The Black and White Rainbow: Reconciliation, Opposition, and Nation-Building in Democratic South Africa

Description

Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--Indiana University, 2015. Nation-building imperatives compel citizens to focus on what makes them similar and what binds them together, forgetting what makes them different. Democratic institution building, on the other hand, requires fostering opposition through conducting multiparty elections and encouraging debate. Leaders of democratic factions, like parties or interest groups, can consolidate their power by emphasizing difference. But when held in tension, these two impulses--toward remembering difference and forgetting it, between focusing on unity and encouraging division--are mutually constitutive of sustainable democracy. ?Based on ethnographic and interview-based fieldwork conducted in 2012-13, The Black and White Rainbow: Reconciliation, Opposition, and Nation-Building in Democratic South Africa explores various themes of nation- and democracy-building, including the emotional and banal content of symbols of the post-apartheid state, the ways that gender and race condition nascent nationalism, the public performance of nationalism and other group-based identities, integration and sharing of space, language diversity, and the role of democratic functioning including party politics and modes of opposition. Each of these thematic chapters aims to explicate a feature of the multifaceted nature of identity-building, and link the South African case to broader literatures on both nationalism and democracy. Contents Acknowledgemnts Chapter 1. Introduction: Remembering and Forgetting in Democratic South Africa Nation-Building and Democracy: Memory and Forgetting Research Design and Methodology Structure of the Book Chapter 2. South Africa: Forming a State, Building a Community No South Africans Before South Africa Unity through Segregation: Mid-Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century The Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism and the Hardening of Legal Segregation The Grand Apartheid Era Negotiating the End of Apartheid: Nation-Building and Democratization Conclusion Chapter 3. Reconciliation and Rainbows: Symbols With and Without History Rainbow Nation Symbolism The Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Nation-Building through History-Telling Memory and History in Nation-Building and National Symbols Rainbow Forgetting or Commissioned Remembering Chapter 4. Opposition and Party Politics in Democratic South Africa Race and Elections Exit as Identity Politics Conclusion Chapter 5. The Social Logic of Nation-Building: Navigating Race and Gender Gender and Race from Apartheid to Post-Apartheid Interpersonal Nation-Building: Gendered Relationships and Racialized Social Lives Economic Threat and Redress in Terms of Race Defending Our Families: Crime, Gender, and Racialized Threat Perception Race Relations on a Given Thursday at Midnight in Bloemfontein Conclusion Chapter 6. Community Theater: Ceremony and Performance of Nationhood and Identity Strictly Defined Ethnocultural Rituals Affiliative Rituals Nationally Oriented Rituals Conclusion Chapter 7. Homes, Farms, Parks, and Walls: Land, Space, and Ownership of Democratic South Africa Land Ownership and Land Reform: Who Owns What? Integrating Public Space and Protecting Private Space: Contrasting Dynamics Where Is South Africa? Conclusion Chapter 8. The Medium and the Message: Language and Communal Identity Language and Identity Language, Nationalism, and the University—Parallel-Medium Universities Newspapers, Language, and Print Capitalism Conclusion Chapter 9. Conclusion Policy Implications Areas of Future Research Conclusions: A Troubled Bridge Over Water Appendix: Interview Guide and Interview Index Notes Bibliography Index