Citizenship in social movements: constructing alternatives in the Anti-Privatization Forum, South Africa

This paper explores how social movements construct citizenship and redefine the very notion of the political realm. Social movements have quickly become powerful actors within South Africa’s civil society. They are largely contesting the basis upon which South Africa’s post-apartheid reality has been constructed according to specific policies. Citizenship is in turn used as a lens of analysis to show how social movements in South Africa are contesting macro and micro-economic policies and government re-structuring. The case analysis of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) represents one of countless South African movements searching for alternatives to ongoing socio-economic policy. The overarching aim of this paper is to display how social movements actively construct citizenship, and to interrogate the strategies that are used to advance their agenda. The outcome of this article is therefore to reignite the meaning of citizenship as a lens for understanding the goals and methods of citizen lead activism. Moreover, the article reveals the competing and conflicting interpretations of rights existing between the state and other actors as well as an interrogation of further strategies that could be explored for social movements.