Entangled oligarchies: structure, agency and rent seeking in South Africa

Vartavarian, Mesrob

doi:10.1017/s0001972023000657

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Subaltern criminality is addressed through greater coercion rather than structural reforms. Elite criminality is only a problem if a politician is unessential to the power calculus of a ruling faction (Vartavarian, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, taming police excesses depends on larger VARTAVARIAN -303 factors than the community activism McMichael puts so much stake in. Demilitarization can only occur if South Africa's power elites widen opportunities for socioeconomic advancement beyond the predatory political networks and municipal machines that currently hold the country in thrall (Vartavarian, 2023). Change will not necessarily occur with an electoral transition away from one-party rule.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reversible Comparisons: Policing Criminality and Criminal Policing in South Africa

Vartavarian

2024

Sociology Lens

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John D. Brewer’s (1994) seminal study of the South African Police claimed that structural factors would inhibit democratic reforms in law enforcement agencies, regardless of which political party controlled the public administration. Thirty years of majority rule, and a series of subsequent works (Altbeker 2005, 2007; Steinberg, 2008; Lamb 2018), demonstrate that Brewer’s thesis remains relevant. Occasional efforts at fully reconstructing state security agencies never took hold and the South African Police Service remains mired in the sordid practices of its colonial past. McMichael and Brown concur with this established narrative while Shaw’s study on vigilantism adds insightful subtleties that deromanticize subaltern social movements. All three authors tackle sharp distinctions between policing and criminality, arguing that the two processes often intertwine and are frequently interchangeable. This review article combines structural determinants of coercive law enforcement with elite political agency. Political choices made by South Africa’s ruling African National Congress reinforce criminal practices in policing and precipitate the formation of volatile vigilante organizations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%