Dissertation by Sara Monaco, IBF and Department of Government, Uppsala University:

Neighbourhood Politics in Transition. Residents' Associations and Local Government in Post-Apartheid Cape Town

ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALAIENSIS. Skrifter utgivna av Statsvetenskapliga föreningen i Uppsala, 168

Abstract
How can we understand civil society-state relations in post-apartheid urban South Africa? How do neighbourhood associations respond when confronted with a new democratic institutional and political context? This book focuses on the changing practices of residents’ associations in Cape Town, and their relationship with political parties and local government from 1990 to 2006.

Drawing on social movement theory, the study brings about a complex and highly diverse picture of neighbourhood politics in post-apartheid Cape Town. Associations in socio-economically distinct areas have different perceptions of their prospects of affecting decision-making. Because of the close links that exist between many associations and political parties, associations interpret the political and institutional changes as either threats or opportunities depending on which party controls the City Council. In predominantly white affluent areas associations generally seem to underestimate their chances of being influential, whereas those in black poor areas tend to overestimate their ability to influence decision-making when the ANC is in a government position.

The study contributes to the development of social movement theory by its systematic application of the framework of political opportunity structures in a local urban context outside the US and Western Europe. The pattern suggested by theory, that movements choose their action repertoire according to the rule ‘as moderate as possible, as radical as necessary’, is largely confirmed by the empirical findings.

Sara Monaco is a Research Advisor at Sida’s Department for Research Cooperation. She has pursued postgraduate studies at the Department of Government and at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University, Sweden. This book is her doctoral dissertation.