classon the attitudes of the and collectivism? members to individualism This issue relatesto the need for research class voluntary associations into working from a range of differentperspectives. 2. The ParticipatoryResearch Approach was employed during thecourse of the research. Thestudy raised a number to the PRA, but it of questions and issuesrelating was outside the parametersof the study to address systematically. The PRA them was shown.to have bothstrengths and weaknesses; these need to beresearched more specifically. 3.Evaluative research studies of the variouseducational strategies and programmes developed byvoluntary associations academic purposes and are needed for both for use by membersof organisations. 4. The usefulness ofthe analytical tools, which have been identifiedthrough this study, needto be tested for the analysis more generally. of community adulteducation 5.Analyses of the bourgeois hegemoniccrises which occurredin the societies in which theradical educational theorists were workingneed to be developed furtherin order be able to identify more closelythe relationships betweenparticular educational texts. forms and the broadercon- Notes to Part VI 297

NOTES TO PART SIX Chapter Twelve TRADITION: A STUDY INMODERN 1. R. Gombin 1978 THE RADICAL REVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT London:Methuen and Co. Ltd. 2. See Part Three Chapter Five between the UDF and othergroupings were 3. The de isions within the UDF and Zakhe and discussed during informalconversations with people from Grassroots Newsletter amongst others,during April and May 1985. and 4. This is elaborated in C.. A. Bowers'The problem with individualism community in Neo-Marxist educationalthought' in TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD Vol. 85 No. 3, Spring 1984 5. Quoted in Bowers ibid. Ibid. 6. in HAR- 7. E. Cagan 'Individualism, collectivismand radical educational reform' VARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW Vol.48 No. 2 May 1978 Foreign 8. Mao Tse-Tung 1968 FOURESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHY Peking: Language Press p. 20 PEDAGOGY 9. F. Youngman 1986 ADULTEDUCATION AND SOCIALIST London: Croom Helm p. 109 10.See Part Two Chapter Four 11.Gelpi 1979 p. 28 298 Education for Democratic Parucipation

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O'Meara Dan 'Muldergate and the politics of Afrikaner nationalism' inWORK IN PROGRESS no. 22 1982 Oppenheimer Martin 'The sociologyof participatory democracy' in HANS DREITZEL O'Toole Richard ed. 1971 THEORGANISATION, MANAGEMENT AND TACTICS OF SOCIAL RESEARCHUSA: Schenkman Publ. Co. Inc. Pateman Carol 1970 PARTICIPATION AND DEMOCRATIC THEORYBritain: Cambridge University Press. Pennock Roland 1979 DEMOCRATICPOLITICAL THEORY USA Princeton University Press Perlman Janice `Grassrooting the system' in SOCIAL POLICY 7 Sept.1976 Perlman Janice 'Seven voices fromone organisation: What does it mean? ' unpub. paper, University of Southern California1980 Phaahla Joe and Kate Philip 'The student movement today' in NUSAS1983 Pilsworth M. and R. Ruddock 'Persons not respondents: alternativeapproaches in the study of social processes' in B. Hall et al ed. 1982 CREATIONOF KNOWLEDGE: A MONOPOLY? PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH DI DEVELOPMENT New Delhi Societyfor Participatory Research inAsia Pinnock Don 1980 ELSIES RIVER Cape Town: UCT Instituteof Criminology Pinnock Don 1984 THE BRO FHERHOODS: STREET GAN-3SAND STATE CONTROL IN CAPE TOWN CapeTown: David Philip Pityana Barney 'Power and socialchange in South Africa' in VAN AND WELSH 1972 DER MERWE Piven F. and R. Cloward 1977 REGULATING THE POOR USA:Pantheon Plant Raymond 1974 COMMUNITY AND IDEGLOGYLondon: RKP Poswa Mildred 'Black Consciousness: A reactionary tendency' Jan.1982 printed by THE EDUCATIONALJOURNAL. Raboy Marc 'Urban struggles and municipal politics: TheMontreal Citizen's Movement' in INTERNATIONALREVIEW OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT N 39-40 Summer1978 Reason P. and R. Rowan ed. 1981 HUMAN ENQUIRY:A SOURCEBOOK OF NEW PARADIGM RESEARCHLondon: John Wiley. Report of tb;.. Wolfenden Committee 1978 THE FUTUREOF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS Britain: CroomHelm Ltd Rommel Roberts 'Bus boycottsl''RO' MA. PAUL HARE Rogers Carl 1951 CLIENT-CENTREDTHERAPY USA Rogers Carl 1970 ENCOUNTERGROUPS USA Penguin Prcss 307 References

