The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 23 September 2025 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Doruk Işıkçı.

About the Seminar:

Filling the Gaps, Building the Nation: The Rise of Professionalised Civil Society in South Africa

Professionalised large-scale CSOs are often seen with scepticism in the literature, criticised as depoliticised service providers, disconnected from grassroots, and aligned with corporations and elite funders. However, a distinct legal, political, and institutional ecosystem, reinforced by crises like COVID-19, has enabled the rise of large-scale CSOs in South Africa, making them increasingly visible, well-funded, and trusted actors in national development. This work challenges claims of a pandemic-era decline, showing instead that CSOs experienced a significant revival. Large-scale CSOs have unevenly expanded their income, capacity, and expenditure after the pandemic, compared to other actors, through public support and partnerships with government initiatives. 

The study further demonstrates that, as their capacity has expanded through successfully filling gaps during COVID-19, large-scale CSOs have taken on a nation-building role. They have become more vocal in shaping national narratives, promoting active citizenship, and collective duty. The analysis examines national day activities, online communications, and published materials to show how CSOs construct a sense of national belonging. It argues that these CSOs do not confront but co-produce national narratives and perform civic rituals that foster everyday nationhooo by claiming proximity to "the people," and presenting themselves as bottom-up citizen movements. Yet, their vertical orientation, limited grassroots socialisation, and unequal interactions with community-based CSOs raise critical questions about representation, democratic accountability, and inclusivity.

Speakers

Doruk Isikçi is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Cape Town, focusing on nationalism and civil society. His doctoral research explores the role of civil society organisations in nation-building in contemporary South Africa. He holds a BA in International Relations from Ankara University and an MA in Political Science from TOBB University of Economics and Technology, where his thesis examined comparatively national narratives constructed by refugee and exchangee associations in Greece and Turkey.

  23 September 2025
  12:45 - 14:00 SAST
   CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29 Robert Leslie Social Science Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa