Education for Liberation

Khanya: A Journal for Activists

The post 1994 situation in South Africa has posed new and different challenges to those committed to democracy and egalitarian social change. It has also seen the emergence of a radically new and different context within which the struggles for democracy and social change have to be waged.

With respect to the struggle for democracy, the transition to majority rule has raised questions about how a society like South Africa, with its long history of autocracy and dictatorship, ensures that democracy does not give legitimacy to the rule of new elites. In other words, the challenge is how to ensure that democracy is both broadly based and participatory. After seven years of majority rule it has become clear that political democracy

The far-reaching changes in the international relationship of social forces – a process generally referred to as globalisation – has also produced new challenges and tasks for forces committed to democratic and egalitarian social change. By entrenching corporate power, globalisation has undermined democracy all over the world. By setting into motion what is probably the most predatory form of capitalism to date, globalisation has deepened poverty and widened the already skewed distribution of wealth and income.

The changes in the relationship of social forces characteristic of this period are premised on the retreat of movements – within South Africa and in other parts of the world – who are committed to egalitarian societies. On the other hand, this retreat has not meant that progressive forces have given up the struggle for democracy and egalitarian economic and social organisation. Indeed, in many parts of the world, including South Africa, old movements for change are reviving, and new ones are emerging.

The new context and its challenges has emphasised a number of key tasks for the new movements. These tasks constitute the aims of the Khanya Journal, as well as the motivation for its establishment:

1. Re-building the fighting organisations of the working class and the poor in general, and of building new forms of organization capable of responding to new challenges of struggle.
2. Revitalising theoretical approaches to social analysis that form an important inheritance of egalitarian social movements all over the world.
3. Developing new theoretical approaches to better understand new developments in the world today
4. Building a layer of activist cadre that is dedicated to democracy and egalitarian social change.
5. Building a culture of critical debate among the emerging layer of activists.
6. Developing the capacity of activists to engage in critical social analysis and debate.
7. Creating spaces for activists to publish, and have access to the work of other activists.
8. Providing a vehicle for activists to access international debates on democracy and social change.

In order to achieve these aims, and to further respond to the challenges facing the working class and the poor in general, Khanya College has set up the Journal Project of Khanya College.

The activities of the Journal Project of Khanya College

The following activities will be undertaken within the ambit of the Journal Project of Khanya College:

1. The publication of a regular journal for activists.
2. Seminars dealing with various questions facing the movement for democracy and egalitarian social change
3. The publication of Occasional Papers on topical issues facing the movement.
4. The publication of Study and Discussion Notes aimed at introducing activists to theoretical and historical questions relevant to the building of the democratic and egalitarian social movement.
5. Facilitate the organisation of Discussion Forums around the study notes.
6. Organise speaking and discussion tours in South Africa for activists from other parts of the world.
7. Organise publishing events like book launches and other activities.
8. Organise conferences on critical social theory and organisational questions.
9. Organise capacity building workshops (and other capacity building events) aimed at developing the writing and theoretical skills of activists.
10. Publish books and booklets [whenever appropriate, together with other established and progressive publishing initiatives].

These various activities of the Journal Project of Khanya College will in the main be organised around the Journal.