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Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute
Cape Town, South Africa, January 08-26, 2003
________________________________________________________________________

Following upon the success of our region-based institute in South Africa
during the past four years, we are pleased to announce the fifth
Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute in Cape Town, South
Africa. In an intensive two-week program, an international body of
junior scholars and activists engaged in questions of civil society will
examine critical issues of democracy and democratization as they
manifest themselves in this region and beyond.

Eight years after launching its imaginative program for the creation of
a post-apartheid society, economy, and state, South Africa provides an
exceptionally stimulating setting for study and debate on democratic
transitions and consolidation. The Institute, designed and organized
jointly by the Transregional Center for Democratic Studies of New School
University, New York, and The EDGE Institute in Johannesburg, will again
bring together 40 young scholars and civic leaders, primarily from
Sub-Saharan Africa but also from the United States, Latin America, and
Central & Eastern Europe.

Faculty and Program
The highly intensive program, offering the equivalent of a full semester
of graduate study, includes four core seminars, each co-taught by
faculty from Africa and the United States.

The curriculum will be complemented by evening guest lectures, panel
discussions, field trips, and a day-long concluding conference.

Curriculum

* Economic Development and Democracy - Seminar
Stephen Gelb, Director, The EDGE Institute, Johannesburg; and
William Milberg, Department of Economics, Graduate Faculty, New School
University
The transition from an authoritarian system to democracy creates
enormous political pressure for economic change. Economic policy must
respond to the needs of a wider base of citizens. Coinciding with the
wave of democratization over the past decade is a marked "globalization"
of production and finance, involving greater international capital
mobility and trade openness. This heightened interconnectedness of
markets across countries has narrowed the scope for effective economic
policy in any given country and contributed to new forms of cultural and
political response, including global activism, international crime, and
even terrorism. Many governments have relied more heavily on market
mechanisms and adopted policies favoring business investors. What are
the prospects for economic democracy in such an environment? Can the
apparent conflict between globalization and democratization be resolved?
What development strategy options are available? This course will
explore these questions, relying heavily on experiences in Africa, Latin
America and Asia.

* Nationalism, Gender, Globalization - Seminar
Shireen Hassim, Department of Political Studies, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; and
Elzbieta Matynia, Committee on Liberal Studies, Graduate Faculty, New
School University
This course will investigate three factors (and their accompanying
movements) that have influenced both political discourse and action in
the new democracies over the last decade. Whether defined as
philosophical concept, ideology, attitude, or group state of mind,
nationalism continues to be a major idee force, leading to successive
reconfigurations of the world map. In Europe, as in Africa, nationalism
has been both a force for progressive and revolutionary change, and a
mobilizing factor in authoritarian politics. Recognizing that the
principle of gender equity is still rarely reflected in actual social
practices in the new democracies, we will discuss the challenging
intersections of gender and nation in postcolonial and post-Communist
societies. We will examine the relationships between women and
nationalist projects, between nationhood and identity, between ethnicity
and politics. Finally we will look at globalization, and consider how
the political goals of nationalist movements (self-determination and
state sovereignty) are challenged by the emergence of a supraterritorial
system of growing interdependence involving the movement of goods,
people, and knowledge across borders.

* The Public Sphere: Problems of Democratic Culture and its
Enemies - Seminar
Xolela Mangcu, Executive Director, Steve Biko Foundation, Johannesburg;
and
Jeffrey C. Goldfarb, Department of Sociology, Graduate Faculty, New
School University
Democracy as a set of political and cultural practices proved to be
significant alternative to 20th Century totalitarian and authoritarian
regimes. In Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Latin
America and Asia, potent democratic oppositions initiated a wide variety
of democratic transitions, with greater and lesser successes. The wave
of new democracies led some to celebrate the end of history, while
others struggled with the very difficult tasks of democratic
constitution. On September 11, 2001, the profound character of the
opposition to democracy was revealed to New Yorkers, Americans and the
rest of the world. In this course, starting with a close reading of
September 11 and its aftermath, the political cultures of
authoritarianism, totalitarianism and terrorism will be compared and
contrasted with each other and with democratic culture.
Among the issues to be considered are: the relationships between
democracy and nationalism, and democracy and social injustice; the
legacies of dogmatic and democratic resistance; the problems of civil
society; the dilemmas of multiculturalism; and the sociological
spectacle of media politics (with special focus on terrorism as media
performance).

* Sustaining Democracy? The Problem of Boundaries - Seminar
David Plotke, Department of Political Science, Graduate Faculty, New
School University;
Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Department of Political Science, University of
Ghana, and Centre for Democracy and Development in Accra
What do people have to agree on for democracy to persist? If we can
agree on a basic view of the institutions and commitments required for
democratic politics, hard questions arise at the boundaries of this
polity. Analyzing these questions is valuable not only for their own
importance but also because boundaries help to define and sustain what
they distinguish.
We will look at the problem of boundaries from a number of angles,
primarily through the lens of ongoing major arguments about such matters
as: immigration; the nature of democratic education; whether to limit
political speech to rule out hostile messages; cultural diversity and
its limits; and whether (or when) illegal means are legitimate forms of
political action. This course, then, is about how membership,
toleration, and conflict are related to democratic practices. While the
argument of the course is theoretical, sessions will focus on important
examples and cases from Africa, Europe, North America, and elsewhere.

