Drawing on scholarship in Critical Pedagogy, this article speaks to the debate about pedagogical ... more Drawing on scholarship in Critical Pedagogy, this article speaks to the debate about pedagogical approaches within social justice education (SJE). The article addresses itself to privileged positionality within the context of university-based SJE, with a specific focus on race and whiteness. As a conceptual piece, it addresses some key considerations when working with liberatory pedagogies towards conscientising people from dominant positionalities, challenging some pedagogical assumptions that have achieved virtual common sense status. It indicates that we should reframe student resistance, cautions about uncritical use of dialogue and student experience in methodologies, and problematizes the advocacy of safety as a prerequisite for SJE. We end by outlining the reasons why firmly challenging students, though uncomfortable and controversial, may be necessary.
Several decades after the abolishment of the formal slave trade, the administrative colonisation ... more Several decades after the abolishment of the formal slave trade, the administrative colonisation of Africa by Europe, and the adoption of progressive international human rights laws for equality, there is no doubt that pro-social justice education is facing a massive backlash from the far right globally. As critical diversity studies teaching and learning practitioners and facilitators, we address how the normative order seeks to legitimise anti-social justice discourses using invalidated assumptions, including the myth that critical theoretical education employs indoctrination. We show how our work is about making visible the baseless and groundless nature of arguments made by the far right in their dismissal of critical theory (CT). Using experiences from teaching and learning in the Theories of Diversity, Otherness & Difference postgraduate course at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS), we show how CT is a pivotal pedagogical banister for the 21st century. A banister is a support structure along the rails of a staircase. CT in critical diversity studies (CDS) incorporates anti-foundational thinking, which assumes no fixed theoretical resting place as this simplifies the complexity of diversity issues. Overall, this article concludes that far from being a form of ‘indoctrination’, as is argued by the far right, CT is a useful pedagogical banister for our existence in the 21st century.
This paper argues that postmodernism challenges the way in which intercultural communication comp... more This paper argues that postmodernism challenges the way in which intercultural communication competence has traditionally been conceptualized. The very framing of the notion as ""competence"" reveals its historical contingency and complicity with a particular interest group. Some of the assumptions which underpin the ""received"" versions of competence are examined, and are related to post-modem concerns of the nature of knowledge and truth, culture and personhood. In the course of the analysis, reference is made to the literature on competence, and suggestions are made for ways in which competence can fruitfully be explored that are more in keeping with the spirit of post-modernism.
"Whiteness", an extremely successful ideological construction of modernist colonisation, is by de... more "Whiteness", an extremely successful ideological construction of modernist colonisation, is by definition a construction of power: Whites as the privileged group take their identity as the nonn and the standard by which other groups are measured. As the new South Africa moves towards a more equitable multicultural society, Whites are experiencing a sudden loss of privilege. Different narratives are currently being constructed within the society about what it means to be White in the new dispensation. These narratives position Whites differently in relation to the past, and to Africa and Africans, and have varying potential for building a multicultural future. From the perspective of comparative social analysis, the current South African experience of "whiteness" problematises the way in which "whiteness" is currently theorised in Euro-America. An awareness of the need to address "whiteness" within the South African context, however, is still embryonic.
We propose the Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) framework for citizenship education in contempor... more We propose the Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) framework for citizenship education in contemporary heterogeneous societies. It encourages an anti-essentialist, power-conscious awareness of difference beyond notions of citizenship that have been constitutive of the nation and tend to normalise masculinity, patriarchy, heterosexuality, able-bodiedness and whiteness. Using intersectionality and decoloniality heuristics, we approach multicultural citizenship from the multiple axes of our identities as we inhabit the world more complexly than mere belonging to the nation-state. The framework synthesises insights from contemporary social theory into a usable scaffolding for diversity capacitation. The ten principles focus on intersectionality, social identities and positioning, historical awareness, diversity vocabulary, the coded nature of hegemonic power and personal engagement. Taken together, they promote an approach to multicultural citizenship that focuses on social justice and pushes us to recognise the lived experience of citizenship ‘from below’. The framework has proved useful in designing curricula and interventions in different contexts and sectors and can be utilised to develop age-appropriate materials in schools.
