Ethics and Political Action in South Africa

Abstract

This study examines the role of ethics in structuring political action within the African National Congress under apartheid, focusing on its influence on behavior and decision-making. Daily practice operated through norms of discipline and responsibility that linked means to ends and connected decisions to their consequences for the collective. Existing historiography tends to emphasize mechanisms of control and survival, while giving less attention to ethical values as active elements shaping decisions and defining their limits. The study advances the hypothesis that ethics functioned as a guiding component of political practice, regulating the relationship between the individual and the collective and linking decisions to responsibility. It adopts a historical-analytical approach that connects texts to practice through the examination of documents, speeches, memoirs, and testimonies. The findings indicate that ethics contributed to shaping political action, defining the use of force, and sustaining organizational cohesion under prolonged pressure.