Structural orientation and social agency in South Africa: state, race, higher education and transformation

Abstract

we have taken as our brief and context the latest upsurge in incidents of a racist nature in certain higher education institutions in South

Resisting the obfuscation of ‘race’: The importance of acknowledging the sociopolitical in normative data research

“…The sustained use of the 'race' notion, as in the above study, reveals the progress or the lack of progress made in a society. It indicates, as Thaver and Thaver (2010) have also argued, that we must be cautious not to buy into utopian politics, that is, an engagement in practices that assume or suggest that the ideal post-racism society has been achieved. Most South Africans are, or at least overtly claim that we are, for a non-racist society, that is, a society where the notion of 'race' no longer holds any legitimacy or visible presence.…”

“…My response to this question is to argue that one is still ethically obliged to use the notion of 'race' since, even though such a concept may not enjoy any substantial ontological or essential status, it still is real in the sense that it has a sociopolitical history and, subsequently, has enduring and significant material and psychological consequences (Bozalek, 2010;Durrheim et al, 2011;Punt, 2009;Thaver & Thaver, 2010). Furthermore, to resort to alternative notions, such as 'culture' and 'ethnicity', is problematic for a number of reasons: it is a long-standing dubious rather than innovative practice, it achieves neither objectivity nor neutrality, the terms can neither function as synonyms or euphemisms, and such a practice is obscurantist and therefore is to continue clandestinely and unwittingly supporting racism.…”

“…These were then correlated with, conflated with, and expanded to various behavioural, cognitive, cultural, and personality characteristics. Once the distinction was thus instituted, the separation of these groups was justified and naturalised, which enabled a large variety of discriminatory practices in numerous domains with real consequences for all involved (Thaver & Thaver, 2010). So, for example, the racially distinct and inferior 'Bantu Education' system was justified on the basis of the 'fact' of limited innate cognitive ability (Thompson, 2000); the system then produced disadvantaged graduates, which in turn acted as evidence and justification for holding the prejudiced assumption.…”

“…Instead, the term only finds momentary existence such as in the 'race' indication boxes in forms linked to post-apartheid racial transformation policies. Thaver and Thaver's (2010) distinction between 'post-apartheid' and 'constitutional democracy' is useful here; they state that we can only start arguing that we have moved into the latter when South Africa 'no longer carries the markers of an apartheid social architecture' (p. 62). To be post-apartheid is not to be post the effects of that racist vision.…”

“…This is an important point that is unfortunately beyond the scope of the present article. It will suffice to say that the naïve imposition of measures conceptualised on Western shores risks slipping into the patronising tradition associated with racial historicism (Thaver & Thaver, 2010).…”