Acting out ideas: Performative citizenship in the Black Consciousness Movement

Abstract

General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms Patrick BaertUniversity of Cambridge, UK.ABSTRACT: This paper introduces the concept of 'performative citizenship' to account for the manner in which the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), and in particular its charismatic leader Steve Biko, transformed a collection of relatively abstract philosophical ideas into concrete political practice. We outline how the BCM challenged the psychological internalisation of white supremacy and asserted citizenship claims through a variety of performative techniques, many of which explicitly and implicitly reiterated earlier rights-based claims both in South Africa and abroad. We show how this took place within a remarkably restrictive context, which on the one hand constrained performances, but on the other augmented their dramatic efficacy. The paper makes an argument about the performance of counter-power, showing how whilst the apartheid complex retained its command over economic, military, and political power, it struggled to control the social drama that was unfolding on the cultural plane, therefore losing its grip on one key element of ideological power. Finally, the paper also makes a methodological contribution to reception studies by showing how researching the reception of ideas exclusively through the spoken or written word neglects other modes through which ideas might find expression, especially in contexts of pervasive censorship and political repression.

Audience Agency in Social Performance

“…They also cite Blee and McDowell's (2012) call for further research into audience reception in social movements. 2 The theoretical contribution offered in this article meets these appeals, as well as Morgan and Baert's (2017) call to look beyond speeches and written manifestos for other types of performing.…”

“…All that is needed is an expanded understanding of, and method to analyze, the audience. Morgan and Baert (2017) similarly argue for operationalizing the audience in their analysis of performative citizenship in the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). Since apartheid in South Africa restricted citizenship status through legal and institutional means, anti-apartheid activists like Steve Biko (2017: 457).…”

"We've been taught to understand that we don't have anything to contribute towards knowledge": Exploring academics' understanding of decolonising curricula in higher education

“…First, we do not use Black as an apartheid and post-apartheid racial category and classification. Rather, we use Black in the Bikoist and Black consciousness tradition to denote all those who suffered and were discriminated against during apartheid (see Morgan & Baert, 2018). This includes those who are called black African, and colored, and those of Indian and Asian descent.…”

Movement intellectuals engaging the grassroots: A strategy perspective on the Black Consciousness Movement

“…The BCP operated on the conviction that the Black community could only ‘become aware of its own identity’, and ‘create a sense of its own power’ through self-directed development (BCP, 1973). Although these projects provided material improvement to many, the engendering of this psychological and political awareness – as opposed to the unrealistic task of reversing the overwhelming nationwide material underdevelopment of Black communities – was the primary, and more profound goal of their activities (Khoapa, 2017; Morgan & Baert, 2017, p. 481).…”