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Stumler S. ed. 1970 WOMEN'S LIBERATION: BLUEPRINT FOR TURE New York: Ace Books THE FU- Susser Ida 1982 NORMAN STREET POVERTY ANDPOLITICS IN AN URBAN NEIGHBOURHOODNew York:OUP Swantz Marja-Liisa and Helena Jerman ed. 1977DPEMOYA Dept. of Research and Planning, Tanzaniaand the Research Council Academy of Finland. fa' the Humanities, the Therborn Goran 1980 THE IDEOLOGY OF POWERAND THE POWER OF IDEOLOGY London: VersoEditions Thomas J. E. and G.Harries-Jenkins 'Adult educat;on STUDIES IN ADULT and social change' 4n EDUCATION vol. 7 no. 1 April1975. Thompson Jane ed. 1980ADULT EDUCATION FOR Hutchinson. A CHANGE London: Thomson Randall and Michael Armer 'Respecifying theeffects of voluntary association on individuals in traditional society' inINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPARITIVESOCIOLOGY XXI Todaro Michael 1981ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT USA Longman IN THE THIRD WORLD Turner Richard 1980 THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE:TOWARDS PAR- TICIPATORY DEMOCRACYIN SOUTH AFRICA Press Johannesburg: Ravan Twelvetrees Alan 1976COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS Britain: Pergamon Press AND CENTRES United Women's Organisation1983 CLAREMONT: A Cape Town: UWO PEOPLE'S HISTORY van der Horst Sheila 'Systemsof Public Assistance in Thesis UCT 1931 the Cape Peninsula' M. A. van der Merwe H. W. and David Welsh ed. 1972STUDENT PERSPECTIVES ON SOUTH AFRICACape Town: David Philip van der Merwe H. W. and G.J. Groenewald ed. 1976 SOCI AL C H ANG E OCCUPATIONAL AND AMONG COLOUREDPEOPLE IN SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town: Juta andCo. van der Merwe H. W. et al 1980 TOWARDS ANOPEN SOCIETY IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE ROLEOF VOLUNTARY David Philip ORGANISATIONS Cape Town: van Harte Edna 1977 THEINVOLVEMENT OF UWC MUNITY WORK Bellville: STUDENTS IN COM- Institute for SocialDevelopment. van Heerden 'Organising for democracy' in NUSAS1983

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SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNALS,NEWSPAPERS, NEWSLETTERS CAPE HERALD, THE CAPE TIMES, THE COMMUNITY ACTION FEDERATION OF CAPE CIVICS NEWS GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER MUSLIM NEWS, THE SASPU FOCUS SASPU NATIONAL SOCIAL DYNAMICS SOCIAL REVIEW SOLIDARITY SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF RACE RELATIONS SURVEYS1960 1904 SOUTH AFRICAN LABOURBULLETIN (SALB) SOUTH AFRICAN OUTLOOK STATE OF THE NATION UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT(UDF)NEWS WORK IN PROGRESS (WI P)

