The Greatest Threat to Future Stability in Our Country Is the Greatest Strength of the Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement (SA) (Shackdwellers) 1

Abstract

In these two talks a theory of a politics of the poor is elaborated. It is noted that the poor have effectively been excluded from substantive citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa resulting in a permanent crisis in the ordinary lives of the poor. It is argued that there are many responses to this crisis, some of which are dangerous and some of which hold out some hope. A politics of the poor is put forward as the concretization of the latter. It is stressed that a politics of the poor should be a non-representative politics. Both electoral party politics and NGO substitutionism are rejected in favour of the development of popular democratic counter-power where people live and work. Genuine solidarity, it is argued, should be negotiated on this terrain rather than simply declared from above on the NGO terrain. It is made clear that this is predicated on a recognition of the intellectual work done in poor communities.