Then I Was Black

Description

Do race and ethnicity present a danger to the consolidation of effective democratic government? Can liberal constitutionalism provide a stable basis for governance of a polity historically erected on racial and ethnic division? In this book Courtney Jung argues that when ethnic and racial identities are politically fluid and heterogeneous, as she finds they are in South Africa, ethnic and racial politics will not undermine the peaceful and democratic potential of the government. Jung examines three important cases of politicized racial and ethnic identity in South Africa: Zulu, Afrikaner, and Coloured. Working from extensive field research and interviews, she develops a model to explain shifts in the political salience, goals, and boundaries of these groups between 1980 and 1995. Jung challenges the common assumption that cultural identities overdetermine political possibility, pointing out that individual members fail for the most part to internalize the political agenda of “their own” ethnic group. Group engagement with the state is also conditioned by contextual factors, not determined by its constitution in ethnic or racial terms. South Africa is no more divided than most other societies, she concludes, and no less likely to consolidate democracy as a result of its politicized cleavages of race and ethnicity. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: The Permanence of Change 1. Born from Speaking: The Construction of Political Identity 2. Black Against Zulu: The Politics of Zulu Identity, 1975–1990 3. Of Kings and Chiefs: The Politics of Zulu Identity After 1990 4. In Defense of Whiteness: The Politics of Afrikaner Identity, 19781990 5. Jelly Bag Bones: The Politics of Afrikaner Identity After 1990 6. Then I Was Black: The Politics of Coloured Identity, 1982–1990 7. Now I Would Say I’m a Coloured: The Politics of Coloured Identity After 1990 8. Slaying the Hydra: Political Institutions and the Manipulation of Identity 9. Every Journey Conceals Another Journey Within Its Lines Notes Index