1 | Page Mitchel Joffe Hunter Anti-Apartheid ViolenĐe in Toǁnship and CiǀiĐ Struggles: Aledžandra Mitchel Hunter Contents Types of Violence and their causes................................................................................................. 1 The role of violence in relation to organisations and democracy .................................................. 3 The ƌole of ǀioleŶĐe iŶ ƌelatioŶ to uŶgoǀeƌŶaďilitLJ aŶd Peoples Poǁeƌ ....................................... 5 So is violence productive or destructive? ....................................................................................... 6 Disclaimer........................................................................................................................................ 7 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 7 Struggles for national liberation are not homogenous nor linear, rather they are heterogeneous combinations of a variety of elements differing in time and space. One of these elements in South Africa were the township and civic struggles that developed in urban South Africa during the 1980s – a period that is ƌeǀeƌed foƌ its edžpƌessioŶs of Peoples Poǁeƌ aŶd aďhoƌƌed foƌ its apparent violence. This essay will consider one example of this type of struggle, in Alexandra 1985-1986, as a case study to discuss the deeper analytic questions regarding violence that surround these movements. The first question to be addressed is on the types of violence present in and around these movements and some of their causes. The second questions regards the role of violence in organisations and democracy. The third section will address the role of violence in ƌelatioŶ to uŶgoǀeƌŶaďilitLJ aŶd Peoples Poǁeƌ. This ǁill lead to the ĐoŶĐlusioŶ that ǀioleŶĐe is always destructive in its basic act, but that used in a certain way, violence can be the condition of possibility for constructive acts. Types of Violence and their causes There are a few axes which can be used to classify types of violence which will help avoid conflating all violence together and hopefully aid in conceptual clarity. Furthermore, this practice of clearly classifying types of violence will help in discussion violence separately to its negative moralistic connotations. For the purposes of this essay all the types of violence discussed are tangible physical actions though it is important to remember the violence (harm to body, mind and soul) of poverty, inequality, lack of political representation, cultural imposition etc. faced by Black people under in Apartheid South Africa. Given that all violence to be discussed is active, the acts can be split based on who is doing the action. From the readings three major sets of actors emerged – the State (primarily the police and military) whose violence is self referentially referred to as law and order, protestors (civic