Within the context of a changing South Africa, which itself is grappling with finding its place i... more Within the context of a changing South Africa, which itself is grappling with finding its place in a global community, every organisation and institution is affected and must address questions of transformation if it is to survive. iNCUDISA is publishing this series of case studies to contribute to a necessary information base for practical use by organisations committed to taking up this challenge in constructive and effective ways. In this endeavour, we are all sailing new waters, and need to share the charts as we go. Every time an organisation or institution embarks on a process, their experience can provide meaningful guidelines for others. Each context has particular permutations and needs to be understood on its own terms. Case studies show exactly how the details in a specific context are addressed. Where one is dealing with change management, there is no single model that can be applied across the board without careful contextualisation. In whatever way the underlying generic issues may be articulated in an organisation, interventions have to be appropriate and carefully structured to meet the needs of that situation. Case studies are useful in showing this process of engagement with a particular context at a particular time-the misunderstandings, successes, diversity issues, conflicts, breakthroughsthat form the daily lived experience of a changing environment. This series rests on the principle that the more carefully one understands the specific issues of a particular case and the degree of success it achieves, the more useful it becomes to people facing similar issues in a different context. This title, the fifth in the series, provides an overview of the lessons learnt from 12 case studies.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI MMG), 2013
South Africa represents an international site of interest on issues of reconciliation and transfo... more South Africa represents an international site of interest on issues of reconciliation and transformation within a historical context of ethnic hostility, racial segregation and dire mismanagement of diversity. since 1994, the old apartheid political structures including national government, provincial government and local government have been reformed and numerous laws have been enacted to redress past injustices and to facilitate greater economic and social equity. With the 20 years of democracy being celebrated in 2014, this special edition of Diversifies is pertinent to the many questions that will be raised in taking stock of how far South Africa has come in changing the dynamics of segregation, exclusion and oppression that characterised the old dispensation. In particular, the articles collected in this volume speak to spatiality in small town life as a specific dimension of sociality. there is a rich body of literature that examines the spatiality of human life, and the ways in which space is an active part of how our social identities come to be constructed. As Foster (2005, p. 498) puts it:‘Space is highly significant for human interaction.[...] Places have specific meanings for people; they resonate with symbolic and emotional significance. We all carry with us senses of “place identity”.’Indeed, identity and space are not only intimately linked but actively constitute each other. In its operations of shaping social orders, the spatiality of life is not “innocent”. It is deeply inscribed within relations of power, permeated by politics and ideology, and implicated in both articulating and hiding this imbrication (Keith and Pile, 1993).
The purpose of this article is to critically interrogate the extent to which diversity practition... more The purpose of this article is to critically interrogate the extent to which diversity practitioners' definitions of diversity create the potential for deep transformation. By employing critical management theory and discursive analysis, we identified three dimensions to the definitions: Categories of Difference, Engagement of Difference and Site of Change. Each of these is represented as one dimension of the Diversity "Rubik" Cube. Each dimension is described individually, after which interaction between them is examined. At each point the potential for deep transformation is examined. In most cases the potential for deep transformation offered by the Category of Difference is closed down by the Engagement with Difference. This interaction represents the dominant paradigms for thinking through diversity in management studies. We suggest that there is only one alignment of the dimensions that provides for deep transformative practice and we offer the Diversity "Rubik" Cube as a model that will allow management, practitioners and academics to identify that alignment.
Drawing on scholarship in Critical Pedagogy, this article speaks to the debate about pedagogical ... more Drawing on scholarship in Critical Pedagogy, this article speaks to the debate about pedagogical approaches within social justice education (SJE). The article addresses itself to privileged positionality within the context of university-based SJE, with a specific focus on race and whiteness. As a conceptual piece, it addresses some key considerations when working with liberatory pedagogies towards conscientising people from dominant positionalities, challenging some pedagogical assumptions that have achieved virtual common sense status. It indicates that we should reframe student resistance, cautions about uncritical use of dialogue and student experience in methodologies, and problematizes the advocacy of safety as a prerequisite for SJE. We end by outlining the reasons why firmly challenging students, though uncomfortable and controversial, may be necessary.
Several decades after the abolishment of the formal slave trade, the administrative colonisation ... more Several decades after the abolishment of the formal slave trade, the administrative colonisation of Africa by Europe, and the adoption of progressive international human rights laws for equality, there is no doubt that pro-social justice education is facing a massive backlash from the far right globally. As critical diversity studies teaching and learning practitioners and facilitators, we address how the normative order seeks to legitimise anti-social justice discourses using invalidated assumptions, including the myth that critical theoretical education employs indoctrination. We show how our work is about making visible the baseless and groundless nature of arguments made by the far right in their dismissal of critical theory (CT). Using experiences from teaching and learning in the Theories of Diversity, Otherness & Difference postgraduate course at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS), we show how CT is a pivotal pedagogical banister for the 21st century. A banister is a support structure along the rails of a staircase. CT in critical diversity studies (CDS) incorporates anti-foundational thinking, which assumes no fixed theoretical resting place as this simplifies the complexity of diversity issues. Overall, this article concludes that far from being a form of ‘indoctrination’, as is argued by the far right, CT is a useful pedagogical banister for our existence in the 21st century.
