ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the global protest wave and its resonances in South Africa, situates resistance in the post-apartheid period within a historical and global context, and interrogates the project of building social theory from the Global South. The recent proliferation of global protests and their convergence around a common politics is extremely significant. But it is important to note that the most visible examples, noted previously, represent only a portion of recent global resistance. The emergence of the new social movements in South Africa paralleled the rise of the Anti-Globalisation Movement or Global Justice Movement, whose iconic struggles included the 1999 Battle in Seattle and other protests against the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and World Bank. This protest movement grew out of earlier resistance against structural adjustment policies in Africa and the Global South more generally. The chapter also presents an overview of key concepts discussed in this book.
