Rethinking Radical Flank Theory: South Africa

31 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2014

See all articles by John Braithwaite

John Braithwaite

School of Regulation & Global Governance (RegNet)

Date Written: January 2014

Abstract

Chenoweth and Stephan (2011) found that nonviolent resistance movements since 1900 have twice the success rate of violent movements in achieving their objectives. Schock and Chenoweth (2012) furthermore show that nonviolent resistance movements with a violent radical flank have a lower success rate than nonviolent movements without a violent radical flank. This contradicts the analysis of the African National Congress of how Apartheid was defeated. The ANC believes both armed struggle and nonviolent resistance were effective and complementary. After listening to voices from the South African resistance, a tweak of Schock and Chenoweth is advanced. Nonviolent resistance should not cultivate the creation of violent radical flanks; if violent radical flanks exist, however, nonviolent leaders should be reluctant to cast them out of resistance coalitions. Indeed, like Nelson Mandela in the 1980s, nonviolent oppositions may do best to resist tyranny with willingness to invoke the spectre of violent spoilers.

Keywords: nonviolence, South Africa, radical flank, resistance movements, violent spoilers

undefined

JEL Classification: K19

Suggested Citation

Braithwaite, John, Rethinking Radical Flank Theory: South Africa (January 2014). RegNet Research Paper No. 2014/23, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2377443 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2377443

John Braithwaite (Contact Author)

School of Regulation & Global Governance (RegNet) ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

0 References

    0 Citations

      Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

      Paper statistics

      Downloads
      335
      Abstract Views
      2,091
      Rank
      188,571
      PlumX Metrics
      Plum Print visual indicator of research metrics
      • Citations
        • Citation Indexes: 5
      • Usage
        • Abstract Views: 2082
        • Downloads: 330
      • Captures
        • Readers: 9
      see details