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CHAPTER TWO: THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF AN OPEN SOCIETY
Introduction
This chapter discusses the historical origins of, and philosophical debates around, the concept of ‘open society’. It traces the growth of the concept, the debates it has spawned through the ages, the intellectual influences behind its growth, and scans some attempts at implementing open society ideals (i.e. recent interventions).The discussion also deals with the manner in which modern thinkers –mostly politicians in Africa – have related to the open society concept in their political stances and practices. In particular, the literature that highlights the debates around the concept is explored, so as to give some perspective and context to this study.In so doing, the theoretical base of the chapter relies heavily on the thoughts of Karl Popper, both as a way of providing the intellectual ‘limitations’ of the study, and also because, as Burke (1983:vii) argues,Popper’s views on the open society concept offer a kind of “stimulus”and “starting point” in analysing social development. In that way, Popper suggests alternative conceptions of social development (Burke 1983:viii) – a notion that is central to the theme of this study. Popper’s thoughts are pertinent for our purposes, because although he may not have invented the concepts of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ societies, he is, nevertheless, credited with having given currency to the concepts, and as O’Dowd (1998:9) argues, no other thinker since Popper has added anything significant to the concepts, nor indeed interpreted them further, adding that there is only one description of the concepts “and that is Popper’s”. Although this rather categorical statement is disputable (see 2.2, below), it is to Popper’s thoughts, more than any other philosopher’s, that we turn to underpin the discussions in this chapter and the rest of the thesis.On that basis, this chapter seeks to lay the groundwork for justifying OSISA’s engagement with the media situation in Southern Africa – the focal point of discussions in the next chapter.
Origins of the theories of an open society
The concept of an open society is traceable to the French philosopher Henri Bergson, who first coined it in his book Two Sources of Religion and Morality (Outhwaite 2003:448; Hughes 2003; Soros 2000:xx). Bergson was born in Paris on 18 October 1859, to a Jewish father and Jewish-English mother. He lived in London in his early years, but the family moved to Paris just before he turned nine. Bergson later became a naturalised citizen of France, obtaining his Doctorate of Letters in 1889. In 1927 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and he died in January 1941 (Bergson 2006).In differentiating the open from the closed society, Bergson (1935:32– 33, 267) contrasts the concepts. However, in adding substance to his definition, Bergson does so from a moral and religious perspective,viewing an unchanging and “static” religion as providing the social pressure that contributes to the moral substance of a closed society.Such a religion encompasses a moral code that is unchanging and ingrained in society’s “customs, ideas and institutions” (Bergson 1935:269). From that point of view, Bergson (1935:77–78, 282) states that the drive from closed to open societies in the Western world was stimulated by the less static Christian religion, which inspired both the French and American revolutions through its principles of universal brotherhood, equal rights, and the inviolability of the human person.
CHAPTER ONE: THE SETTING
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The geo-political and historical context of Southern Africa
1.3 Background and context of the study
1.3.1 Colonial newspapers and radio
1.3.2 Post-colonial media
1.3.3 Impact of colonialism on post-colonial media
1.3.4 The end of the ‘Cold War’ and its effect on Southern Africa
1.4 Limitations and rationale for the study
1.5 Statement of the problem
1.5.1 The development paradigm
1.5.2 The functionalist perspective
1.5.3 The paradigm of development revisited
1.6 Hypothesis of the study
1.6.1 Assumptions underpinning the hypothesis
1.7 Research questions
1.8 Objectives of the study
1.9 Research methodology
1.9.1 Approach to data collection
1.9.2 Overview of the research design
1.9.3 Organisation of the study
1.10 The structure of the thesis
CHAPTER TWO: THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF AN OPEN SOCIETY
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Origins of the theories of an open society
2.2.1 Closed versus open society concepts
2.2.2 Plato and the concept of closed society
2.2.3 African political thought and the creation of closed societies
2.2.4 Historicism and attempts to return to the past
2.2.5 Responses to attempts to return to the past