This paper argues that postmodernism challenges the way in which intercultural communication comp... more This paper argues that postmodernism challenges the way in which intercultural communication competence has traditionally been conceptualized. The very framing of the notion as ""competence"" reveals its historical contingency and complicity with a particular interest group. Some of the assumptions which underpin the ""received"" versions of competence are examined, and are related to post-modem concerns of the nature of knowledge and truth, culture and personhood. In the course of the analysis, reference is made to the literature on competence, and suggestions are made for ways in which competence can fruitfully be explored that are more in keeping with the spirit of post-modernism.
"Whiteness", an extremely successful ideological construction of modernist colonisation, is by de... more "Whiteness", an extremely successful ideological construction of modernist colonisation, is by definition a construction of power: Whites as the privileged group take their identity as the nonn and the standard by which other groups are measured. As the new South Africa moves towards a more equitable multicultural society, Whites are experiencing a sudden loss of privilege. Different narratives are currently being constructed within the society about what it means to be White in the new dispensation. These narratives position Whites differently in relation to the past, and to Africa and Africans, and have varying potential for building a multicultural future. From the perspective of comparative social analysis, the current South African experience of "whiteness" problematises the way in which "whiteness" is currently theorised in Euro-America. An awareness of the need to address "whiteness" within the South African context, however, is still embryonic.
We propose the Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) framework for citizenship education in contempor... more We propose the Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) framework for citizenship education in contemporary heterogeneous societies. It encourages an anti-essentialist, power-conscious awareness of difference beyond notions of citizenship that have been constitutive of the nation and tend to normalise masculinity, patriarchy, heterosexuality, able-bodiedness and whiteness. Using intersectionality and decoloniality heuristics, we approach multicultural citizenship from the multiple axes of our identities as we inhabit the world more complexly than mere belonging to the nation-state. The framework synthesises insights from contemporary social theory into a usable scaffolding for diversity capacitation. The ten principles focus on intersectionality, social identities and positioning, historical awareness, diversity vocabulary, the coded nature of hegemonic power and personal engagement. Taken together, they promote an approach to multicultural citizenship that focuses on social justice and pushes us to recognise the lived experience of citizenship ‘from below’. The framework has proved useful in designing curricula and interventions in different contexts and sectors and can be utilised to develop age-appropriate materials in schools.
Within the context of a changing South Africa, which itself is grappling with finding its place i... more Within the context of a changing South Africa, which itself is grappling with finding its place in a global community, every organisation and institution is affected and must address questions of transformation if it is to survive. iNCUDISA is publishing this series of case studies to contribute to a necessary information base for practical use by organisations committed to taking up this challenge in constructive and effective ways. In this endeavour, we are all sailing new waters, and need to share the charts as we go. Every time an organisation or institution embarks on a process, their experience can provide meaningful guidelines for others. Each context has particular permutations and needs to be understood on its own terms. Case studies show exactly how the details in a specific context are addressed. Where one is dealing with change management, there is no single model that can be applied across the board without careful contextualisation. In whatever way the underlying generic issues may be articulated in an organisation, interventions have to be appropriate and carefully structured to meet the needs of that situation. Case studies are useful in showing this process of engagement with a particular context at a particular time-the misunderstandings, successes, diversity issues, conflicts, breakthroughsthat form the daily lived experience of a changing environment. This series rests on the principle that the more carefully one understands the specific issues of a particular case and the degree of success it achieves, the more useful it becomes to people facing similar issues in a different context. This title, the fifth in the series, provides an overview of the lessons learnt from 12 case studies.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI MMG), 2013
South Africa represents an international site of interest on issues of reconciliation and transfo... more South Africa represents an international site of interest on issues of reconciliation and transformation within a historical context of ethnic hostility, racial segregation and dire mismanagement of diversity. since 1994, the old apartheid political structures including national government, provincial government and local government have been reformed and numerous laws have been enacted to redress past injustices and to facilitate greater economic and social equity. With the 20 years of democracy being celebrated in 2014, this special edition of Diversifies is pertinent to the many questions that will be raised in taking stock of how far South Africa has come in changing the dynamics of segregation, exclusion and oppression that characterised the old dispensation. In particular, the articles collected in this volume speak to spatiality in small town life as a specific dimension of sociality. there is a rich body of literature that examines the spatiality of human life, and the ways in which space is an active part of how our social identities come to be constructed. As Foster (2005, p. 498) puts it:‘Space is highly significant for human interaction.[...] Places have specific meanings for people; they resonate with symbolic and emotional significance. We all carry with us senses of “place identity”.’Indeed, identity and space are not only intimately linked but actively constitute each other. In its operations of shaping social orders, the spatiality of life is not “innocent”. It is deeply inscribed within relations of power, permeated by politics and ideology, and implicated in both articulating and hiding this imbrication (Keith and Pile, 1993).
