What do you mean ‘we’? Activists, academics and NGOs in civil society coalitions

Join PLAAS for a webinar on “What do you mean ‘we’? Activists, academics and NGOs in civil society coalitions”.

Many activists have argued that the crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic also presents an important opportunity for change, and that now is the time that movements of poor and marginalised people, progressive activists, and critical social theorists can come together to map out an agenda for progressive social change.

But whose agenda is this? Who speaks, and how? As journalist and social activist Boaventura Monjane argued in a recent article, social movements are deeply heterogeneous, and we cannot simply assume that small farmers, middle-class NGO activists, and university-based researchers necessarily have the same interests and concerns.

This week’s webinar brings together Boaventura Monjane, S’tha Yeni (PLAAS doctoral candidate), Connie Mogale (national coordinator of the Alliance for Rural Democracy) and PLAAS Director Andries du Toit. Join us on Thursday, 13 August for a discussion on the opportunities, risks, responsibilities, and ethics of progressive coalition politics in the context of movements for food sovereignty. We have no answers, but we have some fascinating questions:

1. What are the challenges facing coalition politics within such a heterogenous movement, and how should it be handled?
2. What is the role of NGOs and how should they engage with the agendas of the poor and marginalised groupings in whose interests they act?
3. What about University-based academics? What is their place and what are their responsibilities regarding such coalitions?

Tune in on Thursday, 13 August 2020 at:

• 11:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
• 12:00 West Africa Time (WAT)
• 13:00 Central Africa Time (CAT)
• 14:00 East Africa Time (EAT)

Watch the webinar here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRMngh0PTdw 

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