2.2.6 Marxism and the attempted return to the past
2.3 Marxism, Africa and the neo-colonial future
2.3.1 Explanations for change and social development
2.4 Foundations of a closed society
2.5 Towards an open society
2.5.1 A model for managing change
2.5.2 Polemics over the ‘triumph’ of liberalism and the ‘end of history’
2.5.3 Defining characteristics of an open society
2.5.4 The nexus of the ideals of open society and the concept of a public sphere
2.5.5 Critique of Habermas’s conception of public sphere
2.5.6 A debate over the strategies for achieving open society ideals
2.5.7 The politics of alternative development, negotiated space and the Third World intellectual
2.6 Towards the implementation of open society ideals
2.6.1 Motivations for open society initiatives in Southern Africa
2.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER THREE: THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN MEDIA LANDSCAPE – PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Methodological and contextual issues
3.3 A historical overview: from colonialism to the present and back
3.4 The principles of constitutionalism and the democratic project in Southern Africa
3.5 The state of the post-colonial state
3.6 Malawi: the case of an ‘African’ one-party state and its consequences for the media environment
3.6.1 The defining media law in Banda’s Malawi
3.6.2 The evolution of the media in Banda’s Malawi
3.7 Zambia: the legacy of an uncertain presidentialstate and benevolent one-party state
3.7.1 The media environment prior to Kaunda’s Zambia
3.7.2 The evolution of the media since independence
3.8 Botswana: the impact of a façade of an African multi-party system on the media
3.8.1 The evolution of media policy in post-colonial Botswana
3.8.2 The evolution of the print media in Botswana
3.8.3 The impact of language policies on the media in
post-colonial Botswana
3.9 General features of a sub-continent in perennial crisis
3.10 Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR: THE ORIGINS OF OPEN SOCIETY INITIATIVES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Apartheid and the need for an open society in Southern Africa
4.2.1 Overview of some laws that enforced apartheid
4.2.2 Cross-ethnic responses to apartheid
4.3 The roots of open society work in Southern Africa
4.3.1 The beginnings of the open society movement
in Southern Africa
4.3.2 The role of George Soros in OSISA structures
4.3.3 The institutional framework of OSISA
4.4 The evolution of OSISA and its media programme
4.4.1 National or public broadcasters
4.4.2 Commercial radio stations
4.4.3 Privately-owned independent media
4.4.4 Community media
4.5 An overview of the expectations of the media in an ‘open’ Southern Africa
4.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER FIVE: CREATING AN OPEN SOCIETY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA – 1
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Chapter methodology
5.3 The concept of civil society and its relevance to social movements in Southern Africa
5.3.1 The role of civil society in African social development
5.4 The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) – a historical perspective
5.4.1 Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information
5.4.2 Media Freedom Monitoring
5.4.3 Campaign for Broadcasting Diversity
5.4.4 Gender and Media Support
5.4.5 Legal Support
5.4.6 The financial backing of MISA
5.5 The Southern African Media Development Fund (SAMDEF) – a historical perspective
5.5.1 The external environment of the media
5.5.2 The internal environment of the media
5.5.3 The beginnings of OSISA/SAMDEF relations
5.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER SIX: CREATING AN OPEN SOCIETY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA – 2
6.1 Introduction
6.2 A reflexive and theoretical perspective on OSISA’s internal operations
6.3 The fundamentals of OSISA’s organisational culture
6.3.1 An exploration of rites, rituals and ceremonies within OSISA
6.3.2 The role of the Board in OSISA and its nexus with Soros
6.4 OSISA’s ‘agency,’ transmission processes and the responses of the ‘others’
6.4.1 The role of OSISA staff in the transmission of open society ideology
6.5 A methodological approach to the study of relations between OSISA and civil society
6.5.1 The modes of engagement and the nature of their outcomes
6.5.2 Civil society responses to OSISA grant conditions
6.5.3 Perceptions about the meanings of an ‘open Society’ and the transference of ideology
6.6 Possible causes and theoretical justifications for the CSOs’ divergence/congruence of views and perspectives
6.7 The supremacy or ‘triumph’ of Western liberal hegemony
6.8 Conclusion
CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Research process and structure of the study
7.3 Reflections on the methodology used
7.4 Core findings of the study
7.5 Chapter conclusion
7.6 Suggestions for further research
SOURCES CONSULTED
