The challenge of rural civil Society: Response to the paper by Lloyd m. Sachikonye

The article takes a radical democratic starting point arguing the importance of the rural focus of research as a corrective to excessive emphasis on urbanism. Civil society is weak and autonomous public spheres hardly exist outside urban areas. But the author argues that the social and cultural resources that are present in the Southern African villages are both interesting and promising elements for future change. More research and more work will help develop a genuin ‘rural public sphere’.