The purpose of this article is to critically interrogate the extent to which diversity practition... more The purpose of this article is to critically interrogate the extent to which diversity practitioners' definitions of diversity create the potential for deep transformation. By employing critical management theory and discursive analysis, we identified three dimensions to the definitions: Categories of Difference, Engagement of Difference and Site of Change. Each of these is represented as one dimension of the Diversity "Rubik" Cube. Each dimension is described individually, after which interaction between them is examined. At each point the potential for deep transformation is examined. In most cases the potential for deep transformation offered by the Category of Difference is closed down by the Engagement with Difference. This interaction represents the dominant paradigms for thinking through diversity in management studies. We suggest that there is only one alignment of the dimensions that provides for deep transformative practice and we offer the Diversity "Rubik" Cube as a model that will allow management, practitioners and academics to identify that alignment.
"Decolonising the Human examines the ongoing project of constituting ‘the human’ in light of the ... more "Decolonising the Human examines the ongoing project of constituting ‘the human’ in light of the durability of coloniality and the persistence of multiple oppressions. The ‘human’ emerges as a deeply political category, historically constructed as a scarce existential resource. Once weaponised, it allows for the social, political and economic elevation of those who are centred within its magic circle, and the degradation, marginalisation and immiseration of those excluded as the different and inferior Other, the less than human. Speaking from Africa, a key site where the category of the human has been used throughout European modernity to control, exclude and deny equality of being, the contributors use decoloniality as a potent theoretical and philosophical tool, gesturing towards a liberated, pluriversal world where human difference will be recognised as a gift, not used to police the boundaries of the human. Here is a transdisciplinary critical exploration of a wide range of subjects, including history, politics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology and decolonial studies. "
This handbook provides practical tools and concepts forged from international best practice, and ... more This handbook provides practical tools and concepts forged from international best practice, and sharpened in the context of post-apartheid South Africa, that can be used to build critical diversity literate organizations. Organizations the world over–from nonprofits to large corporations, and secondary schools to massive intergovernmental institutions–increasingly tip into crisis as they fail to meet the challenges of diverse and complex societies. Their durability is tested by how they deal with difference, and whether they break out of dominant ways of thinking about culture, merit, and success. This book is thus designed to contribute to the ongoing conversation between the strategic imperatives of organizational leaders, and the day-management of diversity interventions by diversity practitioners and human resources specialists. The authors present the CDL model in an easily understandable and practically implementable format that is grounded as much in rigorous academic research as it is in thousands of hours of industry experience. Six prominent, active critical diversity literacy practitioners offer concrete advice and insights into addressing racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and other oppressive dynamics. The text offers guidance on:· Analyzing what has changed in the local and global environment of the contemporary organization, and how to ‘read’these challenges;· Identifying the warning signs of crisis, and addressing issues before they arise by building a responsive and flexible style of leadership;· Using the Critical Diversity Literacy framework to secure organizational alignment;· Theorizing how change happens within organizations.
formulated the guidelines for the group discussions. The facilitators and rapporteurs helped to m... more formulated the guidelines for the group discussions. The facilitators and rapporteurs helped to make this the interactive and participatory conference we were longing for. Ms Kim Feinberg, Dr Thandiwe Sidzumo-Mazibuko and Dr Xolela Mangcu compiled the group reports. We thank them for their invaluable assistance.
The 'White Spaces' project is an ongoing interdisciplinary, international collaboration between s... more The 'White Spaces' project is an ongoing interdisciplinary, international collaboration between scholars across the humanities and social sciences based all over the world. Our core members are in Australia, South Africa, the USA and the UK, other members are from
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Dec 6, 2012
The overall aim of the projected conference is to make a significant contribution to the developm... more The overall aim of the projected conference is to make a significant contribution to the development of migration theory. In order to achieve this, it will focus on three interlinked concepts: border(land), citizenship and cosmopolitanism. These are currently highly debated in transnational and transdisciplinary academic discourses-initiating a fruitful dialogue between them might lead to paradigmatic shifts in migration studies and beyond. In order to do so, the conference examines specific dimensions of the ongoing deep transformation of statehood, citizenship, sovereignty and identity formations in sending, transit, and receiving states (cf. Mezzadra).
