In an era defined by division, building bridges across political, generational, and ideological lines is critical. Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) is responding to this challenge through its Building Resilient Democracies in Southern Africa project. This multi-year regional initiative aims to contribute to the evolution of inclusive and resilient democracies through measures to understand and combat polarisation within select countries of Southern Africa. Based on the complex and interrelated challenges facing democracies in the region, the project explores and unpacks the role and extent of polarisation, while providing reflections and recommendations to mitigate polarisation and related threats.
Understanding the Problem
Across Southern Africa, polarisation is emerging and evolving in different forms: in everyday life, public discourse, and political arenas. Social media platforms, and the inundation of digital information, often mirror and amplify this divide, while growing distrust in institutions, economic inequality, and social exclusion continue to fuel resentment and group-based rhetoric and antagonism.
In South Africa, the legacies of apartheid, racial injustice, and economic disparity continue to shape how citizens engage with democracy and with each other. Disagreements around policies such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), land reform and redistribution, and migration have triggered opposing beliefs and sentiments between two poles, further entrenching divides across race, class, ideology, and generations.
The Project’s Vision and Objectives
DWF’s Polarisation Project seeks to build resilient democracies in the Southern African region by strengthening responses to political and social polarisation. The project aims to:
- Deepen understanding of country-specific and regional polarisation dynamics.
- Create platforms for inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue.
- Produce and disseminate research and tools to counter political polarisation.
- Build networks of engaged actors across sectors and countries.
The project is particularly focused on ensuring diverse citizen voices, especially those of young people, are heard, understood, and translated into collective strategies for social cohesion and democracy-building.
Project Components
The project will produce the following outputs, namely:
- Political Economy Analysis (PEA) – Analysing the state of democracy and the degree of polarisation in target countries of Southern Africa
- Polarity Barometer – A civic tech tool that can measure and track polarisation topics and trends over time, with real-time insights and data.
- Intergenerational Dialogues – Online and in-person events that aim to support debate around democracy building and inclusive participation and active citizenship. These dialogues will comprise State of Democracy Briefings and the Cool Politics Cafe Series.
- Linguistic Project – A research inquiry on the expressions of polarisation in different native languages across the target countries of South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil.
Reflections
Polarisation is not a uniquely South African or regional issue—it is a global challenge deepened by the advent of the internet and the cementing of social media into everyday life and culture. But its manifestations in Southern Africa are shaped by the region’s history, uneven economic development, and socio-economic inequality. Through this project, DWF affirms its belief that democracy is only as strong as our ability to disagree, debate, and collaborate in ways that are constructive, inclusive and empathetic.
The Polarisation Project will contribute to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the drivers of polarisation across different contexts in Southern Africa. By unpacking and interrogating existing fragmentation, the project hopes to support shared civic responsibility and participation through dialogue. By listening to one another, learning across divides, and co-creating solutions, we can build more robust democracies, where people feel and experience more unity than division.
