What is ACSIP?

The ACSIP Rationale

The organized civic sphere in South Africa is largely comprised of organizations, interest groups and individuals that are steeped in the values of conservative and liberal world-views. This applies to the media as well as advocacy, research and professional groupings in the private, business and civic spheres. The dominant discourse in the public domain is therefore essentially that of the old order dressed up in the veneer and language of democracy. The linkages of the key narratives to a Western discourse, is facilitated in this way; sustaining and extending its longevity. Hence any progressive political movement or Government will find itself maneuvered into a position of permanent defense – it will predictably come under constant attack and find itself pushed onto the defensive all the time. This is not only the case in the public political, economic and cultural discourse, but is also very visible in analytic products in South Africa.

The current global security and intelligence praxis is embedded in the dominant conservative and neo-liberal paradigms, the contemporary hegemonic nature of which makes its concepts, meanings and framing of issues, appear natural and uncontested. This maintains their position of discursive domination. A weak trend of heterodoxy, evident in the emergence of BRICS, the failures of Western Statecraft in the Middle East and the strain upon the European project, is however opening and the opportunities inherent in this trend need to be exploited and deepened.

Closer to home, we are in a complex transition to a democratic socio-political order. Our new and progressive democratic institutions are far ahead of the mores, values and political culture of its citizens – who remain tolerant but conservative in their outlook. This social conservatism is unsurprising given our past; but its endurance and resistance to change is not all due to the factors of history: the old order has retreated into the civic and private spheres from where many of these conservative values are kept alive.

This much discussed “paradigm-problem” in the South African socio-political, economic, intellectual, media and public communicative spheres, is particularly acute in the security and intelligence sectors. It is however equally acute in activitiesthat entail any form of analysis. It is frequently the case that analysts who do not share or understand the progressive set of values upon which the new democratic order was constructed, frame analyses of important political and economic matters.

Any political project concerned with a fundamental, complex transition such as ours that therefore neglects to invest in the building of its own paradigm and capabilities, will find itself very quickly on the defensive; on the retreat and eventually in paralysis. This may cause the transformation process to falter, lose momentum or stall. Stalled transformations or revolutions often precede the re-ascendancy of authoritarian and conservative forces in society. Defending and fostering the new progressive democratic institutions is a multi-dimensional task that must include ideological, intellectual and educational interventions. This task is essential if the social base for these universally acknowledged, progressive public institutions in South Africa is to be constructed successfully.