Political Identity and Social Change

Jamie Frueh

Description

Political Identity and Social Change builds upon the constructivist theory of political identity to explore the social changes that accompanied the end of apartheid in South Africa. To gain a better understanding of how structures of identity changed along with the rest of South Africa's institutions, Frueh analyzes three social and political conflicts: the Soweto uprisings of 1976, the reformist constitutional debates of 1983–1984, and post-apartheid crime. Analyzing these conflicts demonstrates how identity labels function as structures of social discourse, how social activity is organized through these structures, and how both the labels and their power have changed during the course of South Africa's transition. In this way, the book contributes not only to the study of South African society, but also provides lessons about the relationship between identity and social change.

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Nicholas Onuf

1. INTRODUCTION

2. A THEORY OF POLITICAL IDENTITY

Constructivism
Identity
Identity Labels as Units of a Constructivist Method
Conclusion

3. SOUTH AFRICA AND IDENTITY

Apartheid and Its Historical Context
Analysis of South African Politics
The Practicalities of Studying South African Identity

4. SOWETO 1976

Soweto, June 16, 1976—A Story
Competing Discourses on Soweto
The Political Identity of Soweto
Conclusion: The Beginning of the End

5. CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM, 1983–1984

Reform, Resistance, Repression
Competing Discourses on the Constitution
Constitutional Reform and Political Identity
Conclusion

6. POST-APARTHEID CRIME

Crime in South Africa
The Discourse on Crime
Crime and Political Identity
Conclusion

7. IDENTITY AND THE TRANSITION: Conclusions for the Political Theory of Social Change

The Argument for Constructivist Political Identity
The Argument about South Africa
Conclusions and Generalizations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie politique
• Afrique du Sud
• History of Africa
• International relations
• South Africa
• Republic of South Africa

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791487754
• Langue: English

Extrait

P O L I T I C A L I D E N T I T Y A N D S O C I A L C H A N G E

SUNY series in Global Politics James N. Rosenau, editor

P o l i t i c a l I d e n t i t y a n d S o c i a l C h a n g e

The Remaking of the South African Social Order

J A M I E F R U E H

Foreword by Nicholas Onuf

S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Yo r k P r e s s

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Patrick Durocher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Frueh, Jamie, 1966– Political identity and social change : the remaking of the South African social order / Jamie Frueh. p. cm. — (SUNY series in global politics) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5547-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5548-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Social change—South Africa. 2. Group identity—South Africa. 3. South Africa—Social conditions—1994– 4. South Africa—Politics and government—1994– 5. Constructivism (Philosophy) I. Title. II. Series.

HN801.A8 F78 2002 303.4'0968—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002017730

To my parents, who taught me to dream big; to Eileen, who lets me; and to Wren and Gavin, the results.

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Contents

Acknowledgments, ix Foreword by Nicholas Onuf, xiii

Chapter One INTRODUCTION, 1

Chapter Two A THEORY OF POLITICAL IDENTITY, 9 Constructivism Identity Identity Labels as Units of a Constructivist Method Conclusion

Chapter Three SOUTH AFRICA AND IDENTITY, 39 Apartheid and Its Historical Context Analysis of South African Politics The Practicalities of Studying South African Identity

Chapter Four SOWETO 1976, 65 Soweto, June 16, 1976—A Story Competing Discourses on Soweto The Political Identity of Soweto Conclusion: The Beginning of the End

viii

CONTENTS

Chapter Five CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM, 1983–1984, 95 Reform, Resistance, Repression Competing Discourses on the Constitution Constitutional Reform and Political Identity Conclusion

Chapter Six POST-APARTHEID CRIME, 133 Crime in South Africa The Discourse on Crime Crime and Political Identity Conclusion

Chapter Seven IDENTITY AND THE TRANSITION: Conclusions for the Political Theory of Social Change, 169 The Argument for Constructivist Political Identity The Argument about South Africa Conclusions and Generalizations

Notes, 185 Bibliography, 215 Index, 231

Acknowledgments

One of the first things a wise man told me was that finishing a project like this required two things, passion and discipline. As I readily admit (and my family and friends will certainly attest), this project was finished almost in spite of the latter requirement. But I have had an abundance of the former: passion about the identity ideas, passion about the teaching career that this research helped launch, and the passion that the people of South Africa have shared with me. The tragedy about writing a book, especially an academic treatise, is that the passion that dri- ves the original inquiry must get chopped up into words. And for those of us who are not poets, words too often mask more than they reveal. Analysis demands breaking something into pieces and sorting those pieces according to a judgment about their importance for the task at hand. That my passion for understanding South Africa got channeled into the concepts of identity and change says noth- ing about the rest of what the place and the people evoke in me. Perhaps this pas- sion arose from the fact that my first visit to South Africa was also my baptism into culture shock, but I prefer to think that it was something exogenous to my personal experiences of the place. In the flurry of activity that accompanied my attempts to meet the deadline for this book, I took an hour out to mow my lawn. At the time I had a push mower, so listening to the radio while reducing nature to a socially acceptable height was actually possible. Donald Woods, one of the better known of the mil- lions of courageous South Africans who took a stand against apartheid, had died during the week and the commentator on NPR was remembering him. It was a very personal remembrance, with poignant and evocative stories about the White newspaper editor who came to understand Black Consciousness. At the end, Scott Simon told the story about how Mr. Woods had been received by the crowds waiting in line to vote for the first time in April 1994. It was a story, I know, and one well told by a professional storyteller. But I stood on my front lawn and cried because of what the South Africans in the story, and all South Africans, did. I know that the pages of this book do not convey those kinds of feelings, but I

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