New shades of "whiteness": white identity in a multicural, democratic South Africa
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Date
2000
Authors
Steyn, Melissa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
"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.
Description
Keywords
Whiteness, South Africa, Power, Privilege, South Africa
Citation
Steyn, M. (2000). New shades of "whiteness": white identity in a multicural, democratic South Africa. Communitas, 5, 1-18.