Legacies and meanings of the United Democratic Front (UDF) period for contemporary South Africa

The 1980s introduced modes of practising politics that had never previously been seen in South Africa, that may well condition people’s expectations today. Here, one thinks of notions such as ‘popular democracy’, ‘people’s power’, ‘self-empowerment’, ‘the masses driving the process’, ‘democracy from below’, ‘and creativity of the masses’.