African Middle Classes Beyond the Buzz – An interview with Simone Schotte

Hashtag and Political Resistance Movements in Southern Africa

What is the political significance of Southern Africa’s “hashtag movements”, socio-political campaigns using social media to disseminate information and to mobilise concerned and previously quiet segments of the public? Can these seemingly spontaneous movements effectively articulate opposition, challenge political elites and...

South Africa: What Role for the Civil Society? – Video interview with Koketso Moeti

Defining the Middle Class in the Global South. A quantitative perspective from South Africa

What makes you middle class? Is it your income, occupation, or education? Your family background or maybe the house and neighbourhood you live in? It is probably all of these things. All these factors matter, because they affect your feeling...

Africa and the ICC Going Forward

October 2016 presented a grim test for the fourteen-year-old International Criminal Court (ICC) as three Sub-Saharan African countries, Burundi, South Africa and Gambia announced their decision to opt out of the international judicial body. Do these countries currently have the regional...

South Africa: 20th Anniversary of Freedom and the General Elections of 2014 (3/3)

This article is the third and last part of the synthesis report of a conference which took place on November 22nd, 2013 at Ifri, Paris. The event was jointly organized by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), the French Institute in South Africa (IFAS), and...

South Africa: 20th Anniversary of Freedom and the General Elections of 2014 (2/3)

This article is the second part of the synthesis report of a conference which took place on November 22nd, 2013 at Ifri, Paris. The event was jointly organized by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), the French Institute in South Africa (IFAS), and the French Institute...

South Africa: 20th Anniversary of Freedom and the General Elections of 2014 (1/3)

This article is the first part of the synthesis report of a conference which took place on November 22nd, 2013 at Ifri, Paris. The event was jointly organized by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), the French Institute...