Regional Economic Communities and Integration in Southern Africa: Networks of Civil Society Organizations and Alternative Regionalism

✍ Scribed by Leon Mwamba Tshimpaka, Christopher Changwe Nshimbi, Inocent Moyo

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 273
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book examines regional integration in Africa, with a particular focus on the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It argues that the SADC’s pursuit of a rationalist and state-centric form of integration for Southern Africa is limited, as it overlooks the contributory role and efficacy of non-state actors, who are relegated to the periphery. The book demonstrates that civil society networks in Southern Africa constitute well-governed, self-organised entities that function just like formal regional arrangements driven by state actors and technocrats. The book amplifies this point by deploying New Institutionalism and the New Regionalism Approach to examine the role and efficacy of non-state actors in building regions from below. The book develops a unique typology that shows how Southern African regional civil society networks adopt strategies, norms and rules to establish an efficient form of alternative integration in the region. Based on a critical analysis of this self-organised regionalism, the book projects the reality that alternative regionalism driven by non-state actors is possible. This book expands the study of regionalism in the SADC, and makes a significant and innovative contribution to the study of contemporary regionalism.
Dr Leon Mwamba Tshimpaka is a researcher for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa. He researches regional integration and development in Africa, with a specific focus on the SADC region.

Dr Christopher Changwe Nshimbi is Director, Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) and Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria. He researches migration, regional integration, the informal economy and water governance and sits on regional and international technical working groups on trade, labour and migration, social cohesion and water.

Dr Inocent Moyo is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Zululand, South Africa. He researches borders, migration, development and regional integration, urban and cross border informal economies, with a focus on Africa in general and the SADC region specifically.