The Term 'heTeronormaTiviTy' was known to me before 1995. However, as a straight man who consider... more The Term 'heTeronormaTiviTy' was known to me before 1995. However, as a straight man who considered himself socialist pro-feminist, I assumed that the concept was primarily important only to people who identified as homosexual or bisexual. It was their enemy. While I certainly supported their struggles against that enemy in my heart, my head was focused on what seemed to be obviously much bigger struggles. Male violence against women, HIv/aIDS, structural adjustment, and other broad anti-democratic forces were all depressingly evident at the time in both my homes (southern Africa and North America). An inkling of doubt about this confident ordering of priorities came soon after I took up a lectureship at the University of Zimbabwe in 1995. Robert Mugabe and his supporters began attacking gays and lesbians with such hyperbolic rhetoric that one could hardly fail to notice a disproportion. Why such a fuss over a gay rights movement that was politically and socially so utterly marginal? I assumed some gay scholar somewhere would take up the challenge to explain (as indeed several did, quite convincingly). The pertinence of heteronormativity to my own research interests only began to dawn on me at a conference that I attended on the history of women and gender in South Africa around this time. After two or three intense days, an anonymous comment appeared on the bulletin board-something to the effect of, 'Gawd, this conference is so heterosexist!' It was not too difficult to intuit who among my fellow delegates was the author, and indeed, when I approached him to enquire he readily confessed. More to the point, my new friend patiently walked me through the meaning of the term and the importance of the critique it offered. Exclusive, lifelong heterosexuality is not a natural condition but has to be carefully cultivated and constantly recreated as a hegemonic ideology in the face of changing material circumstances and in relation to multiple marginal identities and practices. Many aspects of the dominant expressions of heterosexuality that we commonly assume to be natural and normal (notably, men are active and penetrators, women are passive and penetrated, but also, old people, children and disabled people are asexual) are in fact deeply contested and contingent. Homophobia (and heterosexism) are not simply the concerns of a non-normative minority but are central to the ways that sexuality for the whole of society is organised and experienced. All my work on the history of gender up to this point suddenly seemed embarrassingly simplistic. My passivity in response to homophobic politics in Zimbabwe suddenly seemed unconscionable. I felt compelled to go back to my Foreword Free download from www.hsrcpress.co.za vi sources, and to reexamine my vocabularies and other choices, to see where and how they were affected by this invisible juggernaut, heteronormativity. I felt like a fish discovering he lived in the sea. More than a decade since that epiphany, what a thrill it is to see heteronormativity so squarely and thoroughly problematised in this erudite yet accessible volume. The book is directed at people like the old me, which is to say, you know about and generally sympathise with gay rights or queer theory, in theory. In practice, you are not quite clear how these might apply to (and enrich) your own work. You might even avoid some of the issues out of anxiety that some unintentional mangling of the latest terminology identifies you as embarrassingly out of touch. This book says, don't worry about it. Just get on board. I don't mean to be flippant here. On the contrary, much of The Prize and the Price makes for heavy reading. Many of the chapters deal with horrific abuses and dehumanising tendencies in social practice that take place within the rubric of 'normal'-rape, paedophilia, layer upon layer of racism, exploitative and degrading sex work or sex tourism, and more. This will not really surprise most readers, I expect. South Africans since 1994 have had to begin to renegotiate the norms of race, class, gender and other identities laid down over centuries of ideology, violence and law. It would have been difficult and painful even without the explosion of heterosexually transmitted HIv/aIDS. The authors do try to bring out elements of positive change, dignity and pleasure to be found within this discouraging menu. Still, it is hard to avoid the feeling that even with good intentions and lots of money, South Africans will be working to resolve these issues for a long time. We should probably not assume that good intentions and money can be relied upon. Happily, as the chapters in this book demonstrate, there is room for optimism that currently hegemonic heteronormativity is being challenged in promising ways. People's dignity, creativity and complex sexuality can be freed up from the toxicity and limitations of the past. It also gives me a feeling of optimism that works such as this are strong enough to be noticed beyond the roiling but small environment of South African academe. Much of the theorisation of sexuality in the west, for example, including supposedly cutting-edge queer theory, is terribly westocentric, parochial or patronising towards African scholars and theorists. My hope, which the editors modestly articulate, is that The Prize and the Price can contribute to the enrichment and maturity of sexuality studies globally.
