Journal articles
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Hurt S R, 'What’s Left of ‘the Left’ in Post-Apartheid South Africa?'
Capital and Class 41 (2) (2017) pp.291-313
ISSN: 0309-8168 eISSN: 0309-8168
Abstract
This article addresses the question of 'the left' in contemporary South Africa in two senses. First, in terms of assessing the health of leftist politics; second, it asks to what extent are the self-identified left, progressive in any meaningful sense. The first half of the article reflects on the current development situation in South Africa. Here it is argued that within most sections of the South African left there is broad agreement on the need to address the triple challenge of unemployment, rising inequality and poverty. The second half of the article identifies three broad sections to the contemporary left in South Africa (the Tripartite Alliance, the left outside of the Alliance and the remnants of the revolutionary socialist left). It argues that the left within the Alliance, despite the launch of the New Growth Path, are failing to implement the sufficiently radical policy changes that are required to address the development challenges identified in the first half of the article. The left outside of the Alliance, meanwhile, despite recent attempts at co-ordination, lacks influence and remains disconnected from the masses.
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Hurt S R, 'The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements with Africa: ‘Decent Work’ and the Challenge of Trade Union Solidarity'
Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 1 (4) (2016)
ISSN: 2380-2014 eISSN: 2380-2014
Abstract The EU has in recent years adopted the International Labour Organisation’s Decent Work Agenda in its external trade and development policy. It is portrayed as a way to mitigate any negative impacts on labour. However, African trade unions have campaigned against the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). It is argued that their stance highlights the limitations of incorporating the Decent Work Agenda into trade agreements, which instead are seen as central to the process of entrenching economic liberalisation. As a result, the article considers the prospects for transnational labour solidarity to resist EPAs.
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Hurt SR, 'The Congress of South African Trade Unions and Free Trade: Obstacles to Transnational Solidarity'
Globalizations 11 (1) (2014) pp.95-105
ISSN: 1474-7731 eISSN: 1474-7731
Abstract
This article considers the response of the largest trade union federation in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), to an extended free trade agenda, which has formed a key part of neoliberal restructuring during recent decades. It focuses in particular on South Africa’s position in multilateral trade talks and its negotiation of three Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). COSATU’s critique of these FTAs is considered and in particular the analysis focuses on its attempts at building transnational solidarity with other national labour movements. It argues that despite COSATU’s opposition to trade liberalisation there are a number of obstacles to developing effective international links.
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Hurt SR, Lee D, Lorenz-Carl U, 'The argumentative dimension to the EU-Africa EPAs'
International Negotiation 18 (1) (2013) pp.67-87
ISSN: 1382-340X eISSN: 1382-340X
Abstract Not only is the participation of developing countries in international trade negotiations growing, so is their influence over the global trade agenda. This article highlights the increasing activism and impact of African states through a detailed study of the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations with the European Union (EU). In examining African resistance to EPAs, the article develops a constructivist approach to North-South trade negotiations that pays close attention to the role of development discourses. We argue that the growing willingness of African states to challenge the EU to deliver on its development promises during the decade-long EPA process was crucial to informing their sustained opposition to the EU’s goal of completing a comprehensive set of sub-regional economic agreements. We document African resistance to EU trade diplomacy in the EPAs, exploring how these otherwise weak countries were able to pursue normative-based negotiation strategies by recourse to the EU’s promise of a ‘development partnership.’
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Hurt S, 'The EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations: 'Locking-In' the neoliberal development model in Southern Africa?'
Third World Quarterly 33 (3) (2012) pp.495-510
ISSN: 0143-6597 eISSN: 0143-6597
Abstract This article focuses on the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which form the central focus of the commitments made in the Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000 by the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. EPAs are part of a much wider trend witnessed since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) whereby we have seen the proliferation of bilateral free trade agreements. It argues that both the material and ideational interests of the EU need to be considered, together with the historical context of EU-ACP relations. The EU is portrayed as making a concerted effort to"lock-in" neoliberalism across the seven different sub-regions of the ACP group by negotiating EPAs that include both reciprocal trade liberalisation and a raft of"trade-related" issues. It is suggested that in doing so EPAs will go beyond the requirements for WTO-compatibility, resulting in a reduction of the policy space for ACP states to pursue alternative development strategies. The article then considers the potential developmental impact of EPAs with reference to the negotiations with seven of the fifteen member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Here it is argued that the EU is promoting"open regionalism" and it is shown how this poses a threat to the coherence of the regional project in southern Africa.Website
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Hurt S, 'Understanding EU Development Policy: history, global context and self-interest?'
