Social movements as learning spaces: the case of the defunct Anti-Privatisation Forum in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social movements often become spaces for learning, although this type of learning has been overlooked by activists and scholars alike. Analysing the case of the collapsed Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF), the article submits that the APF was not only an organisation that challenged privatisation, but also a learning space for activists from middle-class and working-class backgrounds. Non-formal educational platforms, such as political education workshops, organisational and practical skill training sessions and campaigns organised by the APF and its partner organisations, were instrumental in transferring skills to community-based activists. After the demise of the APF, its activists applied the skills and competences they had acquired to continue advancing social and economic justice in other organisations. Furthermore, community-based activists educated middle-class activists about the conditions of working-class communities and the challenges of building working-class movements in post-apartheid South Africa.