Centre for Civil Society Seminar Series
South Africa in Comparative Perspective – India and Brazil
Facilitated by Danford Chibvongodze and Andries Motau
The two seminars in this series consider South Africa in comparative perspective. Fabio Luis’s seminar examines the erosion of South Africa’s Rainbow Nation against the Brazilian New Republic. Lubna Nadvi considers active citizenship within BRICS focusing on South Africa and India.
Seminar: Active Citizenship in an Evolving BRICS: Reflections on India and South Africa
Speaker: Lubna Nadvi
Date: Thursday 14 November 2024 13:00-14:00 (SA Time)
Zoom Link: https://ukzn.zoom.us/j/99050194149?pwd=ETbVqf46xgvDqsTba3b4IqRDu3EIrO.1
Seminar Topic;
BRICS has since its formal inception in 2009, been perceived to be the alternative global voice to the hegemony of the G7 economic bloc of industrialised Western nations. It was set up primarily to serve as a multi-lateral inter-governmental organisation to represent the economic interests of what is generally referred to as the Global South. While it originally started off as a group of 4 countries eventually including South Africa it has since 2011 grown to include more members, such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE. Argentina declined an invitation to be a member and there is no clarity yet on whether Saudi Arabia will formally join or not. The most recent summit of BRICS + hosted in Russia in October 2024 hosted representatives of more than 30 nations and showcased in particular South Africa’s role on the global stage.While BRICS gatherings are often characterised by the economic and foreign policy stances of the heads of the member nations, there is not much focus on the role played by the citizens of BRICS + nations. Given that the original purpose of the existence of BRICS was to create alternative markets for countries of the South, to benefit their people it is however not really evident how BRICS + actually engages its citizenry. This work in progress presentation attempts to look at 2 cases studies within the BRICS block, India and South Africa to explore what active role ordinary people play within the BRICS framework, if any at all, and if they are engaging as active citizens to hold their governments accountable in terms of their commitments to the BRICS principles.
About the Speaker
Lubna Nadvi is an academic and researcher based in the School of Social Sciences at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Her expertise are in the fields of Political Science, International Relations, Gender/ Feminist Studies, Civil Society, Middle East, Indo-Pak and African Politics, Political Islam and Social Movements. Nadvi has made an active contribution to various local South African struggles and campaigns including the anti-apartheid youth / student’s movement, HIV AIDS awareness, women’s and children’s rights, street / informal trader struggles, subsistence livelihoods, fee free higher education, amongst others. In this capacity she has served on the provincial and regional structures of movements such as the Social Movements Indaba and the eThekwini Social Forum and currently serves on the Exco of the Active Citizen’s Movement. Her international solidarity work includes contributions to the Global Anti – war Coalition, as well as support for the Palestinian, Syrian, Rohingya and other refugee communities. She has a BA Honours from the University of Durban Westville, an MA from Coventry University (UK) in Diplomacy, Law and Global Change and a PhD from UKZN.
