چکیده (انگلیسی):

Prefigurative politics is a resurgent concept, seeking to explain a diverse array of social phenomena, from Occupy Wall Street
to car-sharing cooperatives. The driving force behind these activities is said to be a combination of dashed hopes for a better
post-Cold War world and the widespread negative social impacts of neoliberal globalization. Although located in the Global
South, Southern Africa is not immune to these pressures and processes. Indeed, the region is rife with a number of activities
and organisations demonstrating features of prefigurative politics. T aken together , however, it is unlikely that these activities
constitute a ‘prefigurative moment’ in the region’s politics. So ubiquitous in theory and practice is the idea of the modern
Western state as locus of ‘a better life for all’ that prefigurative impulses are quickly colonized by state-centered, mainstream
actors, forces and factors. At present, significant student movements are underway in South Africa, #RhodesMustFall and
#FeesMustFall, suggesting possibilities for meaningful change not through disengagement from the state, but by directly
confronting it in deliberate and coordinated ways. This demonstration of what A.O. Hirschman calls ‘voice’ is dissimilar to the
general trends of ‘exit’ or ‘loyalty’ among individuals, groups and communities across the region. While all of these activities
are indicative of a strong desire for a better life for all, transformational change in southern Africa requires strategic political
thinking and action. Only the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall student protests suggest movement, albeit nascent, in this
direction.