Fundamental rights and democratic contestation : reflections on freedom of assembly in an unequal society
| dc.contributor.author | Botha, Henk | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-08-07T07:45:42Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-08-07T07:45:42Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
| dc.description | CITATION: Botha, H. 2017. Fundamental rights and democratic contestation : reflections on freedom of assembly in an unequal society. Law, Democracy & Development, 21:221-238, doi:10.4314/ldd.v21i1.11. | |
| dc.description | The original publication is available at http://www.ldd.org.za | |
| dc.description.abstract | In this article, I argue that the impoverished conception of freedom of assembly displayed in legislation and case law, and its neglect in academic literature, has to do with a set of dominant understandings of democracy. These understandings are structured in terms of certain hierarchical oppositions: between institutional and extra-institutional politics; between representative and direct democracy; between rational deliberation and political antagonism; between reason and affect; and between speech and action. I argue that these understandings, together with the narratives which help to sustain them, are problematic for a number of reasons: first, they do not pay sufficient attention to forms of power that are deeply ingrained in societal structures; secondly, they underestimate the constitutive role of conflict and antagonism in political life; and thirdly, they underplay the role of affects and passions in democratic struggles. Through my critique of these assumptions and understandings, I attempt to develop a more adequate understanding of the relationship between democracy and the right to assemble and demonstrate. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.version | Publisher's version | |
| dc.format.extent | 18 pages | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Botha, H. 2017. Fundamental rights and democratic contestation : reflections on freedom of assembly in an unequal society. Law, Democracy & Development, 21:221-238, doi:10.4314/ldd.v21i1.11. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2077-4907 (online) | |
| dc.identifier.other | doi:10.4314/ldd.v21i1.11 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/104235 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_ZA | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape | |
| dc.rights.holder | Author retains copyright | |
| dc.subject | Assembly, Right of -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Protests (Negotiable instruments) -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Demonstrations -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Democracy -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.title | Fundamental rights and democratic contestation : reflections on freedom of assembly in an unequal society | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Article | en_ZA |