Practices of solidarity: opposing Apartheid in the Centre of London

Brown, G. and Yaffe, H. (2014) Practices of solidarity: opposing Apartheid in the Centre of London. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, 46(1), pp. 34-52. (doi: 10.1111/anti.12037)

Abstract

International solidarity is frequently presented as an asymmetrical flow of assistance travelling from one place to another. In contrast, we theorise the more complex, entangled and reciprocal flows of solidarity that serve to enact social change in more than one place simultaneously. The international campaign against apartheid was one of the most widespread, sustained social movements of the last century. This paper examines the spatial practices of the Non‐Stop Picket of the South African Embassy in London (1986–1990). Drawing on archival and interview material, we examine how the Picket produced solidarity with those resisting apartheid in South(ern) Africa. We argue that how the need for anti‐apartheid solidarity was framed politically cannot be understood in isolation from how it was performed in practice. The study of solidarity is enriched by paying attention to the micropolitics of the practices through which it is enacted and articulated through key sites.

• Item Type: Articles (Other)
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Yaffe, Dr Helen
• Authors: Brown, G., and Yaffe, H.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain; D History General and Old World > DT Africa; G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General); H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Journal Name: Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0066-4812
• ISSN (Online): 1467-8330
• Published Online: 01 August 2013