Third World Quarterly 31 (1) (2010) pp.159-168
ISSN: 0143-6597 eISSN: 0143-6597
Abstract
No abstract available
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Brown, W, Harman, S, Hurt, S, Lee, D, Smith, K, 'Editorial: New Directions in International Relations and Africa'
Round Table 98 (402) (2009)
ISSN: 0035-8533 eISSN: 0035-8533
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Hurt S, Knio K, Ryner M, 'Social forces and the effects of (post)-Washington consensus policy in Africa: comparing Tunisia and South Africa'
Round Table 98 (402) (2009) pp.301-317
ISSN: 0035-8533 eISSN: 0035-8533
Abstract
This article addresses the consequences of Washington Consensus and more recently post-Washington Consensus policy for democratic good governance in Africa. It acknowledges the increased focus in recent years of policy-makers on poverty as an important force in world politics. Despite this increased concern the authors argue that International Relations as a discipline fails to offer a suitable framework for understanding poverty as a social force. The article proposes a revival of Robert W. Cox and Jeffrey Harrod's approach based on"patterns of social relations of production" . This offers a disaggregation of the condition that is often referred to in the literature as"the poor" or"the informal sector" . The article then outlines a comparative research agenda based on the cases of Tunisia and South Africa. It demonstrates how these cases provide the sternest test for assessing the authors' scepticism of the prospects of reconciling market-led development with good governance, whilst also offering a"most-different" comparison given their very different political cultures. In conclusion, the article reflects on the methodological aspects to operationalising such a research agenda and proposes an ethnographic approach informed by the work of Burawoy.
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Hurt SR, 'Mission Impossible: A Critique of the Commission for Africa'
Journal of Contemporary African Studies 25 (3) (2007)
ISSN: 0258-9001 eISSN: 0258-9001
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Hurt SR, 'Co-operation and coercion? The Cotonou Agreement between the European Union and ACP states and the end of the Lomé Convention'
Third World Quarterly 24 (1) (2003)
ISSN: 0143-6597 eISSN: 0143-6597
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Hurt SR, 'A Case of Economic Pragmatism? The European Union's Trade and Development Agreement with South Africa'
International Relations 15 (3) (2000)
ISSN: 0047-1178 eISSN: 0047-1178
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Book chapters
Reviews
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Hurt S, review of Emerging Powers, Emerging Markets, Emerging Societies: Global Responses, in International Affairs 93 (5) (2017)
ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 0020-5850
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Hurt S, review of The European Union's Africa Policies: Norms, Interests and Impact, in Review of African Political Economy 39 (2012) pp.193-194
ISSN: 0305-6244 eISSN: 0305-6244
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Hurt S, review of Window of Opportunity: EU Development and Cooperation After the End of the Cold War, in African Affairs 109 (2010) pp.686-687
ISSN: 0001-9909 eISSN: 0001-9909
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Hurt S, review of South Africa and the European Union: Self-interest, Ideology and Altruism, in Journal of Modern African Studies 46 (2008) pp.164-165
ISSN: 0022-278X eISSN: 0022-278X
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Hurt S, review of Globalization, Negotiation and the Failure of Transformation in South Africa: Revolution at a Bargain?, in International Affairs 83 (2007) pp.1224-1225
ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 0020-5850
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Hurt S, review of African renaissance: roadmaps to the challenge of globalization, in International Affairs (2003)
ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 0020-5850
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Hurt S, review of The European Union and Africa: the restructuring of north-south relations, in International Affairs (2002)
ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 0020-5850
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Hurt S, review of Against global apartheid: South Africa meets the World Bank, IMF and international finance, in International Affairs (2002)
ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 0020-5850
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Other
Reports
Hurt SR, (2017) 'UK-Africa Trade Within and Outside of the European Union: From Lomé to Brexit' in All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa, The Future of Africa-UK Trade and Development Cooperation Relations in the Transitional and Post Brexit Period, London: Royal African Society.
Encyclopedia Entries
Hurt SR, (2010) Entries for 'Apartheid', 'International Labor Organization (ILO)', 'Newly Industrializing Countries', Nontariff Barriers to Trade', 'North-South Relations' in George Thomas Kurian et. al. (eds), The Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington: CQ Press.
Hurt SR, (2006) Entries for 'Poverty Reduction', 'Third World Debt', 'Washington Consensus', 'World Bank', 'World Development Indicators' 'World Trade Organization' in Mark Bevir (ed), Encyclopedia of Governance, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Online Publications
Hurt SR, (2016) 'Why African States Are Refusing to Sign On to EU Trade Deals', World Politics Review, 9 November.
Hurt SR, (2014) 'EU Trade Deal Limits EAC's Options for Future Trade Policy', World Politics Review, 17 November.
Hurt SR, (2014) 'A big election win for South Africa's ANC, but results suggest future challenges', The Conversation, 10 May.
Hurt SR, (2014) 'Pressure Mounts as Deadline for EU-Africa Trade Talks Looms', World Politics Review, 14 April.
Hurt, SR (2013) 'Why South Africa has ripped up foreign investment deals', The Conversation, 17 December.
Hurt SR, (2005) 'Trade agreements between Europre and Africa', Pambazuka News, No. 231.