Abstract:
Between the sphere of civil society associated with the idea of active, democratic citizenship,
and the governance of precariously living populations ‘in most of the world’ (i.e. not simply ‘in
the margins’), lies the domain, famously outlined by Partha Chatterjee, of ‘the political society
of the governed’. This article investigates the concept of ‘the political society of the governed’,
starting with its current definition, social and political contexts and a conceptual history. The
article then proceeds to problematise the corollary of a bio-political ‘governmentality from
below’, theoretically questioning the extent of its capacity to inform political agency, and
practically examining the forms of such political agency, with special reference to studies on
insurgent citizenship in South Africa.
Description:
This article was initially a
presentation to the Poverty
Symposium 2013, directed
by Prof. Dr Johann-Albrecht
Meylahn, Department of
Practical Theology, Faculty
of Theology, University of
Pretoria, Pretoria, South
Africa.
