Towards critical cultural openness: (in)vulnerability in white student narratives of transformation in South Africa

Wale, Kim

doi:10.1080/01419870.2019.1642502

Cited by 9 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…First, decolonisation unmasks how coloniality suffuses higher education with violence, but institutionalised whiteness threatens its progress. Some scholars are responding by bridging abstract theorisations of decolonisation with pedagogic reform at the level of institutional policy, but also down to department-specific changes (Makombe 2021;Wale 2019;Makhubela 2018).…”

Section: Neomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, Wale (2019Wale ( :1189 discursively analyses the narratives of South African students who self-identify as white and who study at an HWU-institutions with histories, symbols, traditions, cultures and curricula organised around whiteness and systemic racism. One of these narratives, called "out of my comfort zone", surfaces how some white students sincerely wrestle with the power-disruptive, ignorance-rupturing discomfort they encounter upon becoming, "vulnerable to learning about the experiences of black students" (Wale 2019(Wale :1200. I detail her argument later, but for now this observation suggests that if such "epistemic vulnerability" is traceable among students, then Assistants could evince similar modes of knowing that are, "open to uncomfortable learning" (Wale 2019(Wale :1200.…”

Section: (In)vulnerability and Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of these narratives, called "out of my comfort zone", surfaces how some white students sincerely wrestle with the power-disruptive, ignorance-rupturing discomfort they encounter upon becoming, "vulnerable to learning about the experiences of black students" (Wale 2019(Wale :1200. I detail her argument later, but for now this observation suggests that if such "epistemic vulnerability" is traceable among students, then Assistants could evince similar modes of knowing that are, "open to uncomfortable learning" (Wale 2019(Wale :1200. Moreover, these Assistants could engage undergraduates in such learning.…”

Section: (In)vulnerability and Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants in this study self-identify along multiple racial lines, but I read Wale's (2019Wale's ( :1200) "out of my comfort zone" as suggesting that if students can embody vulnerability, then Assistants could also show such vulnerability and grasp that many students, including white students, need to undergo learning about racism that is conducive to vulnerability. Wale (2019Wale ( :1191 avers that this vulnerability can foster, "critical cultural openness", but what this openness implies for people who are differently situated in an intersectionally-hierarchical society, like South Africa, is an intricate question. Wale (2019Wale ( :2014 advises that, "the same requirement for critical cultural openness may not be appropriate for black people".…”

Section: (In)vulnerability and Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Ignite some agency: how teaching assistants engage whiteness at a South African university

Conradie

2022

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Decolonial scholarship, although multifaceted, includes questioning how abstract theorisations could concretely reform department-specific pedagogies. This study builds on the proposition that decolonisation is served, at least partially, by department-specific pedagogies that oppose whiteness. It is grounded in a Department of English at a historically-white South African university. Using critical whiteness studies (CWS), I launch a discourse analysis of the experiential narratives expressed by Teaching Assistants during individual interviews. CWS equips me to examine how these contractually-employed educators manage their intersectional subjectivities as they facilitate small-group discussions among undergraduates in support of professors’ official lectures. I focus on their reactions to the way students explore experiences of subordination.

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Section: Neomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (In)vulnerability and Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (In)vulnerability and Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (In)vulnerability and Ignorancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Ignite some agency: how teaching assistants engage whiteness at a South African university

Conradie

2022

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“…28.The theme of disrobing, becoming 'naked' before God, features strongly in contemplative spirituality (see Sölle 2001), and is connected to the larger theme of vulnerability and deep reconciliation (Verwoerd 2019b;Wale 2019).…”

Section: Beyond Apartheid Towards Deep Reconciliationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Christ and Cross-Roads Jesus for white South African Christians

Verwoerd

2020

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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How could a government that professed to be Christian perpetrate such immoral deeds and inflict so much pain and suffering on its own countrymen simply because [they] were of another race, another colour, another creed? (Harrison 2006:25) This question haunted a 21-year-old Ron Harrison towards the end of 1961. One evening 'a thought flashed through' his head (Harrison 2006):[Prime Minister] Verwoerd and [Minister of Justice] Vorster were wreaking havoc in their quest for white supremacy and Afrikaner domination, and in the process … all races that were not classified 'white' were being crucified. (p. 25) 1In his autobiography, Harrison (2006) describes the 'birth of the Black Christ':The picture of a suffering Christ at the scene of His crucifixion surged through my mind, but the vision forming in my mind's eye was rather unusual in that the figure on the cross was a black man! I realised that I could depict the suffering of the black people and equate this with the suffering of Christ. Who better [for my Christ figure] than Chief Albert Luthuli, who had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize … I decided that the architects of apartheid also had to be brought into the scene. I had it! Verwoerd and Vorster would be portrayed as two Roman centurions, the tormentors of Christ. Verwoerd would be piercing the side of Christ, and his henchman, Vorster, would be standing with the sponge of vinegar and gall. A coloured Madonna and an Asian St John would complete the scene. (pp. 25-26) 1.For more on the historical context, see Davenport (1986), Kenney (1980) and Biko (2012).A significant factor undermining real racial reconciliation in post-1994 South Africa is widespread resistance to shared historical responsibility amongst South Africans racialised as white. In response to the need for localised 'white work' (raising self-critical, intragroup historical awareness for the sake of deepened racial reconciliation), this article aims to contribute to the uprooting of white denialism, specifically amongst Afrikaans-speaking Christians from (Dutch) Reformed backgrounds. The point of entry is two underexplored, challenging, contextualised crucifixion paintings, namely, Black Christ and Cross-Roads Jesus. Drawing on critical whiteness studies, extensive local and international experience as a 'participatory' facilitator of conflict transformation and his particular embodiment, the author explores the creative unsettling potential of these two prophetic 'icons'. Through this incarnational, phenomenological, diagnostic engagement with Black Christ, attention is drawn to the dynamics of family betrayal, 'moral injury' and idolisation underlying 'white fragility'. 'White fatigue' is challenged by stressing the Biblical nature of Cross-Roads Jesus' confrontational, 'ugly' portrayal of the systemic violence of apartheid and colonialism. It is also argued that a combination of Louw's shocking portrayal of an enraged, emaciated township Jesus with the explicit depiction of white historical responsibility in Black Christ increas...

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