Social movements, the media and the emergence of a global public sphere -: From anti-apartheid to global justice

This article focuses on the anti-apartheid movement, perhaps the most highly transnationally integrated social movement during the post-war era, and compares it with the contemporary movement for global justice. The article specifically analyses strategies of public communication; the formation of 'alternative media' and a movement 'counterpublic' with global reach. The major questions addressed in the article are: What were the main strategies of public communication of the anti-apartheid movement - and what was their impact? How did the counterpublic(s) of anti-apartheid relate to the established media dominating the global public sphere? What are the implications of the case of anti-apartheid for contemporary research and theorising on transnational/global public spheres and counterpublics? What are the similarities and differences between the anti-apartheid movement and the global justice movement regarding strategies of public communication? Theoretically, it raises the question about the concept of 'society' and its empirical referent in the context of increasing globalization. It is argued that in the context of social movement studies, there is a need to develop a conceptual framework around the concept of 'global civil society'.