The Prize and the Price Shaping Sexualities in South Africa, Oct 1, 2009
Intimate encounters between people of different caste, tribe, faith, race and nation have been re... more Intimate encounters between people of different caste, tribe, faith, race and nation have been recorded, mythologised and condemned since long before the era of imperialism. The development of colonialism introduced a new frontier for sexual relations between remarkably different people. Since then, a huge body of literature, folklore, and public and private debate has been devoted to the intimate encounters between the European and the ‘native’. Intimate relations–sex, love and marriage–are often viewed as the most private and personal matters of one’s life. Within the colonial realms, however, the private became political. In South African history, intimate interactions between members of different race groups have been deeply politicised. Public, religious and political discourse on interracial intimacy was and remains imbued with notions of hierarchy, race, gender and morality. Since the arrival of the first settlers at the Cape in the mid-seventeenth century, South African history has been characterised by interactions among different groups of people. As European settlement led to colonisation, South African society was developed by mixed communities of indigenous people, Dutch and English settlers and missionaries, and slaves brought from the east. This diverse society, dominated by the Europeans, was regulated by a system of power hierarchy mediated through discourses of religion, race, civilisation and gender. Throughout this history, contact between different groups has led to sex–in forms including forced sex, concubinage, marriage, clandestine relations and cohabitation.
The Term 'heTeronormaTiviTy' was known to me before 1995. However, as a straight man who consider... more The Term 'heTeronormaTiviTy' was known to me before 1995. However, as a straight man who considered himself socialist pro-feminist, I assumed that the concept was primarily important only to people who identified as homosexual or bisexual. It was their enemy. While I certainly supported their struggles against that enemy in my heart, my head was focused on what seemed to be obviously much bigger struggles. Male violence against women, HIv/aIDS, structural adjustment, and other broad anti-democratic forces were all depressingly evident at the time in both my homes (southern Africa and North America). An inkling of doubt about this confident ordering of priorities came soon after I took up a lectureship at the University of Zimbabwe in 1995. Robert Mugabe and his supporters began attacking gays and lesbians with such hyperbolic rhetoric that one could hardly fail to notice a disproportion. Why such a fuss over a gay rights movement that was politically and socially so utterly marginal? I assumed some gay scholar somewhere would take up the challenge to explain (as indeed several did, quite convincingly). The pertinence of heteronormativity to my own research interests only began to dawn on me at a conference that I attended on the history of women and gender in South Africa around this time. After two or three intense days, an anonymous comment appeared on the bulletin board-something to the effect of, 'Gawd, this conference is so heterosexist!' It was not too difficult to intuit who among my fellow delegates was the author, and indeed, when I approached him to enquire he readily confessed. More to the point, my new friend patiently walked me through the meaning of the term and the importance of the critique it offered. Exclusive, lifelong heterosexuality is not a natural condition but has to be carefully cultivated and constantly recreated as a hegemonic ideology in the face of changing material circumstances and in relation to multiple marginal identities and practices. Many aspects of the dominant expressions of heterosexuality that we commonly assume to be natural and normal (notably, men are active and penetrators, women are passive and penetrated, but also, old people, children and disabled people are asexual) are in fact deeply contested and contingent. Homophobia (and heterosexism) are not simply the concerns of a non-normative minority but are central to the ways that sexuality for the whole of society is organised and experienced. All my work on the history of gender up to this point suddenly seemed embarrassingly simplistic. My passivity in response to homophobic politics in Zimbabwe suddenly seemed unconscionable. I felt compelled to go back to my Foreword Free download from www.hsrcpress.co.za vi sources, and to reexamine my vocabularies and other choices, to see where and how they were affected by this invisible juggernaut, heteronormativity. I felt like a fish discovering he lived in the sea. More than a decade since that epiphany, what a thrill it is to see heteronormativity so squarely and thoroughly problematised in this erudite yet accessible volume. The book is directed at people like the old me, which is to say, you know about and generally sympathise with gay rights or queer theory, in theory. In practice, you are not quite clear how these might apply to (and enrich) your own work. You might even avoid some of the issues out of anxiety that some unintentional mangling of the latest terminology identifies you as embarrassingly out of touch. This book says, don't worry about it. Just get on board. I don't mean to be flippant here. On the contrary, much of The Prize and the Price makes for heavy reading. Many of the chapters deal with horrific abuses and dehumanising tendencies in social practice that take place within the rubric of 'normal'-rape, paedophilia, layer upon layer of racism, exploitative and degrading sex work or sex tourism, and more. This will not really surprise most readers, I expect. South Africans since 1994 have had to begin to renegotiate the norms of race, class, gender and other identities laid down over centuries of ideology, violence and law. It would have been difficult and painful even without the explosion of heterosexually transmitted HIv/aIDS. The authors do try to bring out elements of positive change, dignity and pleasure to be found within this discouraging menu. Still, it is hard to avoid the feeling that even with good intentions and lots of money, South Africans will be working to resolve these issues for a long time. We should probably not assume that good intentions and money can be relied upon. Happily, as the chapters in this book demonstrate, there is room for optimism that currently hegemonic heteronormativity is being challenged in promising ways. People's dignity, creativity and complex sexuality can be freed up from the toxicity and limitations of the past. It also gives me a feeling of optimism that works such as this are strong enough to be noticed beyond the roiling but small environment of South African academe. Much of the theorisation of sexuality in the west, for example, including supposedly cutting-edge queer theory, is terribly westocentric, parochial or patronising towards African scholars and theorists. My hope, which the editors modestly articulate, is that The Prize and the Price can contribute to the enrichment and maturity of sexuality studies globally.
