EMPATHETIC COSMOPOLITANISM: SOUTH AFRICA AND THE QUEST FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

One feature of Nelson Mandela's legacy in South Africa is his concept of post-apartheid society as a cosmopolitan space. Sadly, recent developments in the country suggest a return to nativist and bigoted world views and cast a dark shadow over his legacy. There is an urgent necessity to review this aspect of Mandela's vision. In so doing, this paper highlights the ethical advantages of cosmopolitanism, and argues that what sets Mandela's cosmopolitanism apart from others is his emphasis on empathy. I therefore suggest that empathetic cosmopolitanism is a particularly South African worldview. In support of this idea of empathetic cosmopolitanism, I discuss such recent theories as 'incompleteness', 'multiple identity', and 'entanglement', suggested by South African thinkers, as registers of Mandela's global citizenship.

UBUNTU AS FOREIGN POLICY: THE AMBIGUITIES OF SOUTH AFRICA'S BRAND IMAGE AND IDENTITY

South Africa's 2011 White Paper on foreign policy, "Building a Better World", is predicated on the far-reaching ambition of how Ubuntu (humanity) and Batho Pele (putting people first) together with their underlying humanist principles will guide the country's external relations. However, while noble, this calculus is poorly conceived as an approach to global issues. The article argues that while still a relatively successful nation brand if measured by marketing indicators, South Africa's normative currency and agency in foreign policy has depreciated considerably, with a direct bearing on its nation brand and identity. These are examined with regard to the security of citizens and the personality of the state and provide a register of the branding and image deficits of the White Paper. Such deficits are then considered in terms of the cosmopolitan vision in South Africa's foreign policy and its moral and normative underpinnings. The article provides examples in both the domestic and global regimes to demonstrate the extent to which South Africa has lost its normative resilience in the conduct of its foreign policy, thus giving rise to ambiguities in its brand image and identity.

THE POVERTY OF THE 'MIDDLE CLASSING' OF DEVELOPMENT: KEY PROBLEMS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Recent decades have witnessed a 'middle classing of development' as global institutions hail the expansion of middle classes in the global South. Although the African continent has lagged behind in this regard, expanding middle classes have nonetheless been proclaimed as drivers of development and progress. However, such generalisation smoothes over the rough edges of history, for the emergence, evolution and character of middle classes have been shaped, historically as well as contemporaneously, by the timing and manner of their incorporation into the global system. In this article, it is demonstrated how the character and present prospects of middle classes in key countries in Southern Africa have been differentially shaped, not only by varying experiences under colonial rule, but also by significantly different policies pursued by the party-states of Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

COMPREHENSIVE AND HOLISTIC HUMAN SECURITY FOR A POSTCOLONIAL SOUTHERN AFRICA: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

At the heart of the conundrum of regional integration in Africa is the very conceptual basis of the idea and its agendas. In southern Africa, the agenda has for decades been about fighting poverty and enabling a good life for the citizens of the region, but the so-called developmental regional integration agenda is undermined by the lack of coherence and synergy between the security and development arms of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The former has the Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ of Security Cooperation and Defence (SIPO) and the development efforts are guided by the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP). Both claim to pursue human security by placing the plight of ordinary citizens at the centre of all efforts, yet in reality this shared aspiration has not provided a basis conceptually speaking, nor practically, for a deep cohesion in the manner in which SADC pursues its overriding goals. This article provides a critical analysis of the evolution of the concept and it also anticipates how it will evolve into a holistic idea in southern Africa. It identifies major obstacles to the achievement of the goal and offers possible solutions to the conceptual confusion that confounds the idea of human security by suggesting a comprehensive understanding of the concept and how it might apply in southern Africa.

TOWARDS MEASURING SOCIAL COHESION IN SOUTH AFRICA: LESSONS FOR NATION BRANDING DEVELOPERS

This article uses data collected across the four Waves of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) to construct a measure of social cohesion for South Africa. We compare our index to one derived using the Afrobarometer data and find a large degree of consistency in trends in the index and its constituent components over time across the two datasets. However, there is less consistency in the measures once one moves to lower levels of geographic disaggregation. We also find far less variability in the constructed index relying on NIDS panel data as opposed to the repeated cross-sections from Afrobarometer. Having derived the index, we then correlate it with a variety of indicators of social and economic well-being. We show that higher levels of education, per capita income and employment are positively associated with higher social cohesion whilst social cohesion is negatively associated with poverty, service delivery protest and perceptions of crime. In addition, municipal policy and competence are closely associated with higher social cohesion. Whilst this work is exploratory, it is encouraging, and suggests new opportunities for future research to begin to take the link between social cohesion and economic and social development seriously.

AFRICA'S FOREIGN POLICY AND NATION BRANDING: REGIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ITS DISCONTENTS

Whether they know it or not, countries are viewed through the lens of branding. Their brand equity lies in the norms and ideas that they project, as well as the actors (leaders) who champion such ideas and norms. Countries embody signs, beliefs, values, and imageries about what they stand for in the global system, and it is this that has an effectupon the imagery and preferences of others rather than merely marketing techniques. As such, countries carry — or project — a 'persona' that expresses their identity, ideas, values, and norms.This article focuses on the regional dimensions of South Africa's brand value and leadership. This is precisely because regions are crucial platforms through which countries project their ideas, norms, and leadership. It is also here that they build their brand equity. As such, this article examines the kinds of norms that South Africa projects through the region, and understands how these are perceived. Further, it analyses the predominant ideas that South Africa articulates.

THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF RHODES MUST FALL: STUDENT ACTIVISM AND THE EXPERIENCE OF ALIENATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

Social movements often face the danger of becoming the very thing they are fighting against. This tension is evident within the student movement, Rhodes Must Fall, at the University of Cape Town. This dialectic is explored through the notion of 'alienation' as a concept of social philosophy. I argue that while the movement emerges from the experience of alienation, certain behaviours internal to the movement can also proceed to cause alienation. The lesson to be learnt from this contradiction is that we are all simultaneously oppressors and oppressed. From this emerges a positive understanding of alienation, as the experience of alienation is not only a negative one. One such positive lesson in this case is the alteration of our understandings of ourselves and others toward an all-inclusive liberation agenda. Failure to heed this could see the transformation potential of such movements like Rhodes Must Fall hijacked by hypocrisy.

A COMPETITIVE ASSESSMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA'S LEADING CITIES — NATIONAL, CONTINENTAL AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

South Africa's cities are focal points in any contemporary snapshot of the country. Their swift transformation within the national landscape means that they now affect or even dominate every other element within it. Its cities and their burgeoning populations have become defining characteristics of the country with their increasing political sway and growing contribution to the national economy. For many people living in cities, their urban affiliation is stronger and more meaningful than an increasingly abstract and distant national affiliation. Cities are important to national branding because they are localised and tangible points where national perception and reputation often originate or are reinforced. For many stakeholders it is city brands that contribute most directly to their perceptions of the national brand in areas such as ease and security of investment, economic status, liveability, tourism, personal interaction or safety and security. This article considers South Africa's largest cities, their competitive positions within the country, in Africa and across the globe, and it does so with a measure of inclusive urbanisation that is relevant to a wide spectrum of South Africa's stakeholders — national and international business and investors, institutions, government and citizens.