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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
The British Anti-Apartheid Movement: Publicising the African National Congress
| Panel |
47. Reassessing the South African Liberation Movement
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| Paper ID | 183 |
| Author(s) |
Klein, Genevieve
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | The British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) expressed its support for the struggle against apartheid and for the liberation movements through various activities and campaigns. An important aspect of this work was informing the British public about apartheid, the liberation movements and South African government actions. This paper explores the publicity the AAM provided through its own publication - the Anti-Apartheid News. Through this publication it was able to report and comment on South African developments and provide information that was contrary to the propaganda espoused by the South African government. The newspaper specifically highlighted the ANC, and reported on its internal activity and support, its ideology and aims, and its leadership. This publicity played an important role in legitimising the ANC in the international sphere and countering propaganda which depicted the ANC as a ‘terrorist organisation’.
This paper focuses on the period after the Soweto Uprising in 1976 until the release of Mandela in 1990. In this period publicity was particularly important for the ANC. In was in this period that the internal struggle against apartheid reached its height. The period also witnessed the most violent actions by the South African regime against freedom fighters. Secondly, the period saw a shift in the west towards more conservative governments, with Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan being elected President of the United States of America. This was accompanied by a shift in policy towards South Africa, with improved relations with the South African regime and increasing allegations of terrorism against the ANC. Publicity on the aims and actions of the ANC were therefore increasingly important. Finally, after 1976 the ANC faced increased competition from other ideologies inside South Africa, such as Black Consciousness. This added a dynamic to liberation politics and the ANC found publicity increasingly important.
I will analyse specific articles and trends in the Anti-Apartheid News, thus highlighting the role and importance of this publicity provided by the AAM.
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