Question

what was the nature of the civil right society residence in south Africa after after the 1960s

Answer 1

It is important to note that South African events do not occur in a vacuum, as we are part of a large continent and a much larger world. Therefore, what happens in the 'North' has a huge impact on what happens here. For this section, it is important to understand the international background, and what the world was like in the 1960s. This will help us contextualise the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa in the 1970s.

Also, it is impossible to understand what happened in South Africa (the 'small picture') unless we understand what happened in international relations (the 'big picture') towards the end of the 1980s.

During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, world politics was dominated by the rivalry between the Soviet Union (Russia) and the United States of America. This rivalry was called the Cold War.

The content of the new history curriculum is structured to help us to understand the interaction between the world, the African continent and South Africa.

Background information and definitions

What is civil society?

Civil society consists of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions. Civil society is separate from the state, and from business institutions. Civil society groups consist of ordinary people who take collective action around shared aims, interests and values.

Examples of these groups include charities, non-governmental organisations, community groups, women's organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups.

What are civil rights?

Civil rights are the protections and privileges given to all citizens by law. Civil rights are rights given by nations to their citizens within their territorial boundaries. Human rights, on the other hand, are rights that individuals have from birth.

In countries like South Africa, the United States and Europe, laws which guarantee civil rights are written down.

Examples of civil rights and liberties include:

the right to privacy

the right of peaceful protest

the right to a fair investigation and trial if suspected of a crime

the right to vote

the right to personal freedom

the right to freedom of movement

the right to equality before the law

When citizens in civil society find that their civil rights are not being granted, they may form civil rights movements to claim equal protection for all citizens. They may also call for new laws to stop current discrimination.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations Organisation in 1948. It is the basis for human rights protection and promotion around the world.

The UDHR helped motivate and encourage civil rights movements in many different countries. For example, the standards set by the UDHR motivated freedom fighters in South Africa, the Civil Rights Movement in America, the Black Power Movement, and campaigns for nuclear disarmament, student movements, peace movements, and women's movements.

The context

The beginning of the Nuclear Age

America dropped Atomic or Nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in 1945. This ended the Second World War. Since then we have been living in an Age that is often called the Nuclear Age or the Atomic Age. The threat of terrifying and devastating nuclear weapons changed the nature of war forever.

The end of the Allied Alliance and the beginning of the Cold War

During the Second World War, the United States was an ally of the Soviet Union, along with Britain and others. They fought against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. The United States only entered the Second World War in December 1941. Although the Soviet Union was an American ally, America did not consult the Soviet Union about the dropping of the Nuclear Bombs in 1945. The tension between the United States, a capitalist democracy, and the Soviet Union, a communist totalitarian state, stemmed from a long history of mutual distrust dating back to 1917.

Both Superpowers wanted to spread their power and influence in the world. The Cold War was therefore an ideological, political, economic, and military conflict between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). This began in the aftermath of World War II, and ended in 1989. From the beginning, the Cold War was linked with the development of the atomic bomb and its use as a military deterrent.

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