6 311 Appendices

APPENDIX ONE

A CHECKLISTOF CATEGORIESFOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THECASES important for the study ofthe A number of categoriesemerged as potentially scrutinising the documenta- community resource andservice agencies from within Zakhe; from ex- tion and from a periodof participant observation Processes Work Group; andfrom participant perience within the Democratic which I was observation within four othercommunity organisations in of checklist was actively involved over aneighteen month period. A type these experiences. developed at an early stagewhich was grounded within interviewees from This checklist provided theframework for thc questions to organisations' documen- the agencies, and for thecollection of data from the tation. The six primary categories were: background and history organisational structures, goalsand strategies education, training anddevelopment of members internal prxesses and procedures relationships with otherorganisations functioning. problems and constraintswhich affect the organisation's into the formal arrange- On one level it was necessaryto obtain insight ments within the agencies.These included: decision-making struc- history; aims and objectives;control structure; communication systems; tures; division oflabour; formal leadership; employment practices i. e.conditions of nonformal education; funding; career employment, procedures foremployment, incentive structures, procedures for new staff,training; disciplinary advancement, integration internally and ex- procedures; financial controls;formal accountability ternally.

0 3 312 Education for Democratic Participation

On another level the informalfunctioning was important. Important categories to emergewere: informal communication networks;relationships between staff;power distribution; differences in styles,ideologies; attitudes to criticism; informal education; tension betweentasks and processes; decision-making; leadership; meetings; role of sub-committees; status differencesamongst staff and amongst functions; standards; use of ixternalconsultants; evaluation; reports; theory andpractice; skills sharing;areas of conflict; criteria for 'democratic'practice,theoretically and practically. The relationship of theorganisations to the externalcontext was another primary area. This included: the membership i.e. social class, gender, language,race classification; the historical, political, social, ideological and economicconditions; and the relationships with otherorganisations. The final important area related to the constraints imposedon the organisation by internal or external circumstances. Theseincluded contradictions and limitations imbeddedwithin the organisation. Appendices 313

APPENDIX TWO

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTEDAT THE 1984 NATIONAL CONFERENCEOF RAPE CRISIS ORGANISATIONS, HELDIN CAPE TOWN (RCCT July 1985Newsletter) RESOLUTION ONE connection between rape and A statement of principleis needed to make the and to align RapeCrisis/POWA to the broader political/social concerns building democratic groups against sexism,racism and exploitation, towards a truly democraticsociety. RESOLUTION TWO 40 incestand POWA and Rape Crisis Centres notewith great concern that only received legal abortions last year.There are an estimated rape survivors of women who were 150,000 rapes in South Africa everyyear. Ten percent fell pregnant as assisted by the PietermaritzburgRape Crisis Centre in 1982 this would mean thatl5,000 a result of rape.Generalised to the whole country, women would havebeen forced to seek illegaland dangerous backstreet full term. abortions or to carry the unwantedand traumatic pregnancy to with We demand the right for all rapeand incest survivors and all women they want an abor- unwanted pregnancies todecide for themselves whether choice which should tion, and we condemn the statewhich robs women of this rightfully be theirs. RESOLUTION THREE South Africa to follow- POWA and RC Centres urgeall hospitals throughout crisis service for the example of TygerbergHospital and set up a 24 hour survivors of rape, incest andbattery. RESOLUTION FOUR Noting: violence 1. That we organise aroundviolence against women and oppose against all people; 314 Education for Democratic Participation

2. That the state uses military and institutionalised violenceto control the people of South Africa; 3. That violence breeds violence; This National Conferencetherefore condemns: I. Forced removals andresettlement 2. the enforcement of themigrant labour system and theuse of violence in doing so 3. Increasing militarisation inSouth Africa 4. Detentions, bannings andimprisonment of politicalopponents of the government RESOLUTION FIVE We resolve to carefully consider and be cautious in our dealingswith organisations, government and other,whose aims and objectivesappear to be in conflict with out own. RESOLUTION SIX We are concerned about the sexual abuse of children in SouthAfrica and thc taboos surrounding the issue, which is detrimental to suchchildren and we call for more research into the causes and problemssurrounding child moles- tation with a view to appropriateaction being taken. RESOLUTION SEVEN We resolve to makea concerted effort to encourage join Rape Crisis and women with children to to provide child care wheneverpossible, to accept children being present at meetings and to show them thesame sensitivity and tolerance we strive to giveour sisters. RESOLUTION EIGHT We strive to make our organisations accessibleto differently abled people.

t.) k 315 Appendices

APPENDIXTHREE

RAPE QUESTIONNAIREADMINISTERED TO CRISIS MEMBERS Ingrid at the office.Thanks Please complete and returnthis questionnaire to for your cooperation. Democracy is look for in judgingwhether an organisation I What are the criteria you democratic or not?

