A philosophical examination of the social compact on the reconstruction of South African society
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54103/2464-8914/30342Keywords:
social contract, social compact, peace, orderAbstract
This paper examines the concept of social contract, its impact, effect and contradictions related to South Africa. Even though the social contract is considered an agreement between the people and the State with the ultimate idea of maintaining peace and order, it seems apparent that the state has been failing and reneging to fulfil its aspect of the agreement, considering various socioeconomic challenges being faced by the people. In order to offer a sustainable solution, the paper utilized the Nordic regional model of social development, particularly that of Sweden’s social compact and drew useful lessons from it.
Downloads
References
Alexander P., Runciman C., Ngwane T., Moloto B., Mokgele K., Staden N., 2018: Frequency and turmoil: South Africa’s community protests, in “SA Crime Quarterly Frequency”, 63, pp. 27-42.
Austin J., 1832: The province of Jurisprudence determined reprinted in “The Province determined and the uses of the study of jurisprudence”, pp. 1-361 (London: Wiedenfeld and Nicholson edn, 1955).
Bawa A. C., 2001: A social contract between the public higher education sector and the people of South Africa in “South African Journal of Higher Education”, 15, pp. 10-16.
Botiveau R., 2014: Briefing: The politics of Marikana and South Africa's changing labour relations in “African Affairs”, 113, pp. 128–137.
Carens J., 1987: Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders in “The Review of Politics”, 49, pp. 251-273.
Cotterrell R., 1989: The politics of Jurisprudence: A critical introduction to legal philosophy, London, Butterworths, p. 58.
Cronin J., 2015: Why a second radical phase of the National Democratic Revolution is an imperative in “Politicsweb,” published on 01 July 2015.
Dølvik JE., Fløtten T., Hippe JM., Jordfald B., 2014: The Nordic model towards 2030. A new chapter? in “NordMod”, 2030, pp. 21–22.
Ettin M., 1997: Rousseau's Social Contract and the Functional Integrity of the Group-As-A-
Whole in “Group Analysis”, 30, pp. 49-63.
Everson S., 1988: Aristotle on the Foundations of the State, in “Political Studies”, 36, pp. 89 – 101.
Gordon W., 1993: A Property Right in Self-Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property, in “The Yale Law Journal”, 102, pp. 1533-1609.
Government Offices of Sweden, 2017: The Swedish Model, Published on 20 June 2017.
Hamman R., Schild C., 2008: Business and Human Rights in South Africa: Context and recommendations for pro-active engagement by the National Business Initiative, p. 5.
Hampton J., 1980: Contracts and Choices: Does Rawls Have a Social Contract Theory? in “The Journal of Philosophy”, 77, pp. 315 – 338.
Hayem J., 2016: Marikana: Analysis miners’ subjectivity and the crisis of representation in “Journal of Asian and African Studies”, 51, pp 171-185.
Henkin L., 1987: The United States Constitution as Social Compact in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 131, pp. 261-269.
Johnson D., Pete S., and du Plessis M., 2001: Jurisprudence: A South African perspective (Butterworths Durban), p. 40.
Keating A., 2014: Jurisprudence 2nd edition, Round Hall, p. 58.
Locke J., 1993: Two treaties of government, Ed M Goldie (London: J.M Dent), pp. 121-122.
Netshitenzhe J., 2014: The Two delinks and the poverty of radicalism: A critique of the SACP Discussion Document Going to the Root – A Radical Second Phase of the National Democratic Revolution in “African Communist”, 4/187, pp. 6-12.
Riley P., 1978: The General will before Rousseau in “Political Theory”, 6, pp. 485 – 516.
Saunders D., 2003: The Natural Jurisprudence of Jean Barbeyrac: Translation as an Art of Political Adjustment, in “Eighteenth-Century Studies”, 36, pp. 473-490.
Siegan B., 2018: Property Rights: From Magna Carta to the Fourteenth Amendment, 1st edition, New York, Routledge, p. 34.
Tate J. M., 2016: Toleration, Scepticism, and Blasphemy: John Locke, Jonas Proast, and Charlie Hebdo in “American Journal of Political Science”, 60, pp. 664-675.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
The Presidency. State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Parliament. Published on 7 February 2019. Available at http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/state-of-the-nation-address/state-nation-address-president-cyril-ramaphosa%2C-parliament .
Wood G., Dibben P., 2008: The Challenges Facing the South African Labour Movement: Mobilization of Diverse Constituencies in a Changing Context in “Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations”, 63, pp. 671-693.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Konanani Happy Raligilia, Rorisang Gomolemo Thage, Lufuno Tokyo Nevondwe, Kolawole Olusola Odeku, Lesiba Benedict Moshoeu
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Gli autori conservano tutti i diritti economici e concedono alla rivista il diritto non esclusivo di pubblicazione, permettendo a chiunque di scaricare il contributo, di leggerlo e stamparlo.
Nel caso in cui il contributo venga successivamente pubblicato in altri periodici o volumi, sarà fatto espresso riferimento alla pubblicazione sulla Italian Review of Legal History.
