Negotiated Revolution: the Czech Republic, South Africa And
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Negotiated Revolution: The Czech Republic, South Africa and Chile George Lawson Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of International Relations The London School of Economics and Political Science University of London July 2003 UMI Number: U183154 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U183154 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 T H t-G<t- *3 F <3183 pouticai 1013 211 Abstract This thesis is an attempt to rescue revolution, both as concept and practice, from the misplaced triumphalism of the contemporary world. Given the relative openness and flux which characterises the post-cold war international system, the extent and range of problems which plague the world, and the enduring human proclivity for change, it would be folly to ignore a process which has had such a constitutive impact on world politics over the past few centuries. To that end, this thesis is a comparison of three contemporary ‘revolutions’: the end of apartheid in South Africa; the collapse of communism in the Czech Republic; and the transition from military dictatorship to market democracy in post-Pinochet Chile. It asks two main questions: first, do these transformations represent, in a substantive sense, examples of revolutionary change? Second, in what ways do they compare and contrast with past revolutions? The first two chapters deal with the principal theoretical and methodological issues posed by the dissertation. I outline how an International Sociology operating as a ‘middle level analysis’ can unravel processes of complex social change in world politics, including revolutionary change. I then set out the case for a conjunctural, process based approach to the study of revolutionary change, defining revolutions as the mass, rapid, forceful, systemic transformation of the principal power relations in a particular society. The three case studies use primary and secondary source material to both back up and challenge these assertions. I argue that, while the Czech Republic and South Africa can be considered as substantive examples of revolutionary change, Chile is better understood as a case of transition - only a partial modification of the society’s main power relations has taken place over the last ten years or so. But although both the Czech Republic and South Africa share many characteristics with past examples of revolutionary change, they also differ from them in a number of crucial ways: the role of the ‘international’ and the state, the nature of violence, the use of ideology, and the process of negotiation itself. As such, they signify a novel process in world politics — negotiated revolution. I conclude by examining the utility of the concept of negotiated revolution for understanding other examples of radical change, both actual and potential, in contemporary world politics. 2 Table of contents Abstract 2 Table of contents 3 Acknowledgements 4 Abbreviations 5 Introduction 7 Structure 12 Chapter one - Towards an International Sociology 16 The proper use of history 19 Studying social action 28 Conceptualising power relations 46 Towards an International Sociology 53 Chapter two - Studying revolutions 55 The contingency of revolutions 56 Theories of revolution 62 Studying revolutionary change 96 Negotiated revolution 104 Summary 105 Chapter three - A story of memory over forgetting: The Czech Republic 107 Negotiated revolution 110 Revolutionary transformation 130 Conclusion 175 Chapter four - The longest walk: South Africa 177 Negotiated revolution 179 Revolutionary transformation 210 Conclusion 249 Chapter five - Por la razon o la fuerza: Chile 251 Negotiated revolution? 253 Revolution transformation? 286 Conclusion 325 Chapter six - Negotiated revolution 327 Negotiated revolution 329 Whither revolution? 342 Bibliography 348 3 Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible through three main sources of support: financial, intellectual and personal. Financially, the thesis was sustained by an ESRC research fellowship, number R00429934266.1 would like to thank the ESRC for providing such a generous grant. I must also thank my mother, Annette Lawson, who took responsibility for administering the grant application while I completed the necessary forms in cyber cafes dotted around Chile. As ever, she performed this task with outstanding diligence and care. The principal source of inspiration behind the academic content of the thesis was my supervisor, Professor Fred Halliday. Taking Fred’s masters level course on revolutions in the mid 1990s first stimulated my interest in this subject and his commitment to the thesis over the last four years has been unwavering. Fred’s detailed and insightful comments have improved the thesis no end, while his range of contacts and high levels of pastoral support have been an invaluable boon to the project as a whole. I have accrued additional intellectual debts which it will be difficult for me to repay. Professor Margot Light was an impeccable surrogate academic mentor, standing in as supervisor for a short while and helping to keep the thesis on track during one of its most difficult phases, not least by ensuring that my first foray into full-time teaching did not distract me from the necessary business of actually finishing the thesis on time. Margot also put me in touch with Otto Pick, who set up a range of interviews in Prague it would be difficult to better. Raymond Suttner and Terry Oakley-Smith were indispensable guides to South Africa’s complex society. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those other people, too many to mention here, who gave up their time for this project by agreeing to interviews, helping with contacts or commenting on the thesis as it developed. Three close confidants crossed the line from friend to critic. Harry Bauer commented in depth on several chapters, providing a rigour to the thesis I fear would otherwise have been beyond me. Brian Belle-Fortune read two chapters, proving a copy editing service worthy of the fine writer and journalist he is. Most remarkably, my father, David Lawson, read the whole thesis over the course of a weekend, improving the language, coherence and structure of the argument to great effect. But the greatest debts I owe are to my partner Caroline and my son, Jake. Caroline’s unyielding love, support and belief in me are the very foundations of the thesis. Jake’s birth not only taught me the most profound of lessons in humanity, it also clarified two academic issues which lie at the heart of this thesis. First, Jake has, albeit unintentionally, helped me understand exactly what I mean by revolutionary change - his arrival has meant a root and branch transformation of our lives from which there is truly no going back. Second, the gradual emergence of Jake’s own personality has given me one or two salutary reminders about the dynamic, ongoing relationship between structure and agency. There is nothing more that I can add which could pay sufficient tribute to those friends, family members and colleagues whose influence is felt in this thesis in more ways than I care to mention. For all your help, I am eternally grateful. Needless to say, any errors of fact or inconsistencies in the argument are my responsibility alone. 4 Abbreviations ANC African National Congress APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum APLA Azanian People’s Liberation Army AU The African Union AVF Afrikaner Volksfront AWB Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging BEE Black Economic Empowerment BIS Bezpecnostni Informacni Sluzba CEFTA Central European Free Trade Area CEI Central European Initiative CMEA Council for Mutual Economic Assistance CNI Central Nacional de Information CNS Coordinadora Nacional Sindical CODESA Conference for a Democratic South Africa COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COPACHI Comite de Cooperation para la paz en Chile COSAG Concerned South African Group COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CPC Confederation de la Production y del Comercio CSSD Ceska Strana Socialne Demokraticka CUT Central Unitaria de Trabajadores DA Democratic Alliance DINA Direction de Inteligencia Nacional DP Democratic Party EIU Economist Intelligence Unit EU European Union FDI Foreign Direct Investment FPMR Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriguez GDP Gross Domestic Product GEAR General Employment and Redistribution Strategy GNU Government of National Unity HNP Herstigte Nasionale Party IFP Inkatha Freedom Party IFPs Investment Privatisation Funds JMC Joint Management Centre JSE Johannesburg Stock Exchange KDU-CSL Krestanska a Demokraticka Unie - Ceskoslovenska Strana Lidova KSCM Komunisticka Strana Cech a Moravy MAPU Movimiento de Action Popular MDM Mass Democratic Movement MERG Macro-Economic Research Group MIR Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria MK Umkhonto we Sizwe MPLA Movimento Popular da Liberta^ao de Angola MNU Movimiento Nacional Unidad NAFTA North American Free Trade Area 5 NEDLAC National Economic Development