Revisiting the National Question and Identity

Cachalia, Firoz

doi:10.4324/9781315090474-4

Cited by 2 publications

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“…The widespread support for an ethnic attachment to the nation should be worrying for those invested in the multicultural project in South Africa. Cachalia () warned of the risks to South Africa's non‐racial democracy that will arise from the deployment of ‘essentialised’ conceptions of culture in the country's debate on national identity (see also Nyar ). Ethnic national identities can reduce a nation's social cohesion project to a banal form of ethnonationalism that mandates enactment of certain allegiances – to the cultural, religious and historical symbols of the nation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Majority support for cultural assimilation suggests many in the country may favour such a draconian and coercive form. Indigeneity has served as a political tool in South Africa –a justification for greater access to resources, jobs and other services (Neocosmos ; Cachalia ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it is difficult to briefly summarise his work, Neocosmos argues that this variation of nationalism was exclusive and chauvinistic, depicting the rest of Africa as rural and backward in contrast to urban and modern South Africa. But we should also remember that many South African organisations promoted a more inclusive ‘Pan‐Africanist’ notion of citizenship, particularly during the apartheid regime (Cachalia ; Iulfd & Maré ). So what traits are associated with being truly ‘South African’?…”

Section: National Identity and Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shutting the Gates in South Africa: National Identification and Popular Attitudes towards Closing Borders to Immigration

Gordon

2016

Tijd voor Econ & Soc Geog

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More than a hundred thousand people crisscross South Africa's international borders annually. Public opinion on this cross-border migration is decidedly hostile. According to a 2013 opinion poll, more than three-fifths of the adult population would favour closing the border. Can civic and ethnic identifications with the nation explain this opposition to immigration? Using data from the 12th (2013) round of the cross-sectional South African Social Attitudes Survey (N5 2,739) this paper was able to investigate individual attitudes towards border control. This paper investigates different dimensions of national identity. The results revealed that ethnic national attachment was an important determinant of attitudes towards border control. Such attitudes were also associated with attitudes towards immigrant assimilation and the effect of nationalism on society. For those aiming to ameliorate public sentiment on border control, this study provides a test of multiple determinants of public opinion on the issue, examining the comparative strength of each.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: National Identity and Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shutting the Gates in South Africa: National Identification and Popular Attitudes towards Closing Borders to Immigration

Gordon

2016

Tijd voor Econ & Soc Geog

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“…There was a perceived need to go beyond legal equality to give non-racialism real meaning, and an understanding that achieving racial equality (in the path to non-racialism) required fundamental structural social change. 60 For some ANC thinkers, there was recognition that both attitudinal and institutional racism are functions of the development of South African capitalism in a colonial setting, which then found resonance within society at large. 61 An institutionalised racial hierarchy was a consequence of productive relations structured and determined by colonialism of a special type (CST).…”

Section: Economic Redress and Non-racialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cachalia alludes to this thinking during the liberation struggle as 'anti-racist racism' -as a path that can lead to the elimination of racial difference. 64 This relates directly to the understanding of non-racialism as an emancipatory project.…”

Section: Economic Redress and Non-racialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Dying Ideal: Non-Racialism and Political Parties in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Anciano

2016

Journal of Southern African Studies

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Non-racialism as a concept has a rich and contentious history in South African politics. For many it was a core feature of the struggle against apartheid, uniting a range of forces fighting for a society free from racial discrimination. Indeed it is a central tenet in South Africa's Constitution, forming a core part of the 'founding provisions' of the country. However, there is widespread contestation over what the concept entails, both theoretically and in practical terms. This article examines the concept of non-racialism primarily through the lens of South Africa's largest political opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), but relates its approach to that of the African National Congress (ANC). How has the DA conceptualised and instrumentalised the vision of non-racialism, historically and in post-apartheid South Africa? This article argues that neither the DA nor the ANC has been able to do so coherently. The idea of non-racialism is a fracture that deeply divides both parties; this division is also one that originated historically for both parties. The article concludes that there is a clear shift in how the DA envisaged non-racialism during apartheid and how the party instrumentalises the concept today, and that this change echoes, to some extent, the experiences of the ANC. Both parties now equate non-racialism to multiracialism, on the one hand, and a (interim) racialisation of politics on the other. This raises the question of whether non-racialism, as conceived by some in the early days of the Congress alliance, is a dying ideal. Understanding Non-Racialism: The Definition of a Contested Concept Race is a central fissure that runs through the core of South African society. Although there are many concepts one can use to interrogate the importance of race and its place in South African history, the idea of non-racialism is perhaps primary among these. For many anti-apartheid activists, such as Ahmed Kathrada, the concept of non-racialism sat at the heart of the ANC's anti-apartheid struggle. 1 Non-racialism became a central, if contested, feature of the ANC after it adopted the Freedom Charter in March 1956, which stated that 'South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white'. 2 The history of non-racialism,

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Revisiting the National Question and Identity

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Shutting the Gates in South Africa: National Identification and Popular Attitudes towards Closing Borders to Immigration

Shutting the Gates in South Africa: National Identification and Popular Attitudes towards Closing Borders to Immigration

A Dying Ideal: Non-Racialism and Political Parties in Post-Apartheid South Africa

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