Radical South Atlantic: The circulation of Latin American ideas in South Africa (1980s)

LAURA EFRON

Johannesburgo

Conferencia; Southern African Historical Society; 2017

University of the Witwatersrand

In this article I am putting forward the contention that rather than constituting a barrier between Africa and the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean was a space of dialogues and exchange. In this respect, the links between the coasts of the South Atlantic can be traced back to the Atlantic slave trade during the seventeenth century, and still remain in force today (Gilroy, 1993; Matory, 2005; Martin, 2011). This has a bearing on how we understand these societies. In terms of this, if we understand the ocean as a communication space rather than one of separation, analysis of local realities and experiences cannot be conducted on the basis of the idea of exclusivity or exceptionalism. Experiences and realities in these two sides need to be understood and interpreted in their hybridity. One side of the ocean cannot be understood without paying attention to the other. Following this perspective, the aim of this work is to make a trans-national and transAtlantic study of the exchange of radical educational practices and ideas between Latin America and South Africa in the South African context of state of emergency during 1980s. How did radical Latin American ideas from the 60s and 70s arrive in South Africa? Which ideas found an audience here? Were they read, analyzed and re-appropriated by teachers, students and families in the South African context of struggle against apartheid education? How were they put in practice?