Rape Crisis a 'democratic'organisation? Please 2Using your criteria, is elaborate.

Please Rape Crisis to be a'democratic organisation'? 3 Is it Important for elaborate.

Your participationin Rape Crisis 4Are you an 'active' or'support' member?

active in the past? If you are a supportmember have you been 5 active? Over what time period?Why are you no longer

member, how long have youbeen involved? 6If you are an active What activities have youbeen involved in? 316 Educatton for DemocraticParticipatton 7 From your experience,what has been done in Rape Crisis toencourage your participation in thevarious activities?

8 From your experience,what has been done to discourage your knowingly or unknowingly, participation in the variousactivities?

9 How usefulhave you found the following activites inhelping your own participation in RapeCrisis? Please explain. training course general meetings skills workshops e.g. counselling, publicspeaking etc. policy and reviewworkshops newsletter national conference rotating office-bearers social gatheringse.g. parties other Gripes 10 Whatare the major gripes you have about theway Rape Crisis operates?

11 What suggestions do you have forovercoming the problems identified? that you have

NAME: OCCUPATION: MEMBERSHIP OF THE OTHERORGANISATIONS: Thank you,now please hand your questionnaire in beforeits forgotten!

t.1 YEARS TOTAL CULTURAL A SYNOPSIS OF THE MAIN FINDINGS STUDENT& YOUTH POLITICAL COMMUNITY WORK WOMEN EDUCATIONRESEARCH INTERESTSPECIAL RESOURCE CIVIC 1957-1963 17 2 2 1 INFORMATION 5 2 5 TOTAL1964-1969 269 0 42 2 1 0 127 2 5 0 1970-19751976-1979 4533 92 44 21 11 3 41 1511 3 51 14 Affils 1 Fed 1 TOTAL1980-1982 5678 11 4 78 23 140 55 2526 35 6 1 2 (1 Fed) 2 Feds 1983-1984 30 7 6 4 0 1 1 Advice Forum 8 4 0 3 Ind. 2 Ac.gps TOTAL1985 16579 12 1 2033 104 1 71 6532 17',, 1110 2 ac.gps 9 There is a dearth of published workon adult education theory and practice in South Africa at present. Thereare however a growing number of students of adult education who are studying foradvanced diplomas, masters or doctoral degrees. Several studentsare now producing research papers and theses of merit. In most cases a singlecopy is lodged in the university library and is inaccessible to more thana handful of students. At CACE we have decided to begin an Adult and Nonformal EducationThesis Series in order to make the academicwork in the field more widely available. We acknowledge that academictheses have limitations as publications. They are written in a particular style and fora particular academic audience. Most often it would be preferable to have the work rewritten for a wider,more popular audience. However,very few academic theses are reworked in this form. We therefore have decidedto publish certain theses in order tocontribute towards improved scholarship in the field of adult andnonformal education. We hope that in duecourse, with the proliferation of more publications in the field, this serieswill become redundant.

This publication is the first ofthe new series. The thesis isonc of the first studies in South Africa whichfocuses on the development of nonformal educational theory within communityorganisations. It deals specifically with self-educaion within a sct oforganisations in Cape Town wherea primary concern was the promotion of democraticparticipation among their members. The work contains three richand diverse case studies which giveimportant insights into the workings of community organisations within thepresent conjuncture in South Africa. Aparticipatory research methodologywas used and the thesis also throws importantlight on the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.

The publication of theseries, and of this thesis inparticular, has been motivated by requests from bothacademics and activists, from South Africa and elsewhere, who are interested in studying developments withinthe field of adult and nonformaleducation in Southern Africa.

Dr Shirley Walters, the author,LT Professor of Adult and ContinuingEduca- tion and director of CACEat the University of the Western Cape.

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