In his regular column for the Daily Nation, our co-editor Nic Cheeseman highlights the importance of democratic ideas and memories in the ongoing struggles for democratisation across the continent.
Democracy in Africa is under threat. In Burundi, Rwanda,
In his regular column for the Daily Nation, our co-editor Nic Cheeseman highlights the importance of democratic ideas and memories in the ongoing struggles for democratisation across the continent.
Democracy in Africa is under threat. In Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, presidents have extended their stay in office, overturning constitutional term limits in the process. Even in South Africa, once the continent’s leading democratic light, the African National Congress (ANC) has become increasingly corrupt and out of touch with its former urban base.
Does this mean that democracy is doomed in Africa? It is tempting to think so, especially given the number of Afro-pessimists around. No one can doubt the quality of political rights and civil liberties on the continent has fallen in recent years. But what is often overlooked is that some of these challenges are also opportunities. Democracies are rarely born fully formed. Rather, they are hard won through the blood, sweat and tears of activists and reformers.
Part of what promotes democracy and solidifies democratic values in the long-run is the process of struggle, and the winning of improbable victories that serve as reminders of what has been won, and the price that it cost. As a result, democratic backsliding is not necessarily the end of democracy in Africa – in some countries, it may be just the beginning.
But what makes such an improbable victory possible? And how does the way in which democracy is achieved shape the way that it performs?
On the face of it, democratic backsliding is wholly bad. It undermines confidence in multiparty politics, signals the willingness of leaders to break the law, and gives opposition parties a reason to seek to overthrow the political system. But just like the process of democratic consolidation, the process of democratic decline is far from straightforward. In the same way countries make halting progress towards more tolerant and open political systems, the process of falling back into authoritarian rule is often lengthy and uneven, with one step forward followed by two steps back.
This is important because along the way there are likely to be opportunities for elite or popular resistance to authoritarian rule. Such moments are particularly significant because they are times when new democratic ideas, values and myths can be forged. It is easy to overlook these moments, but they have played a role in processes of democratisation around the world. In America, key episodes in the struggle for independence from British rule, such as the Boston Tea Party, were assimilated into the founding myth of the United States.
The defeat of colonial rule is also an important political memory in Kenya, as demonstrated by the fact that some contemporary protestors explicitly reference the Mau Mau rebellion. More recently, the Saba Saba rallies and the overthrow of the one-party state in the early 1990s, along with the passage of the new constitution in 2010, have been a source of inspiration for many civil society groups.
These kinds of events have a particular significance when they become the collective memories around which new societies and political systems can be constructed. Of course, memory is often deceptive, but this does not undermine the influence of past events – if anything, it is what gives them their power. Indeed, Georges Sorel, an influential theorist of revolutionary action who was born in France in 1847, argued that it was precisely when revolutionary memories become myths that they can be used to mobilise people for a given cause.
For Sorel, progress towards a more equal society was not inevitable. Instead, he argued that it had to be won through human endeavour. More specifically, Sorel claimed the lesson of history was that equality could only be secured through a series of battles which – writing in nineteenth century France – he believed would take the form of a general strike perpetrated by workers against their bosses. This part of Sorel’s argument is well known and is controversial, because he not only argued that violence was necessary for such a strike to succeed, but also that it was justified.
The bit of Sorel’s argument that is less well known and less problematic relates to the role of ideas in social and political transformation. Given his belief that progress was not inevitable, Sorel attempted to explain the conditions under which people would rise up to take on their oppressors. His conclusion was that communities needed myths to draw on in order to inspire people to the feats of heroism needed to move history forwards, such as the legend of the French Revolution.
Although these myths were originally inspired by actual events, Sorel thought what really mattered was what they came to represent. After all, a simplified and romanticised vision of the past can be a much more effective rallying call than the complex reality of real life. Thus, for Sorel, myths were not accurate descriptions of the past but “expressions of a determination to act”.
Sorel was writing about class struggles in Europe, but his point about the role of myths is just as important for the battle between authoritarianism and democracy. If the last twenty years in Africa has taught us anything it is that there is nothing inevitable about the defeat of authoritarian rule. Although most of us would disagree with Sorel about the necessity and legitimacy of political violence, it is clear that democracy in Africa will only be secured if brave citizens and politicians risk their own safety and stand up to 