Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Disrupting the South African parliament: performing opposition 1994–2010

Johnson, Rachel E.

Disrupting the South African parliament: performing opposition 1994–2010 Thumbnail


Authors



Abstract

The article focuses on the most common form of institutionally punished disruption seen in South Africa's National Assembly since 1994: orders for individual MPs to withdraw from the chamber. The shifting dynamics of such “set-piece” dramatizations of opposition and their relationship with the established analyses of political opposition in post-apartheid South Africa, especially “dominant party democracy” theory are explored. There have been two main styles of disruptive performance in the National Assembly since 1994. Firstly, performances of perceived political marginalization, and secondly, performances that paradoxically lay claim to uphold parliamentary democracy through rule-breaking, which are termed performances of procedure-as-democracy. The article examines how opposition politicians have justified disruption and unpicks the symbolism of prominent incidents. The focus is upon the performance of disruption and its performative aspects, particular the articulation of race and gender. It is argued that performances of procedure-as-democracy are actually one of the principal means by which opposition political parties perform narratives of ANC dominance and as such require much more attention and critical engagement from political scholars interested in dominant party democracy.

Citation

Johnson, R. E. (2013). Disrupting the South African parliament: performing opposition 1994–2010. Democratization, 20(3), 478-500. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2013.786546

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 10, 2013
Publication Date May 28, 2013
Deposit Date Sep 15, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Democratization
Print ISSN 1351-0347
Electronic ISSN 1743-890X
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 20
Issue 3
Pages 478-500
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2013.786546
Keywords Legislative disruption, Dominant party democracy, Opposition politics, South Africa, Performance, Performativity.

Files




You might also like



Downloadable Citations