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
1: Regional Integration, Networks of Civil Society Organisations and Alternative Regionalism in Southern Africa: An Introduction
Introduction
Conventional Regionalism and Regional Economic Integration: Adoption in Southern Africa
Inclusive Regionalism: The Critical Place of Civil Society in Southern African Integration
New Institutionalism and the New Regionalism Approach: Viable Applications for Successful Integration in Southern Africa
Civil Society Organisations: A Contextualisation and Conceptualisation for the SADC Region
Networks of Civil Society Organisations and Alternative Regionalism in Southern Africa
Methodological Considerations
Structure of the Book
References
2: A Historical Background to Regional Integration in Africa and Southern Africa
Introduction
The Organisation of African Unity and Framework for Regional Integration in Africa
The Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community
The Southern African Development Community
Conclusion
References
3: Regional Integration in Africa and Southern Africa: An Appraisal of Conventional Approaches
Introduction
Early, Old and New/Alternative Regionalism: An Overview
Integration at Continental Level in Africa
Integration at Regional Level in Southern Africa
Integration outside Formalised Structures at Regional Level in Southern Africa
Conclusion
References
4: New Institutionalism and New Regionalism Approaches to Understanding Regionalism in Southern Africa
Introduction
New Institutionalists and the Interpretation of Institutions
Typology of Institutions and Social Interaction
Typology of Institutions
Institutional Interactions and Settings
Revisiting New Institutionalism to Examine Regionalism in Southern Africa
New Institutionalism
Rational Choice Institutionalism
Sociological Institutionalism
Historical Institutionalism
Discursive Institutionalism
Justification for Using a Hybrid Form of New Institutionalism to Examine Regionalism in Southern Africa
The New Regionalism Approach and Pragmatic Regional Integration from Below
Civil Society Networks and Arenas of Participation in Regionalism
Functional Types and Categories of Civil Society Networks in Regionalism
Watchdog Civil Society as Transformist Counterforce
Service Delivery Civil Society as Partner and Legitimator
Mobiliser Civil Society as Partner, Manipulator and Counterforce
Knowledge-Production Civil Society as Reformist
Issue-Framing and Agenda-Setting Civil Society as Transformist and Counterforce
Conclusion
References
5: The Formal-Alternative Regionalism Formal Interface: Interactions and Engagements of Southern African Civil Society Networks in SADC Regulatory Regimes
Introduction
Regional Civil Society Networks in the SADC Region
An Overview of Formal Interactions and Engagements between SADC and Southern African Civil Society Networks
Description of the SADC Legal and Regulatory Framework of Interaction for Regional Civil Society Networks
SADC Secretariat
The SADC Heads of State and Government Summit
The SADC Council of Ministers and the Troika
SADC National Committees and National Contact Points
The SADC Parliamentary Forum
SADC-Instituted Spaces for Regional Civil Society Network Interactions: The SADC Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (SADC-CNGO)
Accessibility of the SADC to Regional Civil Society Networks
SADC as a Shrinking Space for Civic Interaction
Influence of National Political Regime Type on Interaction at Regional Level
Sectors Tolerated by SADC for Civic Engagement in Southern Africa
Rivalry between Member States and Regional Civil Society Networks in the SADC Region
Institutional Legitimacy of the SADC
Conclusion
References
6: Alternative and People Centred Approaches to Regional Integration
Introduction
On the Emergence of Alternative Regionalisms in the SADC Region
Interactions of Regional Civil Society Networks within Self-Organised Regionalisms: The Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN)
On Interaction Processes of Regional Civil Society Networks in Alternative Regionalism in Southern Africa
The Civil Society Forum
Organising the Civil Society Forum
Preparation and Logistics for Hosting the Civil Society Forum
Steps towards the Holding of the Civil Society Forum
Programme of the Civil Society Forum
The SADC People’s Summit
Structure and Thematic Groups of the SADC People’s Summit
Organising the SADC People’s Summit
Steps towards the Holding of the SADC People’s Summit
SADC People’s Summit Programme
Strategies, Norms and Rules Developed by Southern African Civil Society Networks for Interacting in Formal Regionalism
Strategies
Collaboration with SADC Elites through Cooperative Engagement
Quiet Diplomacy through Behind-the-Scenes Informal Bargaining
Submission of Collective Declaration for the SADC Heads of State Summits
Norms
Conforming to the Existing SADC Status Quo through Respect of Precedence
Simultaneous Application of Formal and Alternative Norms
Influential but Unenforceable Civil Society Norms
Rules
Submitting to the SADC Legal Framework of Engagement
Prohibition of Radical and Aggressive Attitudes in Formal Sessions
Strategies, Norms and Rules Developed by Southern African Civil Society Networks for Interacting in Self-Organised Regionalisms
Strategies
Confronting SADC Elites with Transnational Citizenship and Submission of Collective Communiqué
Building Solidarity and Coalition by Sharing Lived Experiences and Aspirations among Regional Citizenry
Use of Capacity-Building and Media Platforms to Enhance Popular Critical Consciousness
Norms
Internalising Norms in Contestation with Existing SADC Status Quo
Participation in Self-Regulated Cluster Meetings during the People’s Summit
Call for Full Operationalisation of Article 23 of the SADC Treaty
Rules
Identification of Participants to the People’s Summit through National Contact Points
Collective Commitment to Uncodified Rules and Culture of Belonging
Conclusion
References
7: Typology of Institutional Arrangements of Southern African Civil Society Networks
Introduction
Strategies, Norms and Rules Used by Southern African Civil Society Networks in Regionalism-Related Interactions
Variations in Civil Society Network Strategies, Norms and Rules of Interaction
Variations in Civil Society–Developed Strategies of Interaction
Variations in Civil Society–Developed Norms of Interaction
Variations in Civil Society–Developed Rules of Interaction
Problematising Civil Society’s Institutional Arrangements Developed in Formal Spaces as an Impediment to Alternative Regionalisms
Institutional Arrangements for Civil Society Interaction in Formal and Self-Organised Settings
Contesting Versus Complementing the State-Centric Order
Ownership Versus Compliance to Agenda
Expansive Versus Constrictive Norms
Grassroots Solidarity Versus Elitist Alliance
Authentic Grassroots Approach Versus White-Collar Bureaucracy
Civil Society Strategies, Norms and Rules within and outside SADC in a People-Centredness Perspective
Participation
Legitimacy
Typologies of Institutions According to Institutional Settings of Interaction of Civil Society Groups
Typology of Strategies, Norms and Rules Developed by Civil Society Networks within and outside SADC Institutional Settings
Typology of Southern African Civil Society Interactions within Regionalisms
Prospects for Alternative Regionalism and Regional Integration in the Southern African Region
Conclusion
References
8: Towards a People-Centred Approach to Regionalism in Africa and Southern Africa
Introduction
The Quest for Inclusive Regionalism in Southern Africa
Interactions Involving Southern African Civil Society Networks within and outside SADC Regulatory Regimes
Typology of Institutional Arrangements of Civil Society Networks in Southern Africa
Regionalism and Regional Integration as Unconventional Socio-Political Phenomena
Alternative Regionalism and the Limits of State-Centric and Market-Driven Explanations of Regionalisms
References
Index