Hijacking Subaltern’s history (broken bodies, broken voices): Decolonial critique of ‘Subaltern whiteness’ in South Africa

Abstract

This article uses decolonial to critique the discourse of ‘subaltern whiteness’ by questioning some Afrikaner scholars’ morality of regarding ‘white Afrikaners as subaltern’. Subaltern designates submerged, subordinated, exploited or suppressed – those whose voices have been historically muted, their humanity stripped by those with sociopolitical and economic power. Within South Africa, this raises the question: to what extent can white Afrikaners be regarded as subaltern? The article proposes indivisibility of epistemic vulnerability and regenerative theological praxis both emerging within Afrikaner theological discussion as viable response to broken bodies of those who still bear the marks or scars of apartheid and rather not to seek to hijack their voice.

The Openseminary Methodology: Practical Theology as Personal, Local and Transformative

“…Openseminary does this by foregrounding the personal and local, with a goal to transformative action and change. As Kaunda's (2017) engagement with De Kock reminds us "Doing theology became a praxis of self-regeneration first and foremost rather than a mere academic exercise required by the university". Practical theology initially originated within a German context and was largely seen as a form of applied theology.…”

“…3 De Kock's development of Openseminary as a methodology needs to be seen against the backdrop of his own life, which he explored in his book Out of my Mind: following the trajectory of God's regenerative story (De Kock 2014). Kaunda's (2017) recent article exploring a decolonial critique of 'subaltern whiteness' in South Africa has referred to this text as the most interesting book on regenerative theology in post-apartheid South Africa. With reference to de Kock, Kaunda (2017, p. 6) notes that:…”

Jubilee as Restoration of Eco-Relationality: A Decolonial Theological Critique of ‘Land Expropriation without Compensation’ in South Africa

“…One should take into account the role that institutional Christianity, especially Afrikaner Calvinism, has played. It was underpinned by racial segregation and is still being used in some quarters to sacralise the hierarchical order within society and legitimise racism and land enslavement (Kaunda, 2017; Pheko, 1984). This is captured well by Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, who underlined: ‘when the missionaries arrived in Africa, the Africans had land and the missionaries had the Bible.…”