* Concluding Conference - The State of Democracy in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Guest speakers will include scholars, political commentators, and public
figures from South and Southern Africa.

Guest speakers at past institutes have included:
* Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert (former leader of parliamentary
opposition and co-founder, IDASA),
* Amina Mama (Director, African Gender Institute),
* Njabulo Ndebele (Vice Chancellor, University of Cape Town),
* Zackie Achmat (Director, Treatment Action Campaign),
* Prof. Claus Offe (Humboldt University, Germany), and
* Pallo Jordan (SA African National Congress, Member of
Parliament).

Why Cape Town?
Cape Town, the capital of the Western Cape Province, is simultaneously
an historic and picturesque city of 17th-century origins, and the
dynamic legislative capital of South Africa, the site of its Parliament
and other important political and educational institutions. It is
situated on the Cape of Good Hope peninsula, whose southernmost point is
the richly symbolic tip of Africa. With its mild climate, extraordinary
setting featuring the spectacular Table Mountain and Lion's Head as
backdrops, and its vivid mix of historic sites amid the signs of
energizing social and political change, the Cape Town area is an ideal
location for the Democracy & Diversity Institute.

The main site of the Institute will be Breakwater Lodge, a waterfront
campus of the University of Cape Town and a residential complex whose
history in many ways is intertwined with that of apartheid. It was used
briefly in the early part of this century as a prison, and later, until
1989, as a men's hostel for migrant workers from the rural areas working
in Cape Town harbor. Here one is further confronted by a sobering view
of Robben Island with its massive prison, now a museum, where
anti-apartheid leaders of the African National Congress, including
former President Nelson Mandela, were held.

Who Should Apply?
Candidates invited to apply may have academic backgrounds in the areas
of political science, sociology, social psychology, gender studies,
social work, economics, history, political philosophy, and anthropology.
Applicants will fall into two groups:
* Junior faculty or advanced graduate students (preferably
working toward their Ph.D.) in the fields mentioned above. We are
interested both in theory-oriented students and in those who are engaged
in applied social sciences (e.g., policy design and analysis).
* University graduates who are currently working in leadership
positions in public sector, non-governmental or community-based
organizations.

The Institute offers four intensive seminars, each of which is
equivalent to a one-semester graduate course (complemented by an evening
program and a concluding conference). Participants will select two of
the four seminars and, upon completion of the Institute requirements,
will receive certificates. U.S. graduate students will receive
appropriate credits (3 credits per course for New School University
students).

Institute seminars are conducted in English. All candidates must have
an excellent command of the English language. Participants from
non-English speaking countries must provide evidence of English language
skills.

Preference will be given to those young scholars who, while pursuing
their academic goals, can demonstrate a commitment to the strengthening
of civil society and an active interest in building bridges among
universities, NGOs, and the communities in which they live.

Applications
* Applications from Africa:
Applications are welcome from all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. A
limited number of scholarships will be available to selected candidates.
The following information is required for the processing of
applications:
* Full name;
* Reliable/preferred mailing address, telephone/fax numbers,
e-mail address;
* Educational background, degrees received, and current
institutional affiliation;
* Applicants affiliated with an NGO or a civic organization should
include a brief description of the nature of the work undertaken by
their organization;
* One letter of recommendation; and
* A 1,500 word essay in English on a key current issue or problem
facing your country, and your views on possible policy measures which
government and/or social organizations, and/or international action
could pursue to address the problem.

Interested candidates should send applications to the attention of
Jonathan Faull at The EDGE Institute. Applications should preferably be
sent via email, but can also be submitted via fax, regular, or courier
mail:
Email: [email][email protected]

South African applications: tel. (011) 339-1757(office); 082-415-0197
(mobile - evenings); fax (011) 4032794

Other African applications: tel. +27-11-339-1757 (office);
+27-82-415-0197 (mobile - evenings); fax +27-11-403-2794

Postal Address: The EDGE Institute, P.O. Box 30896, Braamfontein 2017,
South Africa;

Physical Address (for couriered documents): The EDGE Institute, 11th
Floor Braamfontein Centre, 23 Jorissen St., Braamfontein, Johannesburg,
South Africa

The deadline for applications is November 25, 2002. Applications
received after this date will be considered only if space allows.

* Candidates from North America, Latin America, and Central &
Eastern Europe should contact Timo Lyyra, Transregional Center for
Democratic Studies, New School University, New York, USA; (tel.)
+1-212-229-5580; (fax) +1-212-229-5894; (e-mail) [email][email protected]
The deadline for applications from these regions is November 18, 2002.

Disclaimer: The organizers reserve the right to cancel the Institute for
reasons involving a force majeur condition or loss of funding.