Lessons from the Global Campaign to End South African Apartheid

This workshop will explore the structure and methodologies of the global campaign which ultimately caused the collapse of the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

While contemporary struggles, such as the growing movement to end Apartheid-style policies in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, emphasize their links to the earlier struggle in South Africa, most explorations of these links focus parallels in their political analysis. This workshop focuses instead on examining the ways in which the South African Anti-Apartheid struggle actually functioned, both domestically and internationally, what factors helped or hindered its eventual success, and how it approached challenges such as research, coordination, and organized opposition.

Panelists will include direct participants in the movement, both within South Africa and internationally, many of whom continue to campaign today in similar struggles in Palestine and around the world.

For organizers who have long drawn inspiration from the tireless efforts of the activists who ended Apartheid in South Africa, this workshop presents a rare opportunity to derive specific lessons in both strategy and tactics which can be directly applied to the struggles of today.