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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'Umkhonto we sizwe, we are waiting for you': the ANC and the township uprising, September 1984 - September 1985
Author:Simpson, ThulaISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:South African Historical Journal
Volume:61
Issue:1
Pages:158-177
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:rebellions
urban youth
townships
African National Congress (South Africa)
1980-1989
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582470902812327
Abstract:This article discusses the ANC's relationship with the youth-led township rebellion of the mid 1980s which has not received adequate attention in the existing literature on South African resistance politics. The argument made is that while the ANC lacked a physical presence in the townships and was thus unable to organize the uprisings, the appeal of its confrontational policies - and above all its armed struggle - meant it was accorded the mantle of symbolic leadership by the youths spearheading the fighting. The intangibility of mass consciousness and the difficulty of gauging it through conventional archival sources means the article relies heavily on the testimony of contemporary witnesses, and particularly journalists. The origins and dynamics of the uprising are investigated in the article and the gestation of the insurrection within the townships for almost a year before its eventual eruption is discussed, as is the manner in which the rebellion's lack of formal leadership proved to be its greatest strength by making it difficult to quell. The timeframe covered spans the first year of the uprising because it witnessed in microcosm the basic themes which dominated mass politics in South Africa for most of the following decade. Bibliogr., ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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