South African society has undergone a remarkable political and legal transformation since 1994, m... more South African society has undergone a remarkable political and legal transformation since 1994, moving from apartheid towards a democratic society that enshrines the rights of diversity. However, deep social divisions and inequalities persist. Twelve case studies were conducted as part of the DEISA research programme into diversity and equity transformation in South African organisations. The concept of Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) was useful to judge the organisations for their disposition towards diversity, and the extent of their achieved transformation. The CDL model proposed here is a conceptual tool for teaching and implementing transformation towards more socially just approaches to workplace diversity, even in complex postcolonial contexts.
South African society has undergone a remarkable political and legal transformation since 1994, m... more South African society has undergone a remarkable political and legal transformation since 1994, moving from apartheid towards a democratic society that enshrines the rights of diversity. However, deep social divisions and inequalities persist. Twelve case studies were conducted as part of the DEISA research programme into diversity and equity transformation in South African organisations. The concept of Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) was useful to judge the organisations for their disposition towards diversity, and the extent of their achieved transformation. The CDL model proposed here is a conceptual tool for teaching and implementing transformation towards more socially just approaches to workplace diversity, even in complex postcolonial contexts.
South African society has undergone a remarkable political and legal transformation since 1994, m... more South African society has undergone a remarkable political and legal transformation since 1994, moving from apartheid towards a democratic society that enshrines the rights of diversity. However, deep social divisions and inequalities persist. Twelve case studies were conducted as part of the DEISA research programme into diversity and equity transformation in South African organisations. The concept of Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) was useful to judge the organisations for their disposition towards diversity, and the extent of their achieved transformation. The CDL model proposed here is a conceptual tool for teaching and implementing transformation towards more socially just approaches to workplace diversity, even in complex postcolonial contexts.
This series aims to provide theoretically ambitious but accessible volumes devoted to the major f... more This series aims to provide theoretically ambitious but accessible volumes devoted to the major fields and subfields within communication and media studies. Each volume sets out to ground and orientate the student through a broad range of specially commissioned chapters, while also providing the more experienced scholar and teacher with a convenient and comprehensive overview of the latest trends and critical directions.
One of the myths that informed the thinking of modernity was that groups came out of nature, appe... more One of the myths that informed the thinking of modernity was that groups came out of nature, appearance and intrinsic characteristics intact and bounded. The construction of race drew on such a myth, the notion that white and Black people were born into natural groupings of human beings, endowed with differentiating characteristics that mapped fortuitously onto their positions in the world economy, political roles, and social influence. Studies of race consequently were engaged in delineating the qualities and attributes of what were understood to be different sets of humans. The loosening up of this worldview has been informed by the insight that all concepts, our tools for thinking about the world, are constructed relationally. This revision unseated primordial notions of race; whiteness, it was recognized, was co-constructed with blackness, only making sense in a field of meaning which positioned blackness as foil to the characteristics attributed to whiteness.“White” people came into existence as powerful European groups and constructed those over whom they gained advantage as fundamentally inferior to themselves and Black, or at least not the right kind of white. The recognition of this relationality of race is implicit in critical whiteness studies, which has theorized whiteness as a positionality of privilege systematically promoted by a racially organized world. By this view, race privilege and oppression, complexly interwoven into social arrangements along and within multiple other dimensions—such as class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and more—are always implicated in each other’s existence.
This chapter argues that normative understandings of intercultural communication competence (ICC)... more This chapter argues that normative understandings of intercultural communication competence (ICC) may not be adequate to facilitate communication in a context of the enduring legacy of colonial and Apartheid privilege and oppression. It discusses three tenets that need to inform a contextually appropriate understanding of ICC: it needs to be situated within the critical tradition of communication theory; it must factor in Eurocentrism; and it must acknowledge South Africa's colonial legacy. Any understanding of ICC in higher education in South Africa will have to be robust enough to deal with this fraught context. Not only is there a need for ICC to do much more in South African context than facilitate intercultural contact, but such contact must be equitable in a decolonised higher education system. UNESCO indicates that possibilities for intercultural competence lie in facilitating process whereby groups and individuals engage with 'cultural "others" with a view to bridging differences, defusing conflicts and setting the foundations of peaceful coexistence'.
The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), South Africa, 2018
Contributors ix with recruiting members for military training outside the country. On 14 April 19... more Contributors ix with recruiting members for military training outside the country. On 14 April 1976 Motlanthe was arrested with others for furthering the aims of the ANC and kept in detention for eleven months at John Vorster Square in central Johannesburg. In 1977 he was found guilty on three charges under the Terrorism Act and sentenced to an effective ten years' imprisonment on Robben Island. After his release in 1987, Motlanthe was tasked with strengthening the trade union movement in the country. To this end, he worked for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as a national office bearer responsible for education. Among other things, he was involved in training workers to form shop steward committees. In 1990, when the banning of the ANC and other political organisations was lifted, Motlanthe was tasked with re-establishing ANC structures in Gauteng Province. In 1992 he was elected General Secretary of the NUM, succeeding Cyril Ramaphosa who had been elected Secretary-General of the ANC. Motlanthe also served two five-year terms as Secretary-General of the ANC,
Revisiting Critical Diversity Literacy ist die ins Deutsche übertragene und überarbeitete Version... more Revisiting Critical Diversity Literacy ist die ins Deutsche übertragene und überarbeitete Version von Melissa Steyns wegweisendem Artikel Critical Diversity Literacy (2015). Steyn verdichtet darin ihre jahrzehntelange Auseinandersetzung mit Diversität im südafrikanischen Kontext zu einem zehn Punkte umfassenden Konzept. Dabei entwirft sie eine Form der Literacy, welche die konstitutive Rolle von Macht in jeglichen Fragen rund um Diversität erkennt und eine vertiefte Auseinandersetzung mit dem eigenen Gewordensein innerhalb dieser Machtverhältnisse bedingt. Für diese Erstübersetzung hat Serena O. Dankwa Nuancierungen und Ergänzungen vorgenommen und hat den Text um aktuelle Diskurse etwa zu Migration und Rassifizierung, Intersektionalität und dem Schweizer Asylregime erweitert.
This chapter shows how complicity and privileged irresponsibility sustain power systems through a... more This chapter shows how complicity and privileged irresponsibility sustain power systems through an outline of how the ignorance contract is an important strategy for those who are implicated in oppression. From there, we grapple with the nuances of privilege by way of explaining the concepts of intersectionality, kyriarchy and the abyssal line. After proposing what is called the “proximity to privilege scale”, the chapter concludes with five key takeaways for the reader.
Since the period of change from the Apartheid era to black majority government, white South Afric... more Since the period of change from the Apartheid era to black majority government, white South Africans have left the country in great numbers. A white South African diaspora has formed in the United States, one of the preferred destinations for this outmigration. Our research employed in-depth interviews with 25 participants from different regions of the country to explore how these immigrants position themselves discursively, politically, and socially in this context. As with other diasporic groups, the interviewees position themselves in the United States by negotiating the intersections of their identities, in this case, articulating their Americanness with their South African origins. However, unlike most diasporic groups who remain marginalized within their host countries, whiteness enables a near seamless transition and integration into the dominant racial positionality in the United States. Our study shows how whiteness moves along global circuits of privilege. It is from this position of privilege South African ex-pats opportunistically claim the marginality of African American , in order to augment their privilege.
Critical Philosophy of Race will examine issues raised by the concept of race, the practices and ... more Critical Philosophy of Race will examine issues raised by the concept of race, the practices and mechanisms of racialization, and the persistence of various forms of racism across the world. It opposes racism in all forms; it rejects the pseudosciences of old-fashioned biological racialism; it denies that anti-racism and anti-racialism summarily eliminate race as a meaningful category of analysis. The journal is sponsored by the Rock Ethics Institute at The Pennsylvania State University.
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